[Avodah] Laughing at one who does a mitzvah

[Zev Sero]

kennethgmiller at juno.com wrote:
> This evening I was reminded of a halacha in Kitzur Shulchan Aruch
> (15:5) that one should not answer Kaddish too loudly, because
> people might laugh at him for this, and he'd thereby be causing
> them to sin. (Mishne Brurah 56:5 says the same thing.)
> [...]
> One may wear shoes on Tisha B'Av, if one walks among non-Jews who
> would laugh at us. (Rama 554:17 and Mishne Brurah 554:34) But in
> contrast, the very first Rama in Orach Chaim 1:1 tells us, "Don't
> be embarrassed by people who laugh at someone for his Avodas Hashem."
> How can we reconcile these ideas?

Very easily.  One shouldn't feel embarrassed at doing the right thing.
But what if one does?  Reminding oneself that one is right and the
mockers are wrong is all very well, but what if it doesn't help?
What if it's still painful to walk around barefoot and be an object
of fun for all passersby, no matter how convinced one is that this is
right?  Is it that important to go barefoot on Tisha B'av?  No, it
isn't.  The idea is to deny oneself a comfort, not to subject oneself
to acute discomfort of this sort; fasting is enough for that.

We are certainly not concerned about lifnei iver here.  If the goyim
want to make fun of a yid for following the halacha, then "hal'itehu
larasha veyamos"; it's none of our concern, and in fact it's an avera
to rescue them from such a fate -- see Bava Basra 8-10 or so.  But in
the case of kaddish we're talking about fellow yidden who are in the
shul, and we are certainly responsible for them; doing a mitzvah in a
way that seems strange and funny, and is likely to provoke automatic
laughter from anyone unused to seeing it, is a problem.


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