tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097749014220347853.post1221688530440098643..comments2024-01-30T12:26:03.019-05:00Comments on The Blog of Garnel Ironheart: Still Not Getting the PointMighty Garnel Ironhearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09571194550300367249noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097749014220347853.post-56772041384294448672008-01-10T09:12:00.000-05:002008-01-10T09:12:00.000-05:00I spoke about this with Rav Sliffkin during his vi...I spoke about this with Rav Sliffkin during his visit to our community recently and Ahavah makes an important point.<BR/><BR/>I guess an analogy in medicine is people wanting to take antibiotics for a cold because they don't understand the difference between viral and bacterial infection. All they know is that antibiotics fight "infections" and they have an "infection" so therefore they need it.<BR/><BR/>Similarly, as Ahavah succintly noted, kashrus has to do with where the food came from and how it was prepared. It has nothing to do with health value. That is the subject of a completely different mitzvah ("and thou shalt diligently take care of thine souls"). Unfortunately, the "health value" of kashrut is a well-entrenched urban-myth in our society that ranks up there with kashrut being about food that the rabbi blesses to make it kosher.Mighty Garnel Ironhearthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09571194550300367249noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097749014220347853.post-73003342999848878332008-01-09T22:36:00.000-05:002008-01-09T22:36:00.000-05:00"Given the choice between standard kosher chicken ..."Given the choice between standard kosher chicken and free-range organic chicken, a non-observant Jew interested in kindness to animals will choose the latter."<BR/><BR/>This shows exactly why intelligent educated people aren't interesting in being ruled by Rabbis who can't seem to get out of the middle ages:<BR/><BR/>People are sadly mistaken when they think that Kosher products are, overall, more healthy. The only thing that "kosher" guarantees is that no pork or shellfish products or derivatives were used in the product, that all blood is drained from meats, and that no dairy ingredients are in meat products, and vice versa. Health is absolutely not a consideration of kosher certification at all, nor is humane treatment of animals.<BR/><BR/>Products that receive kosher certification, such as bleached white flour, bleached white rice, and refined white sugar have had every bit of healthy nutrition stripped out of them - and only a handful of vitamins are put back by the manufacturers (because they are required to by Federal Law - it has nothing to do with kashrut). All of the fibre, bran, micronutrients, probiotics, and enzymes needful for your health have been stripped away, yet these items, no more than glorified cardboard instead of food, are considered "kosher."<BR/><BR/>Also considered "kosher" are products that not only aren't healthful, but are in fact downright dangerous and cause metabolic dysfunctions in your body, such as hydrogenated vegetable oils, and high fructose corn syrup. There is "no safe level" of hydrogenated oils, according to the medical community, and yet they are "kosher." Ditto for corn syrup - one of the most unnatural "natural" products your body will ever choke to try and process.<BR/><BR/>Genetically modified foods - including foods that have had genes from swine and shellfish inserted into them - are considered "kosher." In fact, these are most certainly "mixed seeds" that we are prohibited from eating according to the Torah - they have been contaminated by genes from other species. They are no longer "natural" by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, since their DNA has been tampered with, they aren't even what you think they are. They're a fake substitute in the shape of whatever fruit, vegetable, or grain you intended to buy. And in the US, manufacturers don't even have to let you know that you're buying GMO products - the giant agribusiness Robber Barons have made sure of that.<BR/><BR/>Fruits, vegetables, and grains that have been sprayed with every sort of poisonous toxin are "kosher," and are fed not just to us, but to the cows and chickens and turkeys and goats and lambs that we eat - making sure every bite of the average person's diet is filled with chemicals that disrupt their endocrine system, filled with chemicals that act as artificial estrogens, and filled with chemicals that cause disease over the long term because they build up in our bodies, because our bodies have no idea how to process and get rid of these petrochemical horrors. But hey, it's "kosher" so it must be ok.<BR/><BR/>Milk that has been produced using rBGH and has dangerously elevated levels of Insulin factor, which has been linked to numerous modern health problems, is "kosher."<BR/><BR/>Animals that have been mistreated, never seen a ray of sunlight, and fed unnatural ground up parts of other animals are considered "kosher," even though the Torah tells us that we are never to eat a carnivore - yet even cows have been made into carnivores by modern factory farming methods. But the Rabbis don't care.<BR/><BR/>We need to educate ourselves about the food that we are eating. Just because the label says "kosher" is not a reason to buy a product. "Kosher" is meaningless in the face of modern corporate malfeasance and worse, Rabbinic inability or unwillingness to exercise due diligence about the products they "certify kosher."<BR/><BR/>Check out the recent scandals regarding Rubashkin and Agriprocessors at Failed Messiah's blog, for just a sample.Ahavahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12795309173195607578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097749014220347853.post-36537449847996659612008-01-09T20:34:00.000-05:002008-01-09T20:34:00.000-05:00We have the right to approach Judaism in our own w...We have the right to approach Judaism in our own way if we want to and we do want to.<BR/><BR/>And the it is in the perogative of us, the vast majority of American jews- who are conservative, reform, and secular, to ignore what the orthodox say.SJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10704885840004960450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097749014220347853.post-11532181062368224752008-01-09T11:32:00.000-05:002008-01-09T11:32:00.000-05:00And exactly what is the relevance of genes since w...And exactly what is the relevance of genes since we take in converts from people of myriad ethnic backgrounds?<BR/><BR/>Nishma's point is that there is a halachic definition of being Jewish. Certainly nowadays there are other definitions but none of them are halachic. Therefore, honesty would suggest that a person can define themselves as Jewish in any way they want but Orthodoxy retains the prerogative to say that these approaches are non-halachic.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097749014220347853.post-71653196058807135922008-01-08T20:16:00.000-05:002008-01-08T20:16:00.000-05:00>> But the point is that it is not the definition ...>> But the point is that it is not the definition of Jewishness within the Halachic percpetion <BR/><BR/>we have our genes which tell us that we are Jewish ... that is all the definition that we need. and we don't need the orthodox to say "my way or the highway."SJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10704885840004960450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097749014220347853.post-26311191938388355922008-01-08T18:38:00.000-05:002008-01-08T18:38:00.000-05:00The question for sj really is: what is Jewishness?...The question for sj really is: what is Jewishness? What is the point of the Jewish People? You can have many more doctors, for example, by lowering med school or Board licensing standards -- but do you want doctors with lower standards? Of course not -- but sj will respond what does that have to do with Jewishness? Being Jewish is not like being a doctor. At this point, what really is being discussed is the nature of the group. The requirements of Halacha reflect a certain definition of Jewishness. Conservative and Reform Judaism reflect a different definition -- which sj may be correct in stating may be more popular and thus gain more adherents. But the point is that it is not the definition of Jewishness within the Halachic percpetion -- and that is what is at issue. A Jew indeed may be one born to a Jewish mother but do we define Jewishness as any behaviou undertaken by someone born to a Jewish mother? If not, then we better start not only defining it but recognizing that we have a myraid of definitions within the Jewish world -- and it is time to start recognizing this.<BR/><BR/>Rabbi Ben HechtNishmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04237299801109329429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097749014220347853.post-88074570187302877522008-01-08T17:08:00.000-05:002008-01-08T17:08:00.000-05:00The restrictions that conservative and reform jews...The restrictions that conservative and reform jews take upon themselves are ones of basic morality, which are also rules of the Torah. And its a good thing that there are synagogues that cater to people who don't want to deal with the halachic strictness of the orthodox or the Jewish people would be much much much smaller ... but then again that is exactly what some orthodox would prefer.SJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10704885840004960450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097749014220347853.post-70343993264213992342008-01-08T13:48:00.000-05:002008-01-08T13:48:00.000-05:00No it doesn't. The major difference between Ortho...No it doesn't. <BR/><BR/>The major difference between Orthodox and non-Orthodox is that to be the former you must actually take upon yourself certain practices and restrictions. To become Consersative or Reform you simply have to join one of their "temples". The vast majority of non-Orthodox American Jews are essentially non-practising but their membership dues put them into either the Reform or Conservative basket.Mighty Garnel Ironhearthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09571194550300367249noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097749014220347853.post-33335769109490736562008-01-08T13:19:00.000-05:002008-01-08T13:19:00.000-05:00Conservative and Reform Judaism does serve a purpo...Conservative and Reform Judaism does serve a purpose -> it connects people to Judaism who don't want to deal with the harsh stringencies that Orthodox Judaism has to offer.<BR/><BR/>It works for the vast majority of American Jews.SJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10704885840004960450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097749014220347853.post-87589748027061240792008-01-06T20:23:00.000-05:002008-01-06T20:23:00.000-05:00The relationship between Torah and the human realm...The relationship between Torah and the human realm of philsophical ethics is a very complicated area of Torah study with many divergent opinions. On one side there are those that totally reject any connection. On the other side, though, is not a position thta makes the ethical standards of the world the ikkur and Torah the tefel. That would seem, though, to be the position of Rabbi Gelman. The view of Modern Orthodoxy -- as standard bearers of the position that we can learn from the world around us -- must still declare that Torah is the ikkur but our understanding of Torah can be effected from the greater wisdom that we acquire from the world's chachma (a positon the Vilna Gaon held, although I am sure that the Gaon's words will find many different interpretations including those those that would defend the charedi perception). <BR/><BR/>As such, we cannot define any form of Orthodoxy by how it accomodates and incorporates the values that are found in the world. We can though consider how Orthodoxy relates to these ideas and should be articulating new Torah perceptions that reflect the uniqueness of Torah in relationship and response to the moral perceptions of the world. Modern Orthodoxy is not about adopting the position of the world, including the Reform and Conservative movements, in response to such matters as Darfur. It is not about saying that we Jews can be just as moral as you and you define a morality. It is about finding the unique Torah perspective on the issue that no one else, without Torah, can articulate and bringing Torah to the world through this relationship.<BR/><BR/>Rabbi Ben HechtNishmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04237299801109329429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097749014220347853.post-907360814727016232008-01-06T20:06:00.000-05:002008-01-06T20:06:00.000-05:00R. Barry Gelman is Orthdox. See this bio of him: l...R. Barry Gelman is Orthdox. See this bio of him: <A HREF="http://www.rabbis.org/news/article.cfm?id=100862" REL="nofollow">link</A>Gil Studenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12776831546758682126noreply@blogger.com