I Would Rather Be Herod’s Pig: The History of a Taboo
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I Would Rather Be Herod’s Pig: The History of a Taboo
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Re: I Would Rather Be Herod’s Pig: The History of a Taboo
#2It's a great story, but not entirely true. Jews do not avoid pig for the reasons listed but simply because God said not to eat pig. That's it. No other reason.
And note there are a TON of animals Jews don't eat, not just pig. Yet people seem to focus on the pig more than any other.
This says more about them than about the Jews.
Re: I Would Rather Be Herod’s Pig: The History of a Taboo
#3It's a great story, but not entirely true. Jews do not avoid pig for the reasons listed but simply because God said not to eat pig. That's it. No other reason. And note there are a TON of animals Jews don't eat, not just pig. Yet people seem to focus on the pig more than any other. This says more about them than about the Jews.
Yes, why even consider a historical narrative when God...
Re: I Would Rather Be Herod’s Pig: The History of a Taboo
#4It's a great story, but not entirely true. Jews do not avoid pig for the reasons listed but simply because God said not to eat pig. That's it. No other reason. And note there are a TON of animals Jews don't eat, not just pig. Yet people seem to focus on the pig more than any other. This says more about them than about the Jews.
It should be said that there is no such thing as consensus among Jews or rabbinical scholars regarding the interpretation and understanding of Talmudic Law. To say "Jews do or don't do X, Y, or Z" is an inherently flawed statement. What is true is that only a small fraction of American Jews keep strictly kosher (e.g. most do not have two dishwashers). Some dietary restrictions are often given more consideration than others. For example, many Jews would refuse pork or shrimp altogether, but wouldn't necessarily wait 5 hours after some chicken to have a slice of cheesecake or a scoop of ice cream. There is always variation from person to person. "Kosher style" is what I encounter most.
Re: I Would Rather Be Herod’s Pig: The History of a Taboo
#5It's a great story, but not entirely true. Jews do not avoid pig for the reasons listed but simply because God said not to eat pig. That's it. No other reason. And note there are a TON of animals Jews don't eat, not just pig. Yet people seem to focus on the pig more than any other. This says more about them than about the Jews.
Except the article makes no claims about why Jews avoid pigs, other than a few minor observations such as:
- Israelites came to consider pork avoidance a central element of their identity.
- Scriptural dietary rules grew more significant with time.
- God expresses his fury at a few people who have eaten “swine’s flesh, and broth of abominable things.”
- even in the face of death, a Jew must refuse pork in order to remain true to his people.
The reasons listed in the first section of the article are referring to other ancient near eastern cultures, whose reason for avoiding eating pork products certainly wasn't due to Levitical laws.
In the latter section an emphasis is made on the fact that avoid pigs became more of an issue in the post-exilic period when the Jews found themselves ruled by cultures that did eat pig meat, and the point of difference was more apparent.
So, I'm really not sure which part of the article you think is "not entirely true". I can't vouch for the overall accuracy of it, but its representation of Jewish culture and history seems reasonable accurate to me.
Re: I Would Rather Be Herod’s Pig: The History of a Taboo
#6It's a great story, but not entirely true. Jews do not avoid pig for the reasons listed but simply because God said not to eat pig. That's it. No other reason. And note there are a TON of animals Jews don't eat, not just pig. Yet people seem to focus on the pig more than any other. This says more about them than about the Jews.
It should be said that there is no such thing as consensus among Jews or rabbinical scholars regarding the interpretation and understanding of Talmudic Law. To say "Jews do or don't do X, Y, or Z" is an inherently flawed statement. What is true is that only a small fraction of American Jews keep strictly kosher (e.g. most do not have two dishwashers). Some dietary restrictions are often given more consideration than…
It's also (to refer to the grand-parent) a stretch to make concrete claims about why any large group of people do any particular thing.
I know Jewish people who avoid eating pork (etc) because it's their cultural identity and they don't want to disrespect that part of their heritage even though they have no particular belief in God or reverence for the Torah.
Re: I Would Rather Be Herod’s Pig: The History of a Taboo
#7It's a great story, but not entirely true. Jews do not avoid pig for the reasons listed but simply because God said not to eat pig. That's it. No other reason. And note there are a TON of animals Jews don't eat, not just pig. Yet people seem to focus on the pig more than any other. This says more about them than about the Jews.
Not true because god... ok...
God said lots of crazy things without an explanation. This article though provides an interesting and entertaining historical context.
Re: I Would Rather Be Herod’s Pig: The History of a Taboo
#8It's a great story, but not entirely true. Jews do not avoid pig for the reasons listed but simply because God said not to eat pig. That's it. No other reason. And note there are a TON of animals Jews don't eat, not just pig. Yet people seem to focus on the pig more than any other. This says more about them than about the Jews.
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Re: I Would Rather Be Herod’s Pig: The History of a Taboo
#9It's a great story, but not entirely true. Jews do not avoid pig for the reasons listed but simply because God said not to eat pig. That's it. No other reason. And note there are a TON of animals Jews don't eat, not just pig. Yet people seem to focus on the pig more than any other. This says more about them than about the Jews.
Except the article makes no claims about why Jews avoid pigs, other than a few minor observations such as: - Israelites came to consider pork avoidance a central element of their identity. - Scriptural dietary rules grew more significant with time. - God expresses his fury at a few people who have eaten “swine’s flesh, and broth of abominable things.” - even in the face of death, a Jew must refuse pork in order to re…
Have you ever heard the saying a little knowledge is a dangerous thing?
> even in the face of death, a Jew must refuse pork in order to remain true to his people
Both you and the author have completely misunderstood this episode.
There is NO law requiring death from eating pork! There is however a law that if an oppressor tries to make someone violate a law in public you must must accept death rather than comply with even the most minor offence.
The important part here is "in public".
Pork simply has nothing whatsoever to do with it!
And that's just one of the reasons this article, while a nice story, is simply not accurate.
(At least about Jews, but when it gets the part I know well wrong it doesn't give me much confidence in the rest where I don't have the knowledge to check - it's definitely a great story though.)
Re: I Would Rather Be Herod’s Pig: The History of a Taboo
#10It's a great story, but not entirely true. Jews do not avoid pig for the reasons listed but simply because God said not to eat pig. That's it. No other reason. And note there are a TON of animals Jews don't eat, not just pig. Yet people seem to focus on the pig more than any other. This says more about them than about the Jews.
For someone who does not accept the idea of divine authorship or inspiration of the Biblical text (like me), the question is: why is it written into the Bible as a divine commandment? Where did this religious law come from? A lot of the laws in that text have some sort of systematic/philosophical justification for them, however alien that justification might be to modern ears, so what is it for the Kashrut laws?