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It is better to be a scoundrel and not a scoundrel.

שו”תCategory: HalachaIt is better to be a scoundrel and not a scoundrel.
asked 4 years ago

When was this said?
Did the moment I learned the Gemara lose the privilege of transgressing this halacha? Or did it become a kind of general retroactive effect?
How do the sages decide when to say this? Is it just a matter of reality that it seems to them to be a law that is too difficult for people to observe and therefore they will continue to violate it even after that?
What should an individual’s discretion be when to say it and when not to?


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0 Answers
מיכי Staff answered 4 years ago
You have no privilege to transgress any halacha. This instruction was given to the one who reproves you, not to you. The discussion is whether it is better for him to reprove or it is better not to (halachically this is only said in rabbinic prohibitions. See Shulchan Arv Yochanan). No one said that you have a privilege to transgress prohibitions. The judgment depends on your assessment of whether they will accept your rebuke or not. If they do, then always prove it. If they do not accept it – according to the Torah, proof is still required, but according to the Dabbanah, it is not. Of course, if it is completely clear that they will not accept it – there is room for leniency and not to say anything that is not heard. Not on the grounds that it is better for them to be mistaken, but on the grounds that it is not heard.

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נועם replied 4 years ago

What about the things where the Gemara explicitly said not to protest because it would be better for them to be mistaken, is this some kind of assessment that it was clear to them that no one would listen to it? Or is it because some will not listen? (What happens if there is some general phenomenon that they want to prove and know that only some will accept, does it need to be proven or not?)

Isn't not saying something that is not heard from the same place as it would be better for them to be mistaken?

מיכי Staff replied 4 years ago

Even in matters that the Gemara explicitly states, one must exercise judgment according to the time and place. And if you are in such a situation and in your opinion they will listen to you, you must prove it.
If some will listen and some will not, in my opinion, one must prove it. The fear of aggravating the sin of some cannot harm the salvation of the other part. One does not say a sin to a person so that his friend may be justified. And certainly not when they do so intentionally and do not listen to rebuke (see Toss Shabbat 4:1).
Not saying something that is not heard is to prevent a quarrel and not to reduce the severity of the offenses. It is better to be a shuggin in order to reduce the severity of the offenses.

נועם replied 4 years ago

Thank you very much
I'm still trying to understand the Gemara's judgment, on what basis did they write about a certain halacha that it is better not to protest because it would be better if they were mistaken, is this just a period interpretation of the state of that halacha in their generation and nothing more? It means nothing to a rabbi who happened to live in another city at the time, and in fact has no general validity.

מיכי replied 4 years ago

I already answered that.

נועם replied 4 years ago

You didn't answer, you only answered from the side of the one who studies this halacha, what is the effect on him
I'm trying to understand how it makes sense for someone to write in the Talmud that it is a book that is intended for everyone – about a certain halacha that should not be criticized by those who transgress it because it is better for them to be mistaken, who did he see based on which he made this determination? The people of his city? His entire generation? One secular person who doesn't care? His grandmother? What was enough for him to make such a determination?

מיכי replied 4 years ago

I answered that clearly too. I'm done.

נועם replied 4 years ago

Okay
If there is someone here who understood and can explain it to me, I would be happy. Thanks

נועם replied 4 years ago

Maybe you could just copy and paste the line where you answered the question, so I can understand what you're talking about?

מיכי Staff replied 4 years ago

I have detailed the considerations underlying such a decision. My assumption is that this is also what was done in the Talmud.

נועם replied 4 years ago

Oh okay, thanks.
I assumed that there should be a difference between someone who wrote this as a general rule about a specific case (which means he assumed something that concerns the general public) and the learner.

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