A thread on Talmudic trolling:

Shabbat 31a includes stories about different people who approached both Hillel and Shammai with ridiculous questions in order to frustrate them. They even placed bets.

Hillel treated silly questions seriously; Shammai dismissed them. 1/6

Shammai's impatience drove people away, while Hillel's patience brought people closer to the Divine presence.

One might assume that the lesson is that trolls can be won over with kindness and patience.

But anyone who has spent a minute online knows this isn't always true. 2/6

Even though the Talmud criticizes Shammai's approach, I believe the Talmud also knows that you can't always tame trolls by feeding them.

After all, why would Shammai's lessons be included if they had no merit whatsoever? 3/6

Nothing in the world is binary.

Shammai isn't always wrong.

Shammai represents setting boundaries. It isn't mandatory to invest emotional labour in people who aren't willing to listen or learn. You don't owe your time and energy to everyone who slides into your DMs. 4/6

And Hillel isn't always right.

Giving attention to everyone who demands it leaves you vulnerable to harm and self-neglect. Patience can be a good thing when you're teaching those with a sincere desire to learn, but you can be taken advantage of if you're not careful. 5/6

Perhaps the real lesson here is to learn when to be like Hillel and when to be like Shammai. Your emotional well-being is paramount, but don't shut out those who genuinely want to learn.

And also, don't be a troll. 6/6

#QueerDafYomi

(Shabbat 31)