{"id":12341,"date":"2026-07-15T00:12:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T21:12:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=12341"},"modified":"2026-08-09T09:02:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T06:02:52","slug":"17-15-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-15-12\/","title":{"rendered":"12. Cruel Spectacles"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is forbidden to organize or attend bullfights, because they cause animals suffering and also endanger human life. The bulls are first starved in order to make them agitated. Then, in the arena, the bullfighter, or matador, waves a red cloth before the bull, provoking and enraging it until it attacks. If the bull refuses to fight, the matador stabs it until it rises in anger. When the bull finally charges at the man who provoked it, the matador must evade the charge and stab the bull to death, while the crowd roars and cheers. Occasionally, the bull is quicker than the matador, and the matador is killed or injured. In such a case, halakha does not assign the bull any guilt. Ordinarily, an ox that kills a person must be killed; here, however, since the matador provoked the attack, the bull is exempt from punishment (Bava Kamma<\/em> 39a; MT, Laws of Monetary Damages 6:5).<\/p>\n

In the Roman period, cruel spectacles of this sort were a popular form of entertainment. At first, they would set dogs against other animals and watch with pleasure as the animals tore one another apart. Whenever one animal overpowered another and ripped out its throat, the spectators would rejoice and cheer. They would then bring slaves and captives into the arena to fight wild beasts, and even when a beast killed a person, the crowd would rejoice and cheer. Many Jews captured by the Romans were killed in this way. Shamefully, some Jews were drawn after the dominant culture and wanted to watch these acts of cruelty, presumably when the captives were from other nations. The Sages firmly opposed this and ruled that it is forbidden to attend such wicked spectacles, applying to them the verse (Tehilim 1:1): \u201cHappy is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the wicked, nor stood in the way of sinners.\u201d Happy is one who did not go to the theaters, circuses, and stadiums of the gentiles, where the murder of slaves and the suffering of animals were staged amid revelry and mockery (Avoda Zara<\/em> 18b). In our time, thankfully, public spectacles in which human beings are murdered are no longer staged. Bullfighting, however, remains forbidden, both because of tza\u2019ar ba\u2019alei \u1e25ayim<\/em> and because it endangers human life. Similarly, it is forbidden to train roosters to fight and kill one another. Anyone who buys a ticket to such a spectacle becomes a partner in sin and damages his own capacity for compassion.[9]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

\n
\n
[9]<\/a>. People, too, engage in such activities, such as boxing, wrestling, and other forms of combat, whether as amateurs or professionals. It would seem that as long as war and violence remain part of human reality, training in combat has practical value for self-defense and warfare. For this reason, throughout history nations and armies trained young men and soldiers in hand-to-hand combat (see 2 Shmuel 2:14; Orot ha-Te\u1e25iya<\/em> \u00a734). Combat sports developed out of this need, and because such competitions are full of tension, they attract large audiences. Some maintain that they reduce violence by giving it a controlled outlet, while others argue that they encourage violence. In practice, it seems improper to take pleasure in competitions whose cruelty is especially visible or whose injuries are severe, such as professional boxing. A similar distinction applies to animals. Horses, for example, have long been trained for war and law enforcement, and horse racing developed from that training. Therefore, one may watch horse races (Mahari Bruna \u00a771). By contrast, it is forbidden to hold fights in which animals are killed or wounded. It is also forbidden to support such fights by watching them. Unlike human competitors, animals gain nothing from these spectacles, and the main human enjoyment in them is bound up with cruelty and suffering. This is also explained in Ye\u1e25aveh Da\u2019at<\/em> 3:66.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is forbidden to organize or attend bullfights, because they cause animals suffering and also endanger human life. The bulls are first starved in order to make them agitated. Then, in the arena, the bullfighter, or matador, waves a red cloth before the bull, provoking and enraging it until it attacks. If the bull refuses […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[236],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-17-15"],"yoast_head":"\n12. Cruel Spectacles - Peninei Halakha<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-15-12\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"12. Cruel Spectacles - Peninei Halakha\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It is forbidden to organize or attend bullfights, because they cause animals suffering and also endanger human life. The bulls are first starved in order to make them agitated. Then, in the arena, the bullfighter, or matador, waves a red cloth before the bull, provoking and enraging it until it attacks. If the bull refuses […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-15-12\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Peninei Halakha\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-14T21:12:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-09T06:02:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/17-15-12\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/17-15-12\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7866b763cf3f205e4ae075eebce0d674\"},\"headline\":\"12. Cruel Spectacles\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-14T21:12:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-09T06:02:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/17-15-12\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":636,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"15 - Tza\u2019ar Ba\u2019alei \u1e24ayim\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/17-15-12\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/17-15-12\\\/\",\"name\":\"12. Cruel Spectacles - Peninei Halakha\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-14T21:12:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-09T06:02:52+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/17-15-12\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/17-15-12\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/17-15-12\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u05d3\u05e3 \u05d4\u05d1\u05d9\u05ea\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"12. Cruel Spectacles\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Peninei Halakha\",\"description\":\"HaRav Eliezer Melamed\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Peninei Halakha\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/10\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/logo-ph-.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/10\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/logo-ph-.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":64,\"caption\":\"Peninei Halakha\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7866b763cf3f205e4ae075eebce0d674\",\"name\":\"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f73aec4c538c25ed89bfe678bd2c8d6c4c68e602d853cddfe42d3dbab083bc82?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f73aec4c538c25ed89bfe678bd2c8d6c4c68e602d853cddfe42d3dbab083bc82?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f73aec4c538c25ed89bfe678bd2c8d6c4c68e602d853cddfe42d3dbab083bc82?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/author\\\/eladgg\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"12. Cruel Spectacles - Peninei Halakha","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-15-12\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"12. Cruel Spectacles - Peninei Halakha","og_description":"It is forbidden to organize or attend bullfights, because they cause animals suffering and also endanger human life. The bulls are first starved in order to make them agitated. Then, in the arena, the bullfighter, or matador, waves a red cloth before the bull, provoking and enraging it until it attacks. If the bull refuses […]","og_url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-15-12\/","og_site_name":"Peninei Halakha","article_published_time":"2026-07-14T21:12:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-09T06:02:52+00:00","author":"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-15-12\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-15-12\/"},"author":{"name":"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/7866b763cf3f205e4ae075eebce0d674"},"headline":"12. Cruel Spectacles","datePublished":"2026-07-14T21:12:51+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-09T06:02:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-15-12\/"},"wordCount":636,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#organization"},"articleSection":["15 - Tza\u2019ar Ba\u2019alei \u1e24ayim"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-15-12\/","url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-15-12\/","name":"12. Cruel Spectacles - Peninei Halakha","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-07-14T21:12:51+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-09T06:02:52+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-15-12\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-15-12\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-15-12\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u05d3\u05e3 \u05d4\u05d1\u05d9\u05ea","item":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"12. Cruel Spectacles"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/","name":"Peninei Halakha","description":"HaRav Eliezer Melamed","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#organization","name":"Peninei Halakha","url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/logo-ph-.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/logo-ph-.png","width":300,"height":64,"caption":"Peninei Halakha"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/7866b763cf3f205e4ae075eebce0d674","name":"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f73aec4c538c25ed89bfe678bd2c8d6c4c68e602d853cddfe42d3dbab083bc82?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f73aec4c538c25ed89bfe678bd2c8d6c4c68e602d853cddfe42d3dbab083bc82?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f73aec4c538c25ed89bfe678bd2c8d6c4c68e602d853cddfe42d3dbab083bc82?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8"},"url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/author\/eladgg\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12341"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12342,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12341\/revisions\/12342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}