[Avodah] More on what constitutes chilul hashem

[Zev Sero]

Beth & David Cohen wrote:
>> "This whole idea that
>> breaking the law is a chilul hashem has no foundation.  The notion
>> that one must obey the law simply because it is the law is abhorrent,
>> and the fact that Germans believe it and Americans don't explains a
>> lot about those nations' recent history.

> In the good old USA,  if one truly believes that a particular law is 
> unjust or unfair, one has recourse through the court system.

One has the same recourse in Germany.  But in the USA, as in most
countries, one also has the option of simply ignoring the law and
taking the risk of being caught, and nobody thinks less of one for
doing so.


> But our 
> theoretical Jew is not interested in any due process other than his own 
> --- he doesn't attempt to conform with the legal requirements (e.g. get 
> the permit), or appealing if he is wrongfully prevented from doing what 
> he believes is correct.

If you're still talking about the sheimos place, he *got* clearance
from the local authorities.   How was he to know the DEP would poke
its nose into his affairs?


> He won't do so, because to him these annoying 
> regulations are only for yenem, not for those of us who only answer to a 
> higher authority.

This is a caricature that does not conform to any reality.  Where have
you ever seen such a view expressed, that the laws are for yenem?  Where
have you ever seen or heard of a yid breaking a law but at the same time
demanding that others keep it?

The only time one sees such claims is when the law contradicts a
mitzvah or minhag, etc.  In such cases, of course, there can be no
question that the mitzvah, minhag, etc., takes precedence.  That is
the very definition of *kiddush* haShem, that Torah and Jewish
practises are seen to take priority over all obstacles, and a yid is
higher than the world.  But surely you are talking about divrei reshus, 
where such considerations don't apply, and a yid is exactly the same
as anyone else: free to do as he wishes, provided that it's right and
just, even if it carries a risk he deems acceptable.


> In some circumstances, it is the breaking of the law that creates a 
> chilul Hashem (e.g. child abuse by those decked out in full charedi 
> accouterments) . In other circumstances it's not the breaking of the law 
> that's a chilul Hashem, but the attitude towards the law and its 
> enforcement that creates it.

Breaking a law *never* creates a chilul hashem.  Some actions that are
chilul hashem, and would be so even if they were lawful, happen to be
against the law.

-- 
Zev Sero                      The trouble with socialism is that you
zev at sero.name                 eventually run out of other people’s money
                                                     - Margaret Thatcher