Q&A: Tearing Down a Sign…๐ฅบ
Tearing Down a Sign…๐ฅบ
Question
I saw a video of yeshiva students in some southern city tearing down a sign that said โLove your neighbor as yourselfโ in rainbow colors.
A woman passed by and asked them whether this is what they teach in yeshiva, etc.
It made me think about an issue Iโm always unsure about:
Is it really permissible to tear down a sign of a party / opinion / product that I think is bad / the opposite of the truth?
Is this part of โexplain your position and accept itโ in the spirit of battles of ideas?
For example, like demonstrating and holding up traffic?
What is permissible and fair, and what is forbidden and ugly?
Answer
In principle, this is theft, irrespective of the moral question. True, if we were dealing with a prohibition there could be room to permit it, since this would be a form of coercing observance of the commandments, something akin to the law of a pursuer. But here it is forbidden, because it would not help prevent the prohibition, and there is no prohibition in the sign itself (the prohibition concerns the relationships, not granting rights to such people). And of course there is the desecration of Godโs name involved; and in a case of desecration of Godโs name, one does not do even things that Jewish law permits (such as returning a lost object after the owner has given up hope, and more), and sometimes not even things that it requires.
Discussion on Answer
If they donโt take it but instead break it or take it down, then it is damage. And even indirect damage is forbidden (though liability is only in the heavenly sense).
Blocking a road and delaying people is also theft of time, which cannot be repaid. Still, if it is done with the authoritiesโ permission, there is room to permit it. One should remember that almost every strike harms people.
Is taking down a sign theft? Why? Itโs not as though theyโre taking it.
They leave it there so the owner can take it.
It wasnโt said that theyโre removing it from a place that is paid for. And even if so, maybe thatโs damage, but not theft.
And another question for the Rabbi: blocking a road and delaying people in traffic, and causing others to drive much longer distancesโis that also theft?