Saiman once thought to write a treatise on “Seinfeld” and how its need to codify social norms is Talmudic. The fact that David has prompted a pilpul - or Yeshiva-style dialectic - is only fitting. There’s tons of case law about Klansmen on parade. But then again, if we’re going by First Amendment law, the rally is not necessarily illegal.
Jewish law might say the fact that this guy is a Klansman “probably doesn’t excuse you from liability, but it certainly would say don’t go out of your way to facilitate” the illicit action, Saiman said. “You probably owe him the amount of dry cleaning,” Saiman said, though he acknowledged there are considerations about aiding someone in doing “something illicit.” “That actually might constitute a mitzvah.”Ĭhaim Saiman, the chair of Jewish Law at Villanova University, was less sure that the nature of the garment soiled - or the guy holding it - changed the basic facts of the damage done. “Maybe there’s an argument to be made about finding coats from other Klansmen and spilling coffee on them,” Wildes concluded. You may be facilitating the sin by having the garment cleaned.
Wildes says that if the clothing in question is being used for sinful activity - and the Klansman makes that clear pretty quickly - the person who damaged it is not responsible for cleaning it. What ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ taught me about being Jewish PJ Grisar March 27, 2020īut, when Larry noticed the telltale Blood Drop Cross on the robe, that complicates things.