is the Lord,' and therefore mercy is to be denied to him who has no
knowledge; for it is written (Isa. xxvii. 11), 'It is a people of no
understanding, therefore He that hath made them will not have mercy on
them.'"

_Berachoth_ fol. 33, col. 1.

Here we have a clear law, drawn from Scripture, forbidding, or
at any rate denying, mercy to the ignorant. The words of Rabbi
(the Holy) are a practical commentary on the text worth quoting,
"Woe is unto me because I have given my morsel to an ignorant
one." (_Bava Bathra_, fol. 8, col. 1.)

But who is the ignorant one from whom this mercy is to be
withheld? Here the doctors disagree. He, says Rabbi Eliezer, who
does not read the Shema, "Hear, O Israel," etc., both morning
and evening. According to Rabbi Yehudah, he that does not put on
phylacteries is an ignorant one. Rabbi Azai affirms that he who
wears no fringes to his garment is an ignorant one, etc. Others
again say he who even reads the Bible and the Mishna but does
not serve the disciples of the wise, is an ignorant one. Rabbi
Huna winds up with the words "the law is as the others have
said," and so leaves the difficulty where he finds it.
(_Berachoth_, fol. 47, col. 2.)

Of him "who transgresses the words of the wise, which he is
commanded to obey," it is written, "He is guilty of death and
has forfeited his life." (_Berachoth_, fol. 4, col. 2, and
_Yevamoth_, fol. 20, col. 1.) Whoso, therefore, shows mercy to
him contradicts the purpose and incurs the displeasure of God.