Volume 6 Number 6
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Ashkenazi and Grasshoppers
[Zev Farkas]
Bone China
[Joe Abeles]
Earring for a man
[Charlie Abzug]
Earrings for Men
[Mecheal Kanovsky]
Hypothetical v. Real Questions
[Hillel Markowitz]
Kashrut and Animal Welfare
[Riva Katz]
Mr. Gans
[Rivkah Lambert]
Simon Wiesenthal Center now Online
[Alan Stein]
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From: Zev Farkas <farkas@...>
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 93 17:04:26 -0500
Subject: Re: Ashkenazi and Grasshoppers
In discussing the question of whether an ashkenazi can parttake of
grasshoppers prepared by a yemenite jew, rena whiteson <rw@...>
suggests that one eat the other foods, and just leave the grasshoppers.
however, if we assume that the grasshoppers are prepared using the same
pots and pans as the rest of the food, you still have a problem, since the
dishes have been exposed to hot grasshoppers, which, for the ashkenazi,
would render them with a status similar to the grasshoppers themselves (i
am assuming that the grasshoppers are indeed prepared using heat). sort
of like the question of whether you can eat the peas and carrots sitting
on the plate next to the pork chops...
Zev Farkas, PE :)
<farkas@...> 718 829 5278
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From: Joe Abeles <Joe_Abeles@...>
Date: Sun, 10 Jan 93 20:38:11 -0500
Subject: Re: Bone China
Regarding "bone china" can anyone verify that it actually contains animal
products? I mean, china is basically a ceramic, and I think mostly it's
alumina (Al2O3). Bones contain calcium but no significant quantities of
aluminum or silicon.
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From: <cabzug@...> (Charlie Abzug)
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 93 19:33:38 -0500
Subject: Earring for a man
The question brought up by Jay Shayevitz regarding the
permissibility of a man's having his ears pierced, was framed in what I
believe to be an incorrect manner. The relevant question is not whether
this is considered "cosmetic surgery", and therefore improper. First of
all, I am not aware of any issur on the performance of cosmetic surgery.
And secondly, do not almost all women have pierced ears? If this
practice were prohibited on the basis of its being cosmetic surgery,
then presumably the same prohibition would apply to women! No, the
relevant question, I think, is whether piercing of the ears is a
practice that should be prohibited specifically to men, because of the
issur of "Lo yilbash gever bigdey 'ishah", a man must not wear the
clothing of a woman. Under this issur, for example, it is forbidden to
a man Mid'oraisah, from Torah law, to dye even one hair of his head!
The wearing of earrings is a decidedly female practice, and even though
some men also wear them, nevertheless most Posekim still forbid women to
wear pants, even though today most women wear pants in our society and
even though the design of women's pants is different from men's pants
(zipper on the side rather than in front, etc). I would be much
surprised if you could find an Orthodox rav anywhere in the world who
would give a heter for a man's earring.
Charlie Abzug
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From: <KANOVSKY@...> (Mecheal Kanovsky)
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 93 14:09:31 -0500
Subject: Re: Earrings for Men
The torah only mentions earrings for men when a slave wants to continue
his bondage for more than the six year limit. The only halachik problem
will be "lo yilbash gever kli ishah" i.e. a man is not allowed to dress
in womans clothing. But maybe since it has gained popularity by men it
could now be considered mens apparel, much like the kilts in Scotland.
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From: <hem@...> (Hillel Markowitz)
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 93 17:04:37 -0500
Subject: Hypothetical v. Real Questions
>The recent discussion on hypothetical ethical and moral questions has for
>some reasing been nagging at me, so I have decided to share this feeling
>of uneasiness. I wonder if the discussion of hypothetical moral questions
>is strictly appropriate given our duty of dealing with real humanity. For
>reasons I cannot identify, a discussion of hypothetical questions of
>moralty seems to be an unnecessary diversion from the duty of dealing with
>the sufficient supply of real dilemmas in the world. Perhaps someone can
>(a) help me understand why I feel this way, and (b) correct me if I am
>wrong in this feeling.
I would say that a hypothetical case is used to test the "boundary
conditions" of a line of reasoning. This helps to clarify the logic
behind a particular stand and allow you to come up with a valid
response when the real world case happens.
Unfortunately, there are people who go overboard on hypothetical cases
or take the logic of a stand to a ridiculous extreme. This may be the
source of your uneasiness. It is like taking an example used as an
analogy and trying to apply the entire example to the original question
rather than just those parts which are analogous.
Hillel Markowitz <H_Markowitz@...>
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From: <RKATZ@...> (Riva Katz)
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 20:51 EDT
Subject: Kashrut and Animal Welfare
There have been many different responses to the issue of veal and some
of it has been incorrect. I will try and clarify certain issues.
1)Milk-fed veal- this is the whitish colored meat which is generally
kept in the dark, fed a liquid, iron-deficient diet to prevent the
muscle (read-beef) from becoming red and tough. These animals are not
allowed to stand up or sit down or turn around in their stalls.
According to Rabbi Heineman of Baltimore Ner Yisrael and Star-K,
milk-fed veal is generally considered to be -non-kosher because of the
great propensity for disease since the animal is not healthy. You can
also buy veal which is not milk-fed, which is slightly redder but is
notsubject to the same conditions. They are just calves that are sent
to slaughter (usually bull calves before castration). According to Rabbi
Heineman, there is no moral problem with eating the veal you find in
your butcher store. He makes a distinction between certifing something
as kosher and it's moral status. The milk-fed veal is not considered
non-kosher because of tzaar-baalei-haim (causing pain to animals) but
because of it's greater chances of being treif.
2) Castration- The isur of castration has nothing to do with tzaar
baalei haim. It has to do with being fruitful and multiplying. The
Chofetz Chaim prevents a non-Jew from performing a castration for a Jew,
even if you "trick" the non- Jew into doing it (by selling the animal or
giving it to a non-Jewish veterinarian). Rabbi Heineman, being my posek
as a veterinary student, forbids me to perform castration, but allows me
to do anaesthesia for the procedure. NOTE: there are differing opinions
on this among the poskim for veterinarians. For me, I am allowed to
have a non-Jew do it for me. Others are not allowed. By the way, in
Israel the cattle are castrated by the Jews with and without
anaesthesia. On the farm in America, anaesthesia is virtually never
used.
3) Shabbat- On Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu, the refet (dairy) is on Shabbat
clocks. All of the pushing at gating apparati use air instead of
electricity, and the suction machines go on and off by timer. The
computers monitoring the milk are shut off, and when we want to take the
machine off the cow, we have to pull it off with the suction still going
instead of turning off the suction. The machines are cleaned and the
milk sent to the tank after Shabbat. This milk is sent to Tnuva
Yerushalayim on Sunday because it is milked properly on Shabbat even
though the kibbutz is up north (near Beit Shean).
I hope this clears up some of these issues.
Riva Katz <rkatz@...>
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From: <LAMBERT@...> (Rivkah Lambert)
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 93 22:51:28 -0500
Subject: Mr. Gans
The brilliant Orthodox scientist Mr. Gans is, no doubt, Harold Gans from
Baltimore and, just for the record, he is a mathematician.
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From: Alan Stein <STEIN@UCONNVM>
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 93 00:07:47 IST
Subject: Simon Wiesenthal Center now Online
The Simon Wiesenthal Center can now be reached via Internet.
The address is <SIMONWIE@...>
Someone from the Center is online every day.
Please feel free to notify any network friends out there
that we are available.
Alan H. Stein <stein@...>
Department of Mathematics <stein@...>
Univ of Conn/Waterbury Compu$erve 71545,1500
SNET (203) 596-4080 GEnie ah.stein
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End of Volume 6 Issue 6
