I am a Jew

[Muse]

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: Muse The origin of the law against eating pork was probably due to the prevalence of tricinosis, a parasite desease contracted from eating undercooked pork, and still a threat, of course.

That's a misconception. The Torah forbids the eating of any animal that does not have split hooves and does not chew it's cud. Both things are necessary for the animal to be eaten. A pig has split hooves but does not chew it's cud, so it's forbidden. As far as WHY it's not allowed, we don't know. It's what God said. I mean, God knew about mad cow disease, E-coli and cholesterol as well, yet he permits us to eat cow.

Call me a cynic, but it wasn't God who decided what was kosher and what wasn't. It was rabbis. "We don't know." OK, you don't know. I can't say I know, but I said "probably" because people who ate pork were known to get a certain nasty disease. If they had mad cow back then to any great extent it would have been a no no to eat beef, if the conditions permitted that. Anyway, priests (and rabbis are priests) have a way of obfuscating the real reasons when they lay down their pronouncements.

Call it what you want, but those guidelines are in the Torah word for word.

Yeah, I've heard that stuff a number of times, but I don't presume it's the word of God any more than the Ten Commandments. Similarly you can assume that the USA is fighting in Iraq to free the Iraqis and to instill democracy and peace in the Middle East like George Bush says, or you can look beyond the rhetoric and see that Big Oil has a lot at stake. You can't always take people at their word, in fact you almost never can. Like Shakespeare said, "to be honest, as this world goes, is to be one man picked out of ten thousand."

 

[DBL]

Originally posted by: ThePresence

As far as it being a male-dominated society, that is incorrect. The cases you witnesses notwithstanding, I myself am an Orthodox Jew originally from Brooklyn. And yes, it's usually a family choice. Sure, there are many cases when the woman is the only earner and most times it's because they chose to sacrifice for what they believe in. Of course there are some rotten apples who think his means they can get a free ride, etc, but those cases are not the norm.

I understand your point but I think it really comes down to how you define the word "choice". I don't mean to compare the two but I'm sure you would have women under the Taliban who would claim that way of life as "their choice".

Keep in mind that they attend private schools and pay city taxes that support the public school system. But it's an entirely different discussion, and there are arguments both ways.

Good point. There are certainly valid arguments for either side.

 

[ThePresence]

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: Muse The origin of the law against eating pork was probably due to the prevalence of tricinosis, a parasite desease contracted from eating undercooked pork, and still a threat, of course.

That's a misconception. The Torah forbids the eating of any animal that does not have split hooves and does not chew it's cud. Both things are necessary for the animal to be eaten. A pig has split hooves but does not chew it's cud, so it's forbidden. As far as WHY it's not allowed, we don't know. It's what God said. I mean, God knew about mad cow disease, E-coli and cholesterol as well, yet he permits us to eat cow.

Call me a cynic, but it wasn't God who decided what was kosher and what wasn't. It was rabbis. "We don't know." OK, you don't know. I can't say I know, but I said "probably" because people who ate pork were known to get a certain nasty disease. If they had mad cow back then to any great extent it would have been a no no to eat beef, if the conditions permitted that. Anyway, priests (and rabbis are priests) have a way of obfuscating the real reasons when they lay down their pronouncements.

Call it what you want, but those guidelines are in the Torah word for word.

Yeah, I've heard that stuff a number of times, but I don't presume it's the word of God any more than the Ten Commandments. Similarly you can assume that the USA is fighting in Iraq to free the Iraqis and to instill democracy and peace in the Middle East like George Bush says, or you can look beyond the rhetoric and see that Big Oil has a lot at stake. You can't always take people at their word, in fact you almost never can. Like Shakespeare said, "to be honest, as this world goes, is to be one man picked out of ten thousand."

That's fine, you don't believe the Torah to be divine, I do. I've actually studied it in depth for many years, including what the Rabbi's say, and the Mishnah and the Talmud. I'm not going to try to convince you that I'm right and you're wrong. If you're happy, great. I won't knock what you believe or don't.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: Muse The origin of the law against eating pork was probably due to the prevalence of tricinosis, a parasite desease contracted from eating undercooked pork, and still a threat, of course.

That's a misconception. The Torah forbids the eating of any animal that does not have split hooves and does not chew it's cud. Both things are necessary for the animal to be eaten. A pig has split hooves but does not chew it's cud, so it's forbidden. As far as WHY it's not allowed, we don't know. It's what God said. I mean, God knew about mad cow disease, E-coli and cholesterol as well, yet he permits us to eat cow.

Call me a cynic, but it wasn't God who decided what was kosher and what wasn't. It was rabbis. "We don't know." OK, you don't know. I can't say I know, but I said "probably" because people who ate pork were known to get a certain nasty disease. If they had mad cow back then to any great extent it would have been a no no to eat beef, if the conditions permitted that. Anyway, priests (and rabbis are priests) have a way of obfuscating the real reasons when they lay down their pronouncements.

Call it what you want, but those guidelines are in the Torah word for word.

Yeah, I've heard that stuff a number of times, but I don't presume it's the word of God any more than the Ten Commandments. Similarly you can assume that the USA is fighting in Iraq to free the Iraqis and to instill democracy and peace in the Middle East like George Bush says, or you can look beyond the rhetoric and see that Big Oil has a lot at stake. You can't always take people at their word, in fact you almost never can. Like Shakespeare said, "to be honest, as this world goes, is to be one man picked out of ten thousand."

That's fine, you don't believe the Torah to be divine, I do. I've actually studied it in depth for many years, including what the Rabbi's say, and the Mishnah and the Talmud. I'm not going to try to convince you that I'm right and you're wrong. If you're happy, great. I won't knock what you believe or don't.

It's not that I don't think the Torah devine, I do. It's rather that I think everything is devine. I don't discriminate. Nor do I hold anything sacred in the classic sense. I hold nothing sacred in the sense that I think it's above reproach, should be exempt from scrutiny, and thought to be beyond reproach or the dictates of reason by virtue of accepting the premise that it is the work of a perfect being. I don't believe in a perfect being. That's the construct of people's imagination, but it does not exist, nor has ever existed. All life manifests the devine, but nowhere is it perfect, or better put... nowhere is it perfectly perfect.

I suppose I might be considered a mystic, although I'm not schooled in mysticism, nor theology. I'm more of a philosopher.

 

[j00fek]

ok....

 

[mercanucaribe]

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: Muse The origin of the law against eating pork was probably due to the prevalence of tricinosis, a parasite desease contracted from eating undercooked pork, and still a threat, of course.

That's a misconception. The Torah forbids the eating of any animal that does not have split hooves and does not chew it's cud. Both things are necessary for the animal to be eaten. A pig has split hooves but does not chew it's cud, so it's forbidden. As far as WHY it's not allowed, we don't know. It's what God said. I mean, God knew about mad cow disease, E-coli and cholesterol as well, yet he permits us to eat cow.

Call me a cynic, but it wasn't God who decided what was kosher and what wasn't. It was rabbis. "We don't know." OK, you don't know. I can't say I know, but I said "probably" because people who ate pork were known to get a certain nasty disease. If they had mad cow back then to any great extent it would have been a no no to eat beef, if the conditions permitted that. Anyway, priests (and rabbis are priests) have a way of obfuscating the real reasons when they lay down their pronouncements.

Call it what you want, but those guidelines are in the Torah word for word.

Yeah, I've heard that stuff a number of times, but I don't presume it's the word of God any more than the Ten Commandments. Similarly you can assume that the USA is fighting in Iraq to free the Iraqis and to instill democracy and peace in the Middle East like George Bush says, or you can look beyond the rhetoric and see that Big Oil has a lot at stake. You can't always take people at their word, in fact you almost never can. Like Shakespeare said, "to be honest, as this world goes, is to be one man picked out of ten thousand."

That's fine, you don't believe the Torah to be divine, I do. I've actually studied it in depth for many years, including what the Rabbi's say, and the Mishnah and the Talmud. I'm not going to try to convince you that I'm right and you're wrong. If you're happy, great. I won't knock what you believe or don't.

This is turning into a small version of the "I'm a Christian" thread.