Is halachah/Jewish religious law invasive?
In yesterday's post, I raised questions about a discussion of whether it's permissible to serve a non-meat meal at a brit milah (ritual circumsion). While it's true that the good rabbi concludes that it is, after all, permissible to serve dairy at a bris, I have a problem with that whole discussion: Why did he ask the question in the first place?
Halachah seems to dictate everything.
It tells us what kind of watch we're allowed to wear on Shabbat/Sabbath--a gold one, according to some, so that one can assert that one is wearing jewelry, rather than "carrying" a timepiece.
It tells us whether we're allowed to wear gloves on Shabbat.
(Is it true that the Shulchan Aruch/Code of Jewish Law also specifies on which day[s?] one is permitted to cut one's fingernails and in what order one is supposed to put on and tie one's shoes?)
It also tells us whether a married person is even permitted to choose not to have children--to the best of my knowledge, the answer is no (though I suspect that exceptions may be made for health reasons).
When to "pull the plug" is also a topic not only for patients, patients' families, and doctors--there seems to be a debate among the rabbanim/rabbis as to whether brain death meets the halachic definition of death, and, therefore, whether organ donation is permissible.
Isn't a Jew allowed to make any decision at all, however trivial or however life-altering, without turning to halachah? Does halachah permit us Jews to think? Whatever happened to the blessing praising HaShem for giving us intelligence (chonen ha-daat)? Is it a b'rachah l'vatalah (a "false" blessing, in which we take G-d's name in vain)?
Sorry, but, sometimes, I get the sense that halachah is a case of "Big Brother is watching you." And I'm not sure whether "Big Brother" is Him or them.
Halachah seems to dictate everything.
It tells us what kind of watch we're allowed to wear on Shabbat/Sabbath--a gold one, according to some, so that one can assert that one is wearing jewelry, rather than "carrying" a timepiece.
It tells us whether we're allowed to wear gloves on Shabbat.
(Is it true that the Shulchan Aruch/Code of Jewish Law also specifies on which day[s?] one is permitted to cut one's fingernails and in what order one is supposed to put on and tie one's shoes?)
It also tells us whether a married person is even permitted to choose not to have children--to the best of my knowledge, the answer is no (though I suspect that exceptions may be made for health reasons).
When to "pull the plug" is also a topic not only for patients, patients' families, and doctors--there seems to be a debate among the rabbanim/rabbis as to whether brain death meets the halachic definition of death, and, therefore, whether organ donation is permissible.
Isn't a Jew allowed to make any decision at all, however trivial or however life-altering, without turning to halachah? Does halachah permit us Jews to think? Whatever happened to the blessing praising HaShem for giving us intelligence (chonen ha-daat)? Is it a b'rachah l'vatalah (a "false" blessing, in which we take G-d's name in vain)?
Sorry, but, sometimes, I get the sense that halachah is a case of "Big Brother is watching you." And I'm not sure whether "Big Brother" is Him or them.
posted by Shira Salamone at 8:22 AM
6 Comments:
Were halachah so clearly prescriptive, there would be little need for the long debates in Talmud; were Talmud so clearly prescriptive, there would be little need for the reams of responsa; were all the questions involved so clearly resolved, we'd have little need for so many of our clarifying texts. In answer to your question, then, I think yes, there are many, many places in which the decision is entirely up to us, and I don't mean simply deciding between following the halachos or not.
Clearly we're not a religion of wildly exuberant innovation, but at the same time, we cannot be a religion that attempts at every turn to fix life in place. To become a monument to the past would prevent us from practicing a living religion.
1) Yes. Halacha governs most of our daily activities, if not all.
2) Yes, the shulchan arukh does discuss when (and how) to cut nails, it's an issue regarding Shabbat. (incidentally, don't cut the fingernails of adjacent fingers!)
3) Keep in mind that some of the discussions are also based in minhag, not halacha. E.g., gold watches: In Gil's community, the bride's family gives a gold watch to the chattan. Ergo, watches must be gold. I consider myself perfectly Orthodox and I have never owned a gold watch. My wife bought me a Movado which I lost. I would wear a nice watch with a leather band even without an eruv (I wear my Ironman digital if there is an eruv!). Different communities have different minhagim, which does ultimately have halachic consequence.
4) If you step outside the fishbowl that is NY, you find a lot more normalcy in Orthodoxy. Not to say the same silliness doesn't crop up, but we tend to be a bit more sane, IMO. Maybe because we're smaller, we just tend to be more laissez-faire.
what jdub said, but also:
Judaism is as invasive as you allow it to be. If you are the kind of Jew who runs to a rabbi with every question, then yes, it is. And you like it that way. but not everyone is that kind of Jew, or is in a community that encourages that behavior (thank G-d).
Halacha is meant to be a guide to life, which is why you find (nowadays quite funny) Talmudic information about how to prevent leprosy (don't eat fish and meat together), and so on.
Right back at Tzipporah.
We're not big shaila people when it comes to life decisions that don't directly involve halachic issues (where to live, where to send the kids to school). I'll ask questions about kashrut or shabbat or other things after I've learned the sources and either can't figure it out or shouldn't decide myself because I'm too personally involved.
Now, regarding the leprosy stuff (i.e., things we do because of reasons that are either clearly not true or which we can't understand), there is no legitimate reason to separate fish and meat (i.e., getting clean plates etc.) And yet I do because that is the halacha. I'm not willing to change that and prefer not to eat on the same plate (if my host doesn't offer a clean plate, I will, but I'm not comfortable doing it.)
Shira, I am puzzled by your reaction. Do you question why you need to pray three times a day, and what prayers you need to say? Why not just say "G-d, thanks for all the things you do for me,and could you arrange for a raise?" You obviously don't do this, and are extremely careful about your tefilot (not to mention kashrut). Why do some halachic parameters bother you and others don't?
Tevel said, "Were halachah so clearly prescriptive, there would be little need for the long debates in Talmud; were Talmud so clearly prescriptive, there would be little need for the reams of responsa; were all the questions involved so clearly resolved, we'd have little need for so many of our clarifying texts."
True. That's a helpful reminder.
JDub said, "If you step outside the fishbowl that is NY, you find a lot more normalcy in Orthodoxy."
Probably, but then Ms. Kitchen Challenged wouldn't be able to stop off at a glatt kosher take-up restaurant on the way home from work.
For the record, I've asked the Punster where he'd like to live after he retires, and he replied that it would depend on when that event takes place. At this rate, he may be too ancient by that time to want to move.
Tzipporah said, "Judaism is as invasive as you allow it to be. If you are the kind of Jew who runs to a rabbi with every question, then yes, it is."
So I'll take JDub's lead and not be a big shaila (question asked of a rabbi) person.
WestBankMama asked, "Why do some halachic parameters bother you and others don't?"
That's an excellent question, and I'm not sure I can give it a well-thought-out answer, because I'm not sure I've thought it out well enough. I guess the best I could say is that I don't see the relevance and/or the provenance of some of these halachot (laws) and/or minhagim (customs). The laws of kashrut, governing what a Jew may or may not eat, etc., are based on Torah sheh-Bi-Ch'tav (loosely translation: the Written Bible), with, granted, a huge dose of rabbinic interpretation. Tefillah, prayer, is basically a substitute for biblically-ordained sacrifices, and is also based on the whispered prayer of Chanah (Hannah) found in the First Book of Samuel, chapter 1, verses 9-18, (see the Haftarah for the 1st day of Rosh HaShanah/Jewish New Year). But where on earth did rules about clipping one's nails come from? I can't help wondering why on earth (or elsewhere) HaShem would care about such trivia. And why are people so obsessive about eating meat on Shabbat and Chagim (holidays) and on special occasion, as if vegetarianism and/or being too broke to afford kosher meat were totally irrelevant. (I have my own complaint about this: If you check my blog, you'll find that the wife of a chazzan/cantor whom we hosted for a Rosh HaShanah lunch years ago complained because we had the alleged chutzpah to serve kosher cheese and [very expensive] smoked salmon [that we had made a special trip out of our neighborhood to buy.]) This obsessiveness doesn't make much sense to me, and, as stated, can create barriers between Jews.
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