Do not Pity the Fool
BY MOSHE KATZ 
CEO
ISRAELI KRAV INTERNATIONAL

October 8, 2025, Israel

וְאָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר: כׇּל אָדָם שֶׁאֵין בּוֹ דֵּעָה אָסוּר לְרַחֵם עָלָיו, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״כִּי לֹא עַם בִּינוֹת הוּא עַל כֵּן לֹא יְרַחֲמֶנּוּ עֹשֵׂהוּ וְיֹצְרוֹ לֹא יְחֻנֶּנּוּ״.

And Rabbi Elazar says: With regard to any person in whom there is no knowledge, it is prohibited to have mercy upon him, as it is stated: “For it is a people of no understanding; therefore its Maker will have no mercy on them, and its Creator will show them no favor” (Isaiah 27:11). If God has no mercy upon them, all the more so should people not show them mercy.  (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin, page 92A)

I have spent my life trying to help people see the light. In the aftermath of the Arab surprise attack on Israel in 1973, on our holy Day of Atonement, I was awakened to the reality of our precarious existence in this world. Earlier, at the age of six I learned about the Holocaust and how the world cared little for us. The 1973 war convinced me that we would never be accepted in this region, our ancestral homeland. One could say that my days as an "Activist" began then. By age 15 I was already featured in a news article. I realized we faced a world where we would always have to fight for our basic right to live. I did not need October 7, 2023, as a wakeup call, I have been awake my entire life, since the age of 6. 

But others are still sleeping.

How can they still be asleep? How can they not see the writing on the wall? and the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls, and tennement halls wrote another Jew in New York. The author was referring to the hard truths that people choose to ignore, they respond with the sounds of silence. what we are witnessing is the willful ignorance. And here I believe is the message of the Talmudic passage quoted above.

Judaism teaches mercy, compassion for "all God's creatures", so why this enigmatic message of not showing mercy to certain people? this question has indeed baffled the rabbis and scholars over the years, and many ideas have been presented. One idea is that the fool is convinced that he is correct, and therefore he refuses to accept any sort of advice. He scoffs at those trying to help him, to guide him to wisdom. He is convinced that he is the wise one. In such case we are no longer obligated to try and help him. A related idea is presented by the great "Steipler", Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky a.k.a The Steipler Gaon (Genius) (1899 – 10 August 1985) 

אבל כאן מדובר במי שאין בו רגש להכיר טובה למטיבים עמו

He writes we are dealing here with one who has no feelings to appreciate the good others are doing for him.

From all the explanations I have seen what emerges is in the case of one who is actively and knowingly rejecting knowledge and mocking those who seek to help him. I.e. I have tried my best to help you, but you have rejected every attempt, I am no longer obligated to pity you. In such a case the Talmud, based on the Biblical verse, writes, it is prohibited to have mercy upon him.

I feel this in my own efforts to spread Krav Maga self-defense. The other night I was speaking with some locals. We are constantly facing attacks, knife attacks are sadly common, and yet most of my local community, just footsteps away from our dojo/training hall, never step foot inside. Why?

I see this as a case of "It is forbidden to pity the fool". They see the danger, they are aware of the danger but when I speak of training in Krav Maga, the answers I hear are, "Well, yes, but, y'know, people are busy". 

This is willful ignorance; this is a choice. And once someone has made the choice to ignore wisdom and truth, we are told that it is forbidden to pity them. When one has chosen not to understand, when one no longer seeks to understand and refuses to listen to logic, we are no longer obligated to pity them, they have made their choices. 

This is still a difficult concept to fully understand but I do feel it brings us a certain peace. We do our best, we try and set an example, we spread the word, but that is all we can do. The rest is in the hands of the individual who has been granted free choice. I can't break my head, or heart, over every person who refuses to train. But when you ready to train, when you are ready to get serious, I am here for you.

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Moshe Katz, 7th dan Black Belt, Israeli Krav Maga. Certified by Wingate Institute. Member Black Belt hall of fame, USA and Europe.

Understand the Israeli Fighting Mentality - Israel a Nation of Warriors by Moshe Katz

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