3,115. Does Someone's Honor Supersede Prohibitions?

Hilchos Kilayim 10:28

If someone buys wool garments from non-Jews, he must examine them carefully out of concern that they might be sewn with linen thread.

Hilchos Kilayim 10:29

If someone sees his friend wearing shaatnez that’s prohibited by Biblical law, he should jump up and rip it off him right away, even if his friend is walking in the marketplace. This applies even to one’s teacher of Torah because honoring people doesn’t override a Torah prohibition.

That being the case, why is the prohibition of ignoring a lost object waived for a Torah scholar? Because it’s a financial matter (and we assume the owner of the lost object would defer to the scholar’s honor). And why is the prohibition of a kohein being rendered impure suspended for the honor of a corpse (in the case of a “meis mitzvah” requiring burial)? It’s because the Torah prohibits a kohein from being rendered impure for his married sister; the gemara in Brachos interprets that for his sister he may not be rendered impure, but for a meis mitzvah he may.

Rabbinic prohibitions, however, are overridden in all cases by concerns for one’s honor. While Deuteronomy 17:11 teaches "Do not deviate from the matter" (referring to rabbinic enactments), this prohibition is overridden by concerns for one’s honor. Therefore, if a person is wearing something that’s prohibited as shaatnez under rabbinic law, one may not rip it off him in the marketplace. Not only that, the person himself may not remove it in public; he must wait until he gets home. If the garment were shaatnez under Torah law, he would have to remove it immediately.