I can’t think of anything positive to say about the word zealous or it’s related forms: zealot, zealotry, etc. They all sound so extreme.
Kamsa and bar Kamsa were both zealots, I’m pretty certain.
During the siege of Yerushalayim, the folks who decided to burn the grain that the Jews had stored up were zealots. If we burn the grain, they reasoned, everyone will be motivated to fight. (It failed.)
Today, zealots are the ones who refuse to let the people they disagree with speak. They like to cancel comedians and are banning books like MAUS by Art Spiegelman from public school libraries, and writing angry letters to podcasters.
I like books. I like comedians. I often like podcasts. I do0n’t like zealots.
I once asked Rabbi Kelemer, zt”l, my former rabbi of the Young Israel of West Hempstead, “Is there any limit to the mitzvah of tznius? Can you cover too much?” He answered, Yes. When you do so much of one mitzvah, that it starts to intrude on another mitzvah. (Like, say, kavod habriyos?) That’s when you’ve gone too far.
If I may extend his answer… when you care more about a single idea so much that you won’t allow other people with other ideas to speak or be seen – that’s when you become a zealot, instead of a yirei shamayim.
I want folks to be passionate and care deeply about Torah and their fellow people, but not if that limits the expression of the diverse and rich tapestry of our entire people.
Let’s all strive to be passionate, moderate, and enjoy our comedians, books, friends, family and the entire Torah. That’s something I can be zealous about.
