20 May 2005 (Friday)
kashrut, starvation-style
First strawberries, and now onions. I've never been so glad to not live in London.
I have to say, I'm not sure where to draw the line between use of modern technology and basic knowledge of biology on the one hand, and common sense and following the spirit of the law on the other. Sure, there probably are teeny-tiny insects in our onions and on our fruit, but there are certainly even tinier things living on just about everything we put into our mouths. The halachic standard, as far as I know, is that you can't eat those bugs that are visible to the naked eye. That's...arbitrary. Many of these little critters are made to be hard-to-see - green bugs on green vegetables, black ones on seeded fruit, white ones inside onions - so we're already at a disadvantage there. Obviously, different people have different levels of visual accuity, and just because your near-blind grandfather is the one checking the lettuce, that doesn't mean you're allowed to eat half-inch long insects. There has to be some kind of objective standard.
But...are we losing our minds here? Remember, there's always going to be something small that you don't see. They didn't have lightboxes and vegetable wash two hundred years ago, and I'm pretty sure no one was pulling apart onions layer by layer and rinsing each piece off in vinegar before cooking. From the sound of it (I haven't seen these infested onions first-hand), I'm guessing that the average person wouldn't notice one of these bugs without first having it pointed out to her, and even then it may be tough. I won't even approach the issue of these new issurim (prohibitions) and complicated cooking preparation methods are being put forth by rabbinical councils made up of (drumroll, please) men, when the vast majority of the people shouldering the extra work with each new edict are (wait for it) women.
(Cross-posted at KosherBlog.)
yeah, well... I'm glad you don't love in London too. So there.
um...ok?
Yeah, we just can't eat anything healthy nor drink water ... yay! This hits home after one resteraunt in FL served 4 salads with bugs in each of them that were totally visable to me but not to my grandmother. She then gave me a speech about making a fuss over nothing since she didn't see any. I'll save you the trouble and skip the salad if you want ... how's that for a male's response ;p
Ever hear that old Yiddish expression, "It's hard to be a yid?" I think the problem is some Rebbeim looked around and said, "You know what? In the 21st century, in America and Great Britain, it's not so hard to be a Yid! We'd better fix that."
So now we can't drink the water (in NY, unless you filter it, getting out particles smaller than 30 microns), eat fruit or vegetables, (teeny tiny bugs that really good vision can pick out, if they happen to move while you're staring at it!) cover our hair with just about anything except an ill-fitting obvious wig, (snoods and scarves call attention to you, hats and good sheitels are "misleading" because everyone wears hats and no one can tell a good wig is in fact a wig) ...
It's enough to drive a person mad!
Cmon, Shanna. I will not try dissuading you of your skepticism regarding the bugs but does every issue have to come down to a man versus woman thing. The fact is I am the one who had to install the filter to get the bugs out of the water and my wife simply buys pre-washed veggies. Did you catch the brouhaha on RebRebs site about B.S. Marcus's blaming the unsympathetic MALE Rabbonim for the the difficulty in preparing for Pesach. I think that jewish feminists have become the famous carpenter with a hammer who sees nails everywhere.
P.S. I have been watching you this whole time, waiting for my opening.
No, Joel, not every issue comes down to men vs. women, and if you couldn't see the tongue firmly planted in my cheek, maybe I should get a plastic window implanted the next time I go for dental work. ;)
Seriously, my bigger issue here is with perfectly good foods going on the do-not-eat list. Have you ever seen the MK vegetable list? It's a miracle that all of the Jews in Quebec aren't dying of malnutrition.
Awwww....I am married for too long to fall for that. That is the oldest dodge in the book, making believe that you are just "joking" so as to give you an opportunity to let loose you mostly deeply felt complaints. For example, "Honey, thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve a Talmid Chochom by picking up your socks". We all know how to interpret those "jokes".
I hope my plexiglass cheek is still see-through.
Maybe there is something to be said for the much maligned "LOL" convention for tone-deaf men like myself.
??"?
This reminds me of the insanity going on with the invisible crustaceans in the NYC water supply, making tap water "treyf", according to Rabbi Chumra-of-the-Week. Oy Veynu! Next week we'll be told we can't eat anything that isn't sterilized because of the bacteria. Can't we just focus on G@d for a change, people?
Soferet - maybe you can focus on "G@d" without needing the Torah. But most Jews can't.
BS"D
Sorry, Alex, but I'm not sure what you mean by that. Perhaps we're misunderstanding each other. I definitely need Torah, as does the whole world, to bring me closer to G@d.
