What halacha does admiring Christmas lights violate, or is it just hashkafa?
Admiring Christmas Lights: Halacha or Hashkafa?
Question
Answer
It is the prohibition of לא תחנם: do not like their deeds. The Rambam writes that this biblical prohibition is to like something they do.
Sources
The Gemara reads the verse “ולא תחנם” as “do not give them favor” (לא תתן להם חן). The Rambam rules on this basis that it is forbidden even to say how handsome an idolater is. All the more so it is forbidden “to praise his deeds or to cherish anything of theirs” (שיחבב דבר מדבריהם), “for this causes one to cling to him and learn from his evil deeds.” The Shulchan Aruch repeats this as halacha. So admiring and cherishing their practices falls under the biblical prohibition of לא תחנם, as the Rabbi answered.
- Deuteronomy 7:2 — the verse “ולא תחנם,” the biblical source of the prohibition
- Gemara Avodah Zarah 20a — expounds לא תחנם as “do not give them favor” (לא תתן להם חן)
- Rambam Hilchot Avodah Zarah 10:4 — forbidden to praise them, and all the more so to praise their deeds or cherish anything of theirs, because of ולא תחנם
- Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De’ah 151:14 — forbidden to praise them, and all the more so to praise their deeds or cherish anything of theirs
Author
Rabbi Shay Tahan
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