MOCKERY People who make fun of the words of the Sages are punished with boiling excrements (Gittin 56a) Stinking vapors rise up to their brains, leaving them twisted and confused. No matter how much they may study Torah, they will never be able to derive true guidance from it about the way to lead their lives. Their hearts are as filthy as a privy. They never have a clear idea how to live at all. This kind of cynicism leads in the end to severe decrees being passed against the Jewish people. They are expelled from the countries they were living in, and the end result of the upheavals is that whole areas of Torah wisdom become lost to us, notably the mystery of Ibbur, which underlies the structure of the Jewish calendar with its intercalated leap-years. The loss of this wisdom causes strife and factionalism (61:1-3).
לֵיצָנוּת
א. הַמַּלְעִיג עַל דִּבְרֵי חֲכָמִים נִדּוֹן בְּצוֹאָה רוֹתַחַת. וְעַל־יְדֵי זֶה עוֹלִים עֲשָׁנִים סְרוּחִים אֶל מֹחוֹ, וּמְעַקְּמִין וּמְעַרְבְּבִין וּמְבַלְבְּלִין דַּעְתּוֹ, וְאֵינוֹ יָכוֹל לְהוֹצִיא מִלִּמּוּדוֹ הַנְהָגוֹת יְשָׁרוֹת, וְלִבּוֹ מְטֻנָּף כְּמוֹ בֵּית הַכִּסֵּא. וְעַל־יְדֵי זֶה עֲצָתוֹ חֲלוּקָה לְעוֹלָם, וְאֵינוֹ יָכוֹל לָתֵת עֵצָה לְנַפְשׁוֹ בְּשׁוּם דָּבָר. וְעַל־יְדֵי זֶה גּוֹזְרִין לְגָרֵשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל מִמְּקוֹמָם, וְנִלְקָח סוֹד הָעִבּוּר מֵאִתָּנוּ. וְעַל־יְדֵי זֶה נִמְשָׁךְ מַחְלֹקֶת: (לק"א סי' ס"א אות א' ב' ג' ד' ה')
MOCKERY
People who make fun of the words of the Sages are punished with boiling excrements (Gittin 56a) Stinking vapors rise up to their brains, leaving them twisted and confused. No matter how much they may study Torah, they will never be able to derive true guidance from it about the way to lead their lives. Their hearts are as filthy as a privy. They never have a clear idea how to live at all. This kind of cynicism leads in the end to severe decrees being passed against the Jewish people. They are expelled from the countries they were living in, and the end result of the upheavals is that whole areas of Torah wisdom become lost to us, notably the mystery of Ibbur, which underlies the structure of the Jewish calendar with its intercalated leap-years. The loss of this wisdom causes strife and factionalism (61:1-3).