jgb@linus.UUCP (Jonathan G. Bressel) (02/24/84)
I am Jewish, and have been vegetarian for four years. As such I refrain not
only from eating meat, but also from using any products containing animal
derivatives. Before giving up meat, I kept kosher, and in fact I view
ethical vegetarianism as an extension of the principles of kashrut. I have
some questions about vegetarianism as it relates to kashrut:
1. Why is it not okay to eat unkosher meat, and at the same time okay to
wear the skin of an animal not killed in a kosher manner? I realize
that the bible refers only to EATING, and not to WEARING, but since so
much of Jewish law is interpretation of the bible, I am surprised these
injunctions were not interpreted in a more general sense.
2. Is it really REQUIRED that a Torah be made from the skin of an animal?
For that matter, need Tefillin be made of leather? Need the parchment
in mezuzot be made from an animal?
--
Jonathan G. Bressel
ARPA: linus!jgb@mitre-bedford
UUCP: ...{decvax,utzoo,philabs,security,allegra,genrad}!linus!jgbtrb@masscomp.UUCP (Andy Tannenbaum) (02/25/84)
Jonathan Bressel asks some interesting questions:
1. Why is it not okay to eat unkosher meat, and at the same time okay to
wear the skin of an animal not killed in a kosher manner? I realize
that the bible refers only to EATING, and not to WEARING, but since so
much of Jewish law is interpretation of the bible, I am surprised these
injunctions were not interpreted in a more general sense.
2. Is it really REQUIRED that a Torah be made from the skin of an animal?
For that matter, need Tefillin be made of leather? Need the parchment
in mezuzot be made from an animal?
Both of these are interesting and well reasoned questions. My
important point for today is this: the Torah, and Jewish law in
general is not there to be interesting and well reasoned, it is there
to dictate the rules by which Jews live. If you live by the Torah,
you live by Jewish law. If you live by some of the rules of the
Torah, then that's good, you follow some of God's wishes according
to Jewish law.
Jewish teaching holds that the Torah laws are "commandments." That
means that God tells the Jews to DO things. "DO" is THE IMPORTANT
WORD here. Intentions do not count. Impressions do not count.
Thought does not count.
In this light, the answers to Jonathan's questions are clear. The
Torah says that you may eat these foods and not those foods. No
mention of health constraints or consideration to poor defenseless
cuddly creatures. Jewish law says that you shall wear tefillin on
your head and arm, and that they shall be made of leather. Period.
Yes, the Torah and the mezuzah scroll may not be written on paper.
Those are the rules.
This might all sound pretty unreasonable and not thoroughly modern.
Many of us associate Jews of the past century with liberalism, fights
for social freedom and civil rights, quests for knowledge, and other
such high-fallutin' stuff. You might wonder how this fits in with the
rigid and unimaginative rules I've mentioned above, and why I would
defend such antiquated drivel.
The Torah dictates a lifestyle with its commandments, but it doesn't
dictate your life. Many of the details are left to the reader. The
Torah tells you that you can't eat lobsters and shellfish, but unhealthy
soft drinks and sugary breakfast cereals and snack foods are allowed.
Alcohol is allowed, and so on. The Torah is a framework, but you must
invest of yourself to make it whole. I think Judaism gives Jews the
freedom to think, by enforcing some of what we do more than what we think.
I think that that's one of the graces of Judaism.
Another is that it lets the simpleton be as great a Jew as the sage,
because you don't have to be smart to be an observant Jew. The
commandments don't involve smarts. A young person or an enfeebled old
person can do most of the commandments (and when they really can't,
they are excused from the obligations to do them). If Judaism was
based on reason and principles and general sense, then it would be too
complicated for some people, or at least, it would be unfair to some.
For these reasons, I don't like it when people hack up Jewish laws and
customs to suit themselves. As I've said before, I don't obey all the
laws, but I accept that as a fact. I don't wear leatherette tefillin,
I think it would be a masquerade. I'm sure that lazy needy Jews can
find so-called rabbis out there who will condone or even accept
whatever rationalizations for Jewish law that you happen to conjure up,
thinking that some semblance of compliance with the commandments is
better than none. I just think that it serves to weaken the fiber of
Jewish law by misleading people into thinking that such actions are
acceptable.
Andy Tannenbaum Masscomp Inc Westford MA (617) 692-6200 x274