excellent, manji2012, this is precisely the sort of approach i meant.
Leviticus: 11:13-19
Manji2012 said:
Basically this passage of scripture I think is regarding what is the appropriate diet, at least in regards to "birds". My question is, why would God tell any person not to eat these creatures? I mean, I just don't see the big deal. Of all the things God could tell it's creation, you want me to believe God told Moses to tell his people this?
actually, the kashrut (dietary) laws are generally considered to come under the heading of "because I Say so", as opposed to having a logical basis; however, many people have made attempts to rationalise them. the basic principle is that in any area of human activity, one should make judgements and distinguish between correct and incorrect, as the author of a well-known book points out:
The ability to distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil, pure and defiled, the sacred and the profane, is very important in Judaism. Imposing rules on what you can and cannot eat ingrains that kind of self control, requiring us to learn to control even our most basic, primal instincts.
in the case of the flying creatures concerned, you will further note that they are all in fact carrion feeders and some people draw a general rule from that. you may find this site instructive for further reading:
Judaism 101: Kashrut: Jewish Dietary Laws
My other question is, is this still applicable today?
all the rules in the Torah continue to be binding upon jewish people.
Is this applicable to persons who are not ethnically Semetic but follow this religion? And how about for those who do not follow this religion.
there's no such thing as being "ethnically semitic". "semitic" is a term from sociolinguistics and has no connection to race or ethnicity. you will note that jews come in every race, shape or colour and that people can convert to judaism (although this is not solicited) after which they are considered subject to the same laws. as for those who are not jewish, they are not obliged to follow any of the dietary laws, although there is a noahide (universal) law that one may not eat a part of a living animal, which as a general principle can be extended to cover all kinds of animal cruelty as well as the joke about the life-saving turkey with the wooden leg ("well, an animal as useful as that, you wouldn't want to eat it all at once").
Also, not to mention, the Bible might have gotten bats as being birds wrong...Also not mention that after that passage it goes into which insects we can eat but describes them as having four legs. Now, is this not incorrect? Isn't so that the insects describe do not have four legs.
the hebrew term used should be understood as "flying things", not birds. the Torah does not classify things biologically but using spiritual typologies. consequently, the "insects" you mention also include things like moles and weasels, which obviously aren't insects; this classification is one of "creeping things", which are defined as things which crawl, or are otherwise considered to be in the "ground zone".
Leviticus: 15:19-30, 33
I think this piece of scripture pretty much goes into the correct code of conduct of what to do when a female is on her period. I interpret as saying that when a lady has had her period, for me to simply physically place my hand on her shoulder would be unclean for me to do, and I am to wash myself and my cloths. It even goes on to say that if I my hand touches the bed that she laid upon during or after her period, I am to go ahead and wash my cloths and my body.
correct. one thing you need to basically understand in terms of what the Torah is concerned with is the concept generally translated as "clean" or "unclean", which is in fact a completely misleading mistranslation and has *nothing* to do with hygiene, nor does it attach a value-judgement to these states - in fact, the best comparison would be with "positive" and "negative" terminals in batteries or electrical engineering; obviously, there is nothing intrinsically "positive" or "negative" about this stuff. however, if the system is "connected up" incorrectly, the energy can't flow. the Torah concepts of "tuma" and "tahara", which are the words we are talking about, are best compared to two incompatible types of energy which flow through a conceptual system of pipes (like meridians) which relate to the different systems of the human body. non-permitted foods will "block" the "pipes". in the same way, these "pipes" are also time-coded, in other words, there are times when you can put certain energy through the pipes and times when they need downtime, reverse energy or rest. the laws of the "niddah" or menstruating woman should be understood in this context and should never, never be considered as the Torah telling us that a woman's natural cycle is somehow "dirty", G!D Forbid.
you can read up on the whole system here:
Judaism 101: Kosher Sex
but the basic idea is that the woman should be the one that controls a couple's sex life and whether she's "available" or not. it also provides a way within her monthly cycle for her to have a sense of personal space and to emphasise the aspects of the relationship that do not depend on physical intimacy.
It really does not matter if you touch the bed or the things a woman on her period has touched. Not then, in that culture, and not now.
that's not what the Torah is saying. the primary principle operating here is that of "putting a fence around the Law". in other words, these are secondary prohibitions which prevent the transgression of primary prohibitions. in other words, you are not meant to have it off when she is niddah, so if you're reminded of this by not being able to touch at all, sleep/sit on the same things or pass things to each other, this is a workable example of what is called mnemonic behaviour. there are other laws about how "tumah" energy is transmitted, which are similar in principle to the physical laws of "charging" an object positively or negatively, like when you rub a balloon. the Torah is telling us that these two types of energy are very powerful and must be respected and kept separate to prevent a spiritual short-circuit.
Also, of all the really helpful things God could say, he chose hygiene, that does not seem really all that impressive in terms of hygiene.
exactly, which is because it isn't about hygiene at all, as i've explained.
My other question is, is this code of conduct at all applicable today?
yes. it is observed by married traditional jews such as myself and mrs bb.
Leviticus: 19:19
Okay, now this one looks like it is saying that I better not plant an area with various types of plants like mushrooms and cucumbers. Now, I think this can be unwise advice because, it actually might be helpful and beneficial to mother nature to plant mix seed because, those plants help the environment by putting nutrients back into the soil while another plant takes away from it.
Also, it goes into wearing clothing that has blended fabric. Okay.. Why? Is there any kind of punishment for not following these laws?
again, these laws fall under the category of "because I Say so" laws, the principle of which being outlined above. it is worth pointing out that the seed-mixing issue does not preclude crop rotation, so there's no natural deficit implied, but there are certainly social effects in terms of the laws of tithing and gleanings for the poor; a mixed-crop field makes it more difficult to measure how much has been set aside. the mystical tradition provides many other reasons for these laws. i believe the punishment involved is spiritual excision, but i couldn't swear to it. certainly you couldn't tithe from such a field, which would involve transgressing another commandment and you also couldn't derive benefit from a linsey-woolsey garment.
Leviticus 23:44-46
Okay, why would God condone slavery of any kind ever? I do not believe God would do that. Plus, if memory serves me right, there are some parts in the Bible where God is against slavery.
aha! now you're thinking like our sages thought. firstly, at the time the Torah was given, the idea of a society without slavery (or animal sacrifice) would have been incomprehensible. what the Torah did, therefore, was to legislate so as to make slavery as it is understood by us today effectively impossible. for a start, a jewish slave has to be freed after seven years, or if they are injured, married to a free person, or, if they were a child, when they reached maturity or in many other cases (see exodus 21:2-6). a non-jewish slave must be freed in a "jubilee" year, which occurs once in every 49 years, but there are many other cases in which this would also occur. what the Torah is teaching us is how to act for *change* in human society and where to start, where the levers for behavioural improvement lie - as you can see, the way it was implemented meant that slavery died out 2000 years ago in jewish society and, even when it was still around, the slaves of jews were treated *very* differently from the slaves of romans, who were mere chattels and could be killed, raped, tortured and had no rights whatsoever, such as private property, as the slaves of jews had. moreover, the word used, "'EBheD", could mean either "slave" or "servant" (or "worshipper" or "worker") depending on context; this means that the context must be analysed before drawing even basic conclusions. the sages added so many extra safeguards and protectionary measures to these laws that it became said that "whoever acquires a slave for himself, has actually acquired a master" - because of the responsibilities that came with owning such a slave or servant. a moderately comprehensive introduction can be found here:
Judaism and slavery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I don't think God is making the mistake. It is just obvious that with these anomalies we can cleary see that the Bible is not the inerrant infallible word of God because it has so many contradictions, errors, and filled with the stuff that, just does not make sense.
that depends on one's point of view. from a jewish point of view, the Torah is simply the lecture notes, not the lecture itself. if there are apparent contradictions, they are there to stimulate us to resolve them and learn G!D's Will by so doing.
b'shalom
bananabrain
