hey justin

[sam]

Ahh, Leviticus, such a downer. No tattoos, no sex with boys or slaves or animals, cleanly this, uncleanly that...

[squeezle]

Ahh, Leviticus, such a downer. No tattoos, no sex with boys or slaves or animals, cleanly this, uncleanly that...

not to mention the whole rule against bacon!!! no wonder jews are always complaining!

[Dalya]

yeah yr not supposed to change anything unless you need to. heart and kidney transplants are ok. technically youre not supposed to be an organ donor or give your body to science but the torah was written before all that shit so i'm an organ donor.

[squeezle]

a while back i read an article about transplant surgery in isreal, but more recently i read a really interesting article on new reproductive technologies (in vitro fertilization, donor insemination, egg donation, surrogacy, etc.) in isreal - it is really interesting what he rabbis are having to contend with all the advances in biomedical technology. is it the egg or the womb that transmits 'jewishness'? does bringing in a third party (donor or surrogate) into reproduction constitute adultery? if a woman bleeds from her womb during surgery, does it make her unclean and therefore unsuitable to conceive? so many things that the torah had not forseen or addressed.

[froggorino]

yeah yr not supposed to change anything unless you need to.

hence, barbara streisand's nose.

[Dalya]

rabbis looooooooooooove to debate stuff. look at the Talmud if you ever get a chance. it's a section of the Torah, sometimes as little as one line or a couple of words, then several paragraphs of commentary that was passed down orally from olde rabbis, then commentary on the commentary by newer rabbis. it takes like a year to study one line of torah and all the possible meanings and interpretations.

[Dalya]

p.s. thats the thingi really like about judaism though. you're encourage to think about things and question them... not necessarily to reject them as stupid, but to look at all the reasons why youre required to do whatever. and to decide for yourself what is right/wrong in new situations that didnt exist in biblical times, like all the things meredith said.