2014-08-08 12:06
The wider world of conventional Judaism is going in fits and starts toward a renegotiation of the conditions of halakhic observance. At question is the need for social change in the understanding and applic nike air jordan 3.tion of the legal logic of the sages of old. In the last several years, voices from within the Orthodox fold have raised a formidable challenge to certain established standards of Jewish life and law, notably seeing the possibilities of female religious leadership.
Though not as emotionally charged, you will find several other points of striking dissonance between codified law and modern reality that dot the landscape of Jewish observance. Another, which seems to have escaped popular scrutiny thus far, is the injunction against wearing leather shoes on the fast days of Tisha B'Av and Yom Kippur---though the reason for the disparity in critical interest should not be hard to comprehend.
Rabbinic law in the Talmud delineates five prohibitions that apply equally on Tisha B'Av, the day of greatest tragedy, and Yom Kippur, the day of most serious repentance. These are: eating/drinking, marital relations, applying cosmetics, bathing, and wearing leather shoes. The intention is to create an encounter of uneasy abstinence, in one case as a sign of mourning, and within the other as a method of self-purification. True, not everyone came in gel-soled basketball shoes. Many opted for fantastic rubber flip-flops with socks, or the omnipresent white Keds.
It isn't as though the sarcasm of the situation is completely lost on modern Jews. I remember my primary school teachers taking the time to explain the reasoning behind the prohibition as that leather shoes were once the most comfortable kind of footwear, back when these rules were first being written. Implicit in the inclusion of this clarifying detail was an acknowledgment that we are now living in the complete reverse scenario: that at this point ever, the leather shoe epitomizes podiatric distress. Conventional halakha, as it regularly does, stands securely planted in an older arrangement of things, in this case failing upon itself in a way that precludes any of its original meaningfulness.
Zivotofsky mentions a wealth of legal writings starting with the Talmud that address the problem of what type of shoe must be worn on Tisha B'Av and Yom Kippur. Maimonides advised that whatever shoes are chosen should be flimsy enough so the wearer feels almost barefooted as they walk. In a similar vein, the Ba'al HaMaor, a contemporar air jordan 3 black. of Maimonides, contains within the type of prohibition any shoe that is especially protective of the feet.
Although some Jewish communities continue to "sidestep" the sneaker contradiction, some contemporary authorities have issued rulings intended to save the spirit of regulations. Zivotofsky notes the opinion of Rabbi Yaakov Ariel of Ramat Gan, Israel, who adds to the banned list any non-leather shoe that one would commonly pick to wear day in and day out for their comfort, i.e. sneakers and other leisure footwear. Other legalists including Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky and Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch support the "protectiveness" strategy, enlarging the prohibition to any stuff construction that functions as well as leather. air jordan 3 retro.
On the other side, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach manages to resolve the problem more leniently, claiming that all modern people fall under the Talmudic category of istinis, about meaning "persnickety." In Rabbi Auerbach's view, given our really low tolerance for physical discomfort, prohibiting cozy non-leather shoes on Tisha B'Av and Yom Kippur would be tantamount to unnecessary cruelty.
Wishing all a aware and meaningful fast this Tisha B'Av, and remember: don't judge another guy's shoes until you have walked a mile in them.
