[Sca-cooks] shatnez stuff

[Yehoshua ben Haim haLevi]

On Sun, 2004-06-06 at 00:03, Stefan li Rous wrote:
> Guenievre answered Olwen with:
> > > I never knew there were kosher laws about materials.  How very 
> > interesting.
> > > Now I have one more thing to put on my list of stuff to find
> > > out more about.>   Thanks.
> > > Olwen
> >
> > The rule is called "shatnez".  Here's a quick explanation -
> > http://www.aish.com/literacy/mitzvahs/Wool_and_Linen_=_Shatnez.asp
> Thank you for this link. This was something I'd never heard of before.  
> I did find that one of their statements though reminded me of some 
> medieval sumptuary laws that, I think,  were discussed here. The phrase 
> on this website mentions:
> > nterestingly, "holy garments" are exempt from the prohibition of 
> > shatnez. For example, the special garments worn by a Kohen while 
> > serving in the Holy Temple contained both wool and linen. Similarly, 
> > it is theoretically permitted to wear tzitzit that has shatnez (though 
> > there are technical factors which don't allow this today). The 
> > explanation may be that these garments are already inherently 
> > "kosher."
> 
> The sumptuary law that I'm thinking of prohibited wearing jewelry of 
> fake metal or jewels, unless you were the king or some other higher 
> ups. In other words, if you want to be part of the 'in' crowd you must 
> look the part and pay the high cost to be admitted. Unless you are the 
> king or one of the privileged, then you can cheat.
> 
> The site also touches on the fact that there are logical reasons behind 
> some of the prohibitions, while for others there is no logic other than 
> that god wills it. Makes a handy excuse, I guess, for the prohibitions 
> that seem illogical. But the example they give for one of these 
> illogical rules is one that I can easily see reasons for, and that was 
> the prohibition against eating pork.
> 
> The site seems to concentrate on mixing wool and linen as opposed to 
> any two different fibers. for instance where do all the synthetic 
> fibers fit in? And something like rayon, which is a synthetic from wood 
> pulp (I think). Is there a prohibition, like linen, against wearing it 
> with wool? Hmmm. Or silk with linen?
> 

Synthetic fibers don't fit into this, nor do silk or cotton. The
Prohibition is on mixing wool and linen. Silk and linen is fine, as is
silk and wool. As for why this one is there, the short version is
because G-d said so in the Torah. (its after midnight, don't ask me for
a reference). There are some thoughts on why this one is there, but to
be honest none of them really make sense to me. I think its just one of
those things G-d put in to keep us thinking about things. 

My personal take on things is along the lines that there should be
Mitzvot dealing with every subject of our lives, and what we wear is a
pretty basic part of life. 


If you want a more details I can get my flatmate to write some stuff, he
knows more about this than I do. 


--Yehoshua ben Haim haLevi
Senischal incipient Shire of Beit Aryeh
MKA: Zachary Kessin Jerusalem Israel
zkessin at cs.brandeis.edu +972 50 780 9717 +1 646 201 9507