Mocking Anti-Israel Protesters
by R. Gil Student
In our polarized times, many feel justified in mocking anti-Israel protesters whose positions seem morally reprehensible. Yet this impulse raises a fundamental question: do the benefits of attacking our enemies justify the spiritual toxicity of mockery? While some argue that mocking enemies of Israel serves a religious purpose, I believe the halachic sources and practical realities counsel restraint.
I recently expressed these brief thoughts on social media and my good friend, Rav Daniel Z. Feldman, disagreed. (To read Rabbi Feldman’s article, click here.) The Jewish Press asked us both to flesh out our opinions in writing. I am hesitant to disagree with Rav Feldman, a close friend since childhood. He is not only a full week older, but also has always been smarter, more knowledgeable and more pious. I leave for another time my halachic justification for writing this article in the face of his greater expertise, but I add at the end two specific reasons.
The Nature and Danger of Leitzanus
Both the Bible and the Talmud say harsh things about the leitz, the mocker or scoffer. “Judgments are prepared for mockers” (Prov. 19:29), and the Gemara (Avodah Zarah 18b) warns that “anyone who mocks, suffering will befall him.” But what exactly makes mockery so spiritually dangerous?
Mockery is not merely humor, harsh criticism or even a personal insult. It represents a cynical form of denigration that attempts to render its target devoid of value. When we mock, we don’t simply disagree; we dismiss the very possibility that something deserves serious consideration. This attitude corrodes the humility, seriousness and receptivity essential for spiritual life.
As we will see, the Gemara states that mockery is generally forbidden. What prohibition does it violate? Rav Avraham Erlanger offers a profound insight (Birkas Avraham, Sanhedrin 63b)… continued at The Jewish Press