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lil A EL
10 Friday, August 2, 1985
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
NEWS
The Finest In
lingerie and Accessories
See Our New, Exciting
Fall Designs
Located pr Kitty Wagner's Salon
851-5766
Hunters Square
Orchard Lake Rd. & 14 Mile
Tues.-Sot. 10 to 5:30 p.m.
Wed. 10 to 9 p.m.
George Warren is pleased to announce
the
GRAND OPENING of
G.G. WARREN COMPANY
On Thursday, Friday and Saturday,
August 1st, 2nd and 3rd, during Salon Hours,
an additional 10% discount will be offered
on a unique collection of FASHION JEWELRY
and HANDBAGS
JEWELRY REPAIR and CUSTOM DESIGN
SERVICE AVAILABLE
Located in the Daniel J. Salon
1 Block North of 13 Mile Rd.
29977 Orchard Lake Rd.
Farmington Hills, Mich. 48018
855-1050
MK Dilemma: To Sell
Or Not To Sell Pork
BY RABBI BERNARD S. RASKAS
A so-called "Pig Law" was re-
cently introduced to the Knesset
for consideration. It was done to
preserve "the Jewish character"
of the State of Israel. However, it
has raised an interesting di-
lemma.
The Hebrew term for pig is
mentioned twice in the Bible
(Lev. 11:7 and Deut. 16:8) as for-
bidden food. It is the only animal
in its class to be mentioned by
name. It was eaten by the
Canaanites and was used as a
sacrifice in idolatrous worship.
Isaiah protests against those
"eating swine flesh — a despica-
ble thing."
In Jewish tradition the pig be-
came a symbol of something re-
pulsive. Abhorrence of the pig
entered so deeply in the con-
sciousness of the Jew that the
expression davar acher ("another
thing," i.e., something not to be
mentioned by name) was used
for it in talmudic times.
Antiochus Epiphanes, during
the era of the Maccabees, de-
creed that the eating of pig was a
test of Jewish loyalty to him.
The rabbis responded with the
statement, "Cursed be the one
who breeds pigs." The Jewish re-
vulsion and disgust toward
swine flesh continued down the
centuries.
In 1962 a national law was
passed in Israel forbidding the
keeping of slaughtering of pigs
except in Nazareth and certain
specific areas with a sizable
Christian population. The
Jewish National Fund expressly
forbids raising pigs on any of its
lands anywhere.
Yet, today pork products are
sold openly in butcher shops and
is available in small neighbor-
hood grills and expensive night
spots. According to Dr. Dan
Ratner, who directs the pig-
raising station at Kibbutz
Lahav, there are well over
100,000 pigs raised annually.
The new proposal, which is an
amendment to the present law,
would outlaw the selling, as well
as raising, of pig meat in areas
primarily inhabited by non-
Christians. The law would out-
law sales in East Jerusalem, but
not in Judea and Samaria.
According to the manager of
the Inter-Continental Hotel in
Jerusalem, Klaus Nickel, the
hotel uses about 1200 pounds of
pork a month. He said, "You
can't expect Christian Arabs —
or European Jews, for that mat-
ter — who have been used to eat-
ing pork all their lives to stop
suddenly." He notes that it will
be sold "under the table."
About half of the pork used in
the hotel and practically all the
smoked meat products come from
Kibbutz Mizra. The rest are
supplied by Tuv'Taam in Tel
Aviv and Siniora, a Christian-
Arab butcher shop in the Old
City of Jerusalem. The hotel
manager says that as far as he is
concerned, "Any adult, Israeli or
not, should decide what he wants
to eat."
Following this line of argu-
ment, if a food is sanitary and
meets public 'health standards,4
should a citizen in the State of
Israel be prevented from eating
when and what he chooses? If.
the state enforces the law
strictly, would this be a denial of
civil rights? On the other hand,
public sale of pork would surely
be against the tradition of
Jerusalem and tend to distort
the character of a Jewish state.
It is a dilemma.
Moreover, a random survey of
non-Kosher butcher shops in
"Jewish" Jerusalem shows that
pork buyers come from no single
ethnic .or Jewish group. Moshe
Kronsdorf, a Jerusalem butcher,
whose non-kosher shop sells pork
and is near the building that
once housed the knesset, says
that his customers include mem-
bers of the present Knesset.
However, he is quick to add that
most of his clientele include offi-
cials of the Red Cross, the U.N.
and some church organizations.
What is involved here is a
symbolic struggle of the direc-
tion and character of modern Is-
rael. The essential challenge is
how to preserve the Jewishness
of the Jewish State and at the
same time individual freedom.
The matter must be thought
through very carefully and
surely requires the wisdom of a
Solomon. In the meantime, Is-
rael should be careful about buy.
ing a pig in a poke
Copyright WNS-Seven Arts
&Nat n rmy members from 27 eountrtee,
nil their annual
,
meeting Israel this summer, dedicated the orsunioa#0
,.__ _,..n. ta ' il b . f
Jewish National Fund grove of trees Mar
0014r40 1 "1° 411"".' Army
Kiryat Menachem, Shown dedkating the plaque
vs Motion 19.
General and Mrs. Jarl Wahlsfrom of Sweclen,