Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg quoted Gemara and the Ramchal in a ruling on an appeal to the court against the legality of the “Green Pass,” which bans unvaccinated Israelis from certain venues unless they present a current negative coronavirus test.

“Prior to signing, I want to express my opinion on another important issue,” Sohlberg stated. “In the course of the hearing, a man in the audience caught my attention. He was wearing a yellow star on his lapel, apparently as a sign of protest against the Green Pass, which in his view, renders him as a ‘prisoner to vaccination.'”

“I don’t know if he is one of those who filed the appeal or perhaps a protestor who came to support them. I considered expressing my protest immediately against the cynical use of a Holocaust symbol. But after pondering it, I decided against doing so in ‘real time.’ In the heat of the protest, rebuke isn’t received well and we’re even commanded to avoid it, ‘as Rebbi Eloi taught us in the name of Rebbe Shimon: ‘Just like it’s a mitzva for a person to say something that will be heeded, it’s also a mitzva for a person to refrain from saying something that won’t be heeded (Bavli, Yevamos, 65, 72).”

“Now, at a distance of time and place, I feel it is my duty to comment on the usage of Holocaust symbols at protests and demonstrations. It’s true that even problematic use [of the symbols] is covered under the right to free expression since as of yet it has not been legally banned, but even without an explicit prohibition, Chazal already said: ‘Sanctify yourselves with what is permissible to you (Bavli, Yevamos, 20:71).”

“On these words, the Ramchal adds in his sefer Mesilas Yesharim, in Chapter 13, in Biur Midas HaPrishus: “And the klal of perishus is what Chazal said: ‘Sanctify yourselves with what is permitted to you.’ And this is the teaching of the word itself. Prishus -distance oneself from something, to forbid something for oneself that is permissible. And the intent of this is not to violate the prohibition itself.”

“These words are kal v’chomer appropriate for our issue. Many people think that the use of Holocaust symbols should be completely off bounds, even without an explicit prohibition. The Holocaust is an extremely painful and sensitive topic, a bleeding wound in the Jewish nation, and there is nothing that can be compared to it.”

“The use of Holocaust symbols can severely hurt the feelings of many. Even if someone doesn’t necessarily ‘connect’ to these feelings, and he reasons that it is a legitimate act of protest, it is preferable that he distance himself from it in order not to cause pain to others. Even in the heat of dispute and storm of protest, there are matters that one shouldn’t touch.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)