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From: meth@csd2.UUCP (Asher Meth)
Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish
Subject: Re: Who is biblical? Who is observant?
Message-ID: <3780014@csd2.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 26-Feb-85 17:15:00 EST
Article-I.D.: csd2.3780014
Posted: Tue Feb 26 17:15:00 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 3-Mar-85 04:33:26 EST
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Organization: New York University
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Yom Shelishi Leparshas Tatzaveh, 5 ADAR 5745

Adam V. Reed writes :
>My view is that the mitzvot are defined by their
>impact on human beings; while they are taught to us by means of concrete
>examples, it is the human impact, and not the substance of the concrete
>example, that defines their true observance.

Where does your definition come from? What basis does it have?
Why do you presuppose that the mitzvos are reflected ONLY in their impact on
human beings?

>As a Humanistic Jew, I view the mitzvot of Kashrut as teaching us to
>refrain from contaminating our bodies with things harmful to our health.
>In biblical times, this precept was taught through prohibition against
>foods which either spoiled rapidly or carried parasites. Today, pork,
>shellfish etc. are no longer tref in the original sense of being
>dangerous to human health. On the other hand, some things not known at
>the time of the writing down of the Torah, such as cigarettes, ARE tref
>in this sense.

(ASIDE : What is a Humanistic Jew? A simple definition will do. How do such
Jews fit into the larger scheme?)

Since when does ANY mitzvah, Kashrus as an example, relate ONLY to the human
bodies that our souls are placed in while we exist on this world? Is there not
a soul? If you agree that you have a soul, (and, as Jews, we do believe that
the soul exists and is an important component of every person) what function 
does it play in your life? In your afterlife? How do the things that you do 
while in your body relate to, and affect, your soul, both in the HERE and in 
the HEREAFTER? (Yes, as Jews, we believe in a HEREAFTER.)

Are you worried ONLY about contaminating your body and not you soul?

After 120 years, the soul leaves the body and the body is placed in the earth, 
                                   and
decays; it disintegrates and returns to its original state of "affar vaeffer",
dust and ashes. How is your body (which, for argument's sake, we will assume is
less contaminated than a non-Humanistic's) any better off than a
non-Humanistic's? Perhaps your body is healthier; why not become a body
builder? I do NOT mean to deride the idea of taking care of yourself, including
your health, as best as you can. We are commanded to do that, too - "ushemartem
meod lenafshoseichem".
However, do not think, even for a moment, that the only thing that is important
is physical health and well-being. That is all fine and well, when put in the
proper perspective of good spiritual health.
As the rabbi of a shul that I used to daven at used to say : What is the
difference between a mikveh (ritualarium) and a bathtub? A clean bath makes you
physically clean (but, if it is dirty, it does NOTHING); a dirty mikveh (by its
nature of being a mikveh - irrespective of its cleanliness) makes you
spiritually "clean" or "pure".
A woman, observing the laws of "Taharas Hamishpachah" (Family Purity), will
become permitted to her husband only after immersion in a kosher mikveh; a
bathtub CANNOT function in place of a kosher mikveh. It is nice and proper for
the mikveh to be clean. It should NOT be the case that women must feel
disgusted about going to the mikveh because of its state of cleanliness. 

The point of all this is that, in Judaism, we believe that there is a spiritual
aspect in EVERYTHING, especially mitzvos that we are commanded to do. This is
in addition to the physical aspect that we can find in the performance of such.

>So to a Humanistic Jew, the question poses itself like this:
>Is an Orthodox truly "shomer Kashrut" when he rejects perfectly healthy
>foods but ingests truly tref substances such as tobacco smoke? Isn't a
>Humanistic Jew, who eats things that are healthy today (regardless of
>how tref they were ages ago) but scrupulously refrains from defiling his
>body with things that are destroying human health now, closer in his
>observance to the actual substance and meaning of Kashrut?

I would say that "healthy foods", in Judaism, may have a different definition
than in the sense you wish to portray. "Healthy" is certainly reflected in the
physical sense, but, perhaps even more importantly, it is reflected in the 
spiritual sense.

Re : tobacco (sp?) smoke - As I mentioned above : "ushemartem meod
lenafshoseichem". ("Dai lechakima beremizah".)

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There are some times that one canNOT stand by idly and let comments go by
without responding !!

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A freilichen Purim, and A kosheren Pesach to one and all.

                         Asher Meth
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