Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz

Oh, so if it's not chukasakum, is it motor?

Is it something that we should be doing?

We should be arranging for mash pits?

So a little more research.

According to Wikipedia,

The dance style originated in the Southern California hardcore punk scene, particularly Huntington Beach and Long Beach around 1978.

Through the 1980s, it spread to the hardcore scenes of Washington, D.C., Boston, and New York, where it developed local variants.

In New York, the crossover between the city's hardcore scene and its metal scene led to mashing and incorporating itself into metal beginning around 1985.

In the 1990s, the success of grunge music

led to mashing entering mainstream understanding and soon being incorporated into genres like electronic dance music and hip-hop.

Due to its violence, mashing has been subject to controversy, with a number of concert venues banning the practice and some musicians being arrested for encouraging it and concertgoers for participating.

Okay, so if it's something that's violent, that people are going to get hurt, so then obviously that's not something you should be doing.

You don't do things that are going to hurt somebody or that are going to be violent.

You don't need me to tell you that.

It would be an interesting Shaila, though.

If, let's say, you damage someone, you tear their clothing or something like that in the mash pit, so would you be chayiv?

But it could be that when everyone's going into the same thing to have their fun, and they all know the risks, so it could be that there's an implicit mechila, right?

It could be similar to the din in Hilchas Purim, that damage caused in the context of a Purim celebration, a person is not chayiv to pay.

So,

interesting Choshe Mishpat discussion, but as far as whether one should do it, it's probably not Chukasakum, but it's also probably something that we should not be doing.