09 May BOYCOTTING ANGEL BAKERY

Last week the
Charedi community
in Israel was
outraged to hear
that the chairman
of Angel Bakery
and former Public
Security Minister, Omer Bar-Lev, protested
outside the home of the elderly Gadol
Hador, the Rosh Yeshiva of Ponevizh,
Rabbi Gershon Edelstein Shlit”a. This act
was viewed as a direct insult on the Rabbi
and desecration of the Torah.
Leaders of the Charedi community around
the country immediately have called for a
boycott on Angel Bakery, Israel’s largest
commercial bakery. This boycott indeed
took a heavy toll on the bakery’s revenue
as several significant yeshivas such as
the Mir, Hevron and many others have
announced that they will cut ties with the
company.
The boycott spread quickly from the
Haredi community to other religious
communities as well, and even many
people who are secular joined the boycott

as a form of respect to the Rabbi as they
feel that the act of Bar-Lev was wrong
and distressful.
How do we view a boycott in Halachic
terms?
Rebuking vs Protesting.
What is the purpose of a boycott? Is it a
form of rebuke תוכחה?
The Mitzvah of rebuking must be done
with a purpose that the person being
rebuked should change his ways and
repent; but in a case where the person is

totally secular—and certainly if he is anti-
religion such as Bar-Lev—then our Sages

say (ב סה דף יבמות )that it’s not permitted
to rebuke him because he won’t listen:
אמר רבי אילעא משום ר‘ אלעזר בר‘ שמעון:”
כשם שמצוה על אדם לומר דבר הנשמע]]דכתיב
)ויקרא יט( הוכח תוכיח להוכיח מי שמקבל הימנו
– רש“י[ כך מצוה על אדם שלא לומר דבר שאינו
נשמע. רבי אבא אומר: חובה, שנאמר אל תוכח לץ
“פן ישנאך, הוכח לחכם ויאהבך
Just as it is a mitzvah for a person to
say that which will be heeded, so is it

a mitzvah for a person not to say that
which will not be heeded. Meaning that
one should not rebuke those who will
be unreceptive to his message. Rabbi
Abba says: “It is obligatory for him to
refrain from speaking, as it is stated: ‘Do
not reprove a scorner lest he hate you;
reprove a wise man and he will love
you.’”
To understand this further, we must
first understand the distinction between
three different concepts: the Mitzvah
to rebuke, the obligation to protest, and
taking action and using means to stop
wrongdoings.
The Mitzvah to rebuke is different from
the Mitzvah to protest in various ways,
but the main difference is that the purpose
of rebuking is to change the ways of the
sinner, while the obligation to protest is
in order to express disagreement with that
which was done.
When one rebukes he must understand
that he is doing so in order that the person
sinning will change his ways, thus the
Mitzvah of rebuking is only if one has
a relationship with the person being
rebuked; otherwise he is exempt
because he won’t listen (הלכה ביאור
.(סימן תרח ד״ה חיב
There is also a difference between a
person who sinned privately and one
who sinned publically. Those who sin
privately should be rebuked privately,
whereas if one sins publicly then one
should do whatever it is necessary to
stop the Chilul Hashem (סימן משנ״ב
.(תרח סק״י
Another difference is that if the person
being rebuked gets physical, or even
just starts being verbally abusive, one
is exempt from rebuking, because we
aren’t obligated to get hurt verbally
or physically while helping another.
When we protest however, the purpose
is for ourselves to show that we aren’t
agreeing with whatever was said or
done, and therefore one should protest
even if he might get hurt (היהודי הבית
.(עמוד 309
Also, when rebuking the public at
large that are doing something wrong
it is sufficient to rebuke one time, but
when rebuking a single person we
should rebuke as many times as it
takes until he changes his ways (רמ״א
.(סימן תרח ס״ב
That is for rebuking, but when

protesting there in no obligation to protest
more than once, even a single person,
because protesting is only to express that
we aren’t agreeing with whatever was
.(חוט שני, יוה״כ עמוד קיט) done or said
If a person witnesses something wrong he
must rebuke (unless he is exempt because
of the reason explained above), and if he
doesn’t, he gets punished together with
the sinner.
Protesting in Demonstrations.
There is a third category that is different
from the above two. This category is if
we see that people are trying to do things
that might affect our Yidishkeit, then we
should go out and use our influence, as
directed by the Gedolei Torah, for the
.(חוט שני עמוד קכג) religion the of sake
Rav Elyashiv was asked (ח״א תשובות קובץ
מד‘ סי (if going out to the streets to protest
those who violate Shabbat fall under the
category of rebuking. The rabbi answered
that it isn’t a form of rebuke, rather its
purpose is to try to stop, as much as
possible, the widespread desecration of
Shabbat in public areas.
When we hear of someone who is
assaulting or degrading a rabbi in any
way, we must protest or risk being
punished for keeping silence.
of speaks) בבא מציעא פד,ב) Gemara The
the great Rabbi Eliezer that was punished
because of a single incident that he didn’t
protest the honor of a Talmid Chacham.
Another story is told (ב,מד סנהדרין רש״י (of
a great person who was buried in disgrace
because he didn’t protest when he heard
someone speak negatively of the Rabbis.
The amazing response of the public in this
particular case with the bakery is actually
very much aligned with the Halacha, as
the Gemara (א,כג יומא (says that a Talmid
Chacham should not forgive those who
insult him until they ask for forgiveness,
he also shouldn’t take active revenge but
rather others should avenge his honor.