The Lord of the Rings: Was Frodo Wrong to Show Mercy to Gollum? - Rabbi Yoni Ganger

In this third episode tackling The Lord of the Rings, Rabbi Yoni Ganger (MEOR: Harvard) and I tackle one of the saga’s most powerful moral questions: Was Frodo right to show mercy to Gollum? Tolkien famously suggests that it was precisely the mercy of Bilbo and Frodo that allowed the quest to destroy the Ring to succeed. Without pity, there would have been no salvation. But from a Torah perspective—is that really true? In this episode of Dilemmas on Screen – A Jewish Perspective, we explore: What does Judaism actually mean by mercy (רחמים)? Is mercy always virtuous—or can it sometimes be destructive? When does compassion become irresponsibility? Does Judaism believe that “putting good energy into the world” guarantees good outcomes? Are there people who are beyond redemption? And perhaps most unsettling: can empathy itself sometimes be dangerous? We examine powerful Torah sources, including: The story of Yosef and his brothers Shaul and Amalek The destruction of the Second Temple Talmudic discussions about capital punishment and restraint We also analyze whether Gollum was truly redeemable—and whether Frodo’s empathy clouded his judgment. Is mercy about canceling justice? Or is it about delaying justice to allow for growth? And most importantly: when someone is actively dangerous, does the Torah expect us to stay merciful—or to act? A nuanced, timely, and deeply relevant discussion.   To tackle these questions, I am excited to welcome back Rabbi Yoni Ganger to this episode to answer our questions. Rabbi Ganger formerly joined us on two podcast episodes The Lord of the Rings, "Was Frodo's Failure a Moral Failure", and for Whiplash, "Pushing to Greatness or Pushing Too Far?" Rabbi Ganger has lived in Boston with his family for the last 11 years working on the Harvard campus as the program director of MEOR, a Jewish outreach organization. He also runs the MEOR BOSTON Jewish Young Professional program. In addition to Jewish education, Rabbi Ganger works as a therapist at the Center for Anxiety, a private practice therapy group with several offices in the Northeast that specializes in treating a wide variety of mental health issues using evidence-based treatments. Rabbi Ganger aims to weave psychology with Jewish wisdom both on campus and in his practice in order to best serve both his students and his clients. Rabbi Ganger also has two of his own podcasts: Realizing Potential and MEOR Mastery covering the basics of everyday Jewish life. Please reach out at yganger@meor.org for any questions about Judaism, Psychology, or Lord of the Rings.  MEOR Mastery: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/meor-mastery-master-the-basics-of-jewish-practice/id1799495092 Realizing Potential Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/41WAyzvlRt4kK6GbyFgiKW   The source mentioned in the .edu article can be found here: https://pillars.taylor.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1116&context=inklings_forever