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Everything you always wanted to know about Judaism,
but were too afraid to ask!
New questions and answers will be added to this page
on a regular basis, so please remember to return here.
Have your Halacha questions answered. (Use the link
below to ask your own questions. Please state if you
would like a personal reply and ensure you include your
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Please note that previous questions answered
by Rabbi Livingstone are suffixed by
RL. New questions answered by Rabbi
Anthony are suffixed by RA.
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to your new questions to Rabbi Anthony
Topics asking the Rabbi's's opinion, in no particular
order.
How
do you feel about someone being a Jewish vegetarian?
The late Chief Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaCohen
Cook held the view that vegetarianism is, in
fact, the ideal of Judaism and, accordingly,
was a vegetarian himself. He argued that meat
eating is a concession to human necessity and
weakness but cannot be said to represent the
highest Torah ideal. While this opinion is far
from mainstream, it is nevertheless a support
for this preference. Some argue that meat eating
must be unavoidable on Shabbat and Festivals
because the Rabbis clearly say that meat and
wine is synonymous with Simchah. But, according
to Maimonides, this is not strictly correct
as the greater imperative on these Holy Days
is to follow the practice which gives the greatest
personal joy. RL
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I have
been having frequent dreams, both good and bad
recently. Do dreams have any meaning according
to Jewish teaching?
The Talmud has much to say about dreams. The
essence of its view is that dreams reflect the
personal subconscious and will often be linked
to inner thoughts, fears and concerns. At the
same time, dreams can often contain a message
– by way of revealing deeply submerged
trends and impulses as much as anything else.
But while dreams may be relevant, the Rabbis
suggest not putting too much store in them;
warning that an ominous interpretation can often
become a self-fulfilling prophecy and therefore
should be avoided. For those nightmares that
refuse simply to be brushed away, there is actually
a ceremony which involves declaring the dream
to be harmless (it can be found in certain Sidurim).
My advice is to try to separate the chaff from
the wheat; listen to the inner voice which may
be the dream’s (or your own soul’s)
message but ignore its drama and likely exaggeration.
RL
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A friend came
over to my house the other day without warning and I
hadn’t had a chance to give the place the quick
once over. There were dirty dishes in the sink, an unmade
bed and an overflowing laundry basket. She is a bit
of a perfectionist anyway, but on this occasion she
specifically told me that God commands us to keep our
homes clean and tidy. Is this true, and if so where
is it stated?
I very much sympathize with your being taken by surprise
by a friend before being able to tidy up – it has
probably happened to all of us sometime! When your friend
said that G-d commands us to keep our homes clean and
tidy, she was not technically wrong but was probably
heavily influenced in that interpretation by her own
fastidious tendency. As far as the Torah is concerned,
there are several commandments having to do with cleanliness.
The two that speak to your particular question are at
Deuteronomy 23:14-15 where the Torah refers to the requirement
that the Jewish dwelling camp shall be kept pure and
clean and this is interpreted to mean that it should
be both hygienic and tidy.
The other is at Leviticus 11:43-45 and refers to abstaining
from conduct which degrades by way of uncleanliness
and, among other things, this is applied to general
hygiene.
In reality, it is a little bit of a leap of logic to
suggest that an untidy house really transgresses these
mitzvot, but your friend is correct the ideal comes
through in the spirit of these laws. The Talmud in many
various places talks about the need to maintain a clean
and orderly environment conducive to prayer, a settled
mind, and a sense of organization in our physical and
spiritual lives.
So there you have it - I guess all of us can strive
to improve the quality of our environments -
although surprise cleanliness inspections may
not be the best way to motivate that! RL
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I was recently
shopping for some bits and pieces for my new house,
and came across some cool sculptures. I was about to
purchase one of an entwined couple when all of a sudden
it dawned on me that it could be seen as an idol. What
is the Jewish ruling on this?
Human images in three-dimensional sculpture form [as
opposed to one-dimensional pictures] are forbidden
not because they are necessarily worshiped as
an idol, but rather because such comes perilously
close to elevating the human form to an icon.
For this reason, some even forbid animal forms.
But all this only really applies to lifelike
sculptures which accurately capture the real
image. Abstract sculptures which are representational
and do not copy the real life form are, therefore,
not so problematic. Where offending sculptures
are built into the plasterwork of a house, the
halachic solution lies in removing a small part
of the image so as to render it somewhat less
than lifelike. Not having seen your entwined
couple, (and, by the way, that image itself
may be inappropriate for other reasons!), you
will have to decide for yourself on which side
of the line that particular image falls. RL
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What is your
opinion on women’s magazines? My girlfriend is
always flicking through Cosmpolitan or whatnot, and
they all just seem to be full of sex-related features
which, in my opinion, are not appropriate reading material
for an unmarried religious Jewish girl. I would be interested
to discover your take on this.
My own experience of women’s magazines has been
limited to an occasional browse in the dentist’s
waiting room! In my view, in common with some men’s
magazines, they focus overly on superficial areas like
fashion, the body-beautiful and such like - with a fair
dollop about sex too. That said, admittedly there will
also be topics of deeper concern regarding relationships,
women’s health and similar.
My take on the situation is that, on balance, they
are a negative spiritual influence - being entirely
secular and designed to be sensationalist in
order to sell copy. At the same time, do be
careful - because an overly judgmental approach
toward your girlfriend is unhelpful and more
likely to alienate than gently encourage her
toward better quality reading. RL
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