21. It is also suggested that the entire corpus of law that governs every possible case that could arise would be endless and would certainly not fit in one or even five books. The Talmud itself has over 2,700 double-sided pages. To put all of this detail into the bible would have made it a very cumbersome book that, inevitably, would have left out details that cover a future case [Sefer HaIkkarim, ibid.; R. Yehudah Loewe, Gur Aryeh, Ex. 34:27].
God never says that He is giving us an entire corpus of law. What God gives us is a "constitution": a basic set of laws. For everything that is not covered by this basic set, we can do as we like. If we want, we can create laws to regulate what God's law does not. But these are human laws, and should be repealable by humans. While in Orthodox theory, this is possible for some laws, in Orthodox practice it is impossible.
What's more, human laws only make sense in the context of a government. When Jews lived under an Orthodox Exilarch, they had to follow the Oral Law. But today, that we do not live under the authority of any Orthodox government, there is absolutely no need to follow any of its human laws.
The Orthodox position elevates human laws either to the level of Divine law, or to almost that level, and makes changing them virtually impossible. This results in a deluge of obscure, outdated, and useless laws that only obfuscate the beauty of the underlying Divine law.
Posted by Ami at March 14, 2004 12:29 AM | TrackBackAmi,
There are 2 instances when kesamim (possible menstrual stains) come into question. During the week after the cessation of menstruation, the woman has to check herself twice daily with a small cloth called a "bedika", which means checking or searching. She inserts this cloth, which is about 4 inches square (tefach) into the vagina to check to see if in fact her period has ended, or if there is any residual blood from the period. If she finds blood of any kind during this week in between her period ending and going to the mikveh, the cloth must be taken to a Rav to determine if this blood is menstrual or not.
If it is determined to be menstrual, then the week she is required to count after the cessation of her normal cycle must begin anew the following evening, providing her next bedika comes out clean. if it is not, then no problem. If a woman notices blood in her urine or on a sheet this could also be problematic, though we don't normally worry about this if the woman has very regular and/or set cycles.
If you are a religious man and you marry a woman with a loose cervix or irregular periods, get ready to go without sex and physical contact for the greater part of your marriage.
SL
Posted by: SL Aronovitz at March 14, 2004 06:38 PMHuh? What's the kesomim for? Couldn't you produce one regardless of whether you had sex during nida or not?
Posted by: Ami at March 14, 2004 05:32 PMAmi,
Re:For everything that is not covered by this basic set, we can do as we like.
Excellent point! An idea that is clearly missing from almost all Orthodox thinking. The assumption is that if one is allowed to come close to the Torah prohibition as a matter of habit, then it becomes the next step, wittingly or not, to transgress on the Torah prohibition as well.
The rabbis entitled themselves to make "geder Letorah", which isn't really a bad idea. The Torah says "lishmor vela'asos" (to Guard and to fulfill)and the guarding is what the rabbis claim to be doing. Try this. If on a certain highway one can safely maintain speeds of 80 mph, but over 80 mph becomes unsafe, then it makes some sense to set the legal limit somewhat lower, at let's say 65 or 70 mph, knowing full well that some will drive over this limit anyhow.
The trouble is, and I don't think it's arguable, that the Torah said "shmirah" and not "shmirah lesmhirah ad infinitum". Reasonable for us to choose and set up certain boundaries when we know it's necessary, but NOT to begin protecting those boundaries with additional and multiple boundaries! The rabbis in many cases have done just that.
The ultra-othrodox are highly critical of the modern orthodox because many of the extra boundaries that have been established in the last few centuries, either as "shmiros leshmiros" or just as minhagim (customs), have been dropped by the modern orthodox.
The idea that something, no matter how trivial, is matter of factly permissible is also troublesome to the rabbinists. Everything seems to require "heter rabbonim" (rabbinical permission) these days. Why? Well, look at all the rules they made. Just try living in their world without needing to ask them for something! Maybe even something as everyday as how and when to make love to your spouse. Yes. There are rabbinic rules for that, too. Fortunately, in yeshiva, we didn't have to sit through any demonstrations or home movies.
When I was married, every few months my wife and I would have a "sha'ala" regarding Hilchos Nida (laws of marital purity). This even though I was certified to answer these questions myself, we were still required to take the "kesomim" (a cloth or sheet stained with menstrual blood) to another Rav. Basically, we were asking permission to have sex.
The Torah says that sex with a woman during her menstrual cycle is a serious offense. So, what the rabbis did was to add another entire WEEK onto the menstrual cycle, so that a couple would have to wait another 7 days before sex. If you consider this a wise precaution, since maybe bleeding might reoccur, OK. But then it gets worse, since during this 2 week period you are not allowed to touch each other, hand objects to each other, or ride next to each other in an automobile, let alone snuggle up together on the couch! I'm surprised the rabbis didn't require one of the spouses to move out of the house altogether.
It's typical of the runaway train that is rabbinism.
SL
Posted by: SL Aronovitz at March 14, 2004 05:11 PM