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Are there any texts on civil disobedience in Judaism? Is it an acceptable practice?

Clarification: I was asking if there is a specific Jewish protocol for civil disobedience for civil laws/civil wrongs such as racist policies (ex. Heschel, Martin Luther King Jr. and the making of Civil Right Act of 1964) for countries in which existing Jewish communities exist, as well as protocols for civil disobedience to rules found to be no longer applicable or outgrown by past Jews in Judaism (is there such a thing?). In the second scenario, I'd imagine there as being a sort of git records of laws that have been outgrown by modern standards, perhaps this is the wrong place to ask those questions or perhaps they are two separate questions. Apologies for any typos, sometimes mobile does not cooperate. I am interested in splitting these into two questions, if there's a consensus, but am unsure of how to do that, as I am new to the site.

Just posted a separate question for civil law.

J. Doe
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  • Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel walked with Martin Luther King Jr as an act of Civil Disobedience. i wonder if much has been written about it? – Aaron Dec 22 '15 at 23:00
  • Note that refusing to obey a rabbinical law makes a person subject to "malkos mardus" (lashes because of rebellion). A melech would be allowed to execute someone who refuses to obey. See the discussion of Dovid Hamelech and why he was allowed to execute Uriah. – sabbahillel Dec 22 '15 at 23:08
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    Is Choni Hamaagil's refusal to leave the circle until God gave proper rain and example of civil disobedience? – Clint Eastwood Dec 23 '15 at 00:03
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    Are you asking if Judaism discusses civil disobedience against secular laws, or are you asking if Judaism discusses civil disobedience against Jewish laws? I.e., do you mean, "Are there specific standards in Judaism for refusing to uphold a certain law?" or "Are there specific standards for refusing to uphold a certain Jewish law?" – Fred Dec 23 '15 at 01:39
  • Specifically asking on both. Is there an acknowledgement thag jewish law is not necessarily codified civil law? Is civil disobedience encouraged nased ipon moral wrongness ie racism etc.? – J. Doe Dec 23 '15 at 10:20
  • It would seem to be two separate questions. Consider the difference between insisting on eating pork or "gay marriage" on the one hand or refusing to accept a secular law that is a sin on the other. – sabbahillel Dec 23 '15 at 12:19
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    These are two completely different questions. Please pick one and [edit] your question to clarify. – Isaac Moses Dec 23 '15 at 13:42
  • Even though we normally discourage, even disallow, editing a question in a way that affects the applicability of an already-upvoted answer, that presumably doesn't apply where the question was closed as unclear whether you're asking the question that that answer answers or now. Even if it does apply to such a case, I (as the answerer) waive my rights under that rule and will be glad to delete my answer if it no longer answers your question once the latter is edited (someone should comment on it to let me know the question's been edited). – msh210 Dec 23 '15 at 15:24
  • "I am interested in splitting these into two questions, if there's a consensus, but am unsure of how to do that, as I am new to the site." In my opinion (and seemingly, from other comments, also @Fred 's and Isaac Moses's), they should be split. The way to do that is to edit this question so it has only the one question and ask the other one separately. I hope you stick around and enjoy Mi Yodeya! You may find the [tour] helpful. – msh210 Dec 23 '15 at 15:56

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Civil disobedience is nonviolent refusal to obey the law as a show of resistance to the lawgiver. Thus, effectively, you're asking what Judaism says about nonviolently disobeying halacha as a show of resistance to God — or, in other words, you're asking what Judaism says about deliberately but nonviolently sinning. Judaism forbids that. See e.g. Wikipedia. (Caveat: I haven't read the entirety of that article and do not vouch for its accuracy.)

msh210
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  • Sort of like eating pork as a protest against kashrut? – vy32 Dec 22 '15 at 23:56
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    Are you sure this question isn't asking about Jewish views about civil disobedience of civil laws? – Daniel Dec 23 '15 at 00:01
  • @Daniel, come to think of it, I suppose one could read the question that way. – msh210 Dec 23 '15 at 04:02
  • @msh210 See the comment to the question from the OP "Specifically asking on both". It appears that the question is sinning befarhesyah (deliberately) as well as refusing to do something wrong by violating a secular law. This seems to be tw separate questions. – sabbahillel Dec 23 '15 at 12:16