Parshas Kedoshim

“Any man who curses his father or his mother shall surely die!” (Vayikra 20:9)

It is a negative commandment not to curse a father or mother, as it says “Any man who curses his father or his mother shall surely die!”, and even though here only the punishment is mentioned and there is no actual prohibition, the prohibition is included in the verses “You shall not curse your G-d!”, “You may not curse a leader of your people!”, and “You must not curse a deaf person!”, as from these three verses we extrapolate that it is forbidden to curse any member of Klal Yisrael.

Amongst the laws of this commandment are that the punishment for cursing a parent applies whether the parent is alive or even after their death, and that the punishment only applies if the curse was done using the one of the explicit Names of Hashem. If, however, he only cursed using one of the euphemisms for Hashem, he does not get killed. Instead, he receives the punishment of lashes like he would receive for cursing any other righteous member of Klal Yisrael.

This commandment applies in all places and at all times, to both men and women.