Fine Candies
Clean Up Your Act
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Why a menstruating woman is not "dirty."
ell.J.LOMET1
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ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Q: In the "Tell Me Why" column
of Aug. 23, 1996, you listed James
Caan as going to Hofstra Universi-
ty. Any true Spartan fan knows he
went to Michigan State University.
Get the facts right. GO GREEN!
From reader S.A. in Southfield
A: The facts were right.
Caan, born in March 1939,
attended MSU after graduat-
ing, at age 16, from Rhodes
High School. But he wasn't
there long (hardly long enough
to deserve mention in Tell Me
Why) because, oh gee, shucks,
he failed to qualify for the MSU
football team. So he transferred
— guess where? That's right,
my friend: Hofstra University
in Hempstead, N.Y.
gest, "the dietary laws were cre-
ated to keep Jews healthy."
(With the implication that with
modern refrigeration, laws of
kashrut are no longer relevant.)
This argument might prove
convincing if pigs (and other an-
imals whose meat is treife) were
the only carriers of disease. But
that's hardly the case.
It would be difficult to imag-
ine a more horrible ailment
than the "Mad Cow Disease"
licted
that, only months ago, aff
hundreds of British citizens.
Here, the illness was being
passed on through contami-
nated cattle. If slaughtered and
butchered properly, of course,
there's absolutely nothing treife
about beef.
Those who keep kosher do so
not
for any logical reason, but
Q: May we get a clarification on
strictly as a matter of faith.
the two following issues? The first They do so because God com-
one concerns the Jewish dietary manded it.
Your second question raises
laws. Many of us were schooled
with the rationale that in Leviticus, a frequently misunderstood
the reasoning behind the passage term: niddah . For some inex-
plicable reason, a lot of people
(about kashrut) is that animals with- seem to have the notion that
out the cloven hoof or that don't
the word means "un-
clean." This is not
chew their cud are "unclean."
true. In fact, it trans-
Will you please elaborate on the
lates more properly
reasons why we honor
as "in another state
these laws?
\ of existence." Refer-
The second issue con-
ring to a woman's
menstrual cycle, it's
cerns the seating of men
a time when she
separate from women in
"(
and her hus-
the Orthodox syna-
band do not
gogues. Aside from the
have sexual
female distraction rea-
relations.
What's impor-
son, wasn't a second rea-
tant
to know is
son for this due to the fact
that there is
that women are consid-
nothing negative
ered "unclean" during
about a woman
the month while experi-
being niddah,
which generally
encing their menstrual cy- Are Kermit and Miss Piggy
lasts some two
proper
dinner
food?
cle?
weeks each
A bowl of matzo ball
month (the time of her period,
soup is riding on your reply.
then about one week after-
From reader G.C. in Pikesville, ward). A menstruating woman
is not considered dirty, and a
Md.
A: A bowl of matzo ball soup? Jewish male who shakes her
Hiram, I'd like to get in on this hand, or accidently brushes
against her, does not have to go
deal.
The rationale behind Jewish through any special "cleansing"
dietary laws has been (and no ritual or ceremony.
The laws restricting a man
doubt will continue to be) de-
bated for years. The idea you from coming into contact with
cited, that they were a kind of a woman having her period ap-
Divinely-inspired precursor to ply specifically to her husband,
modern health practices, is and were established to help,
make certain that couples ob-
probably the most popular.
For example, ancient Jews served the stricture against sex-
knew that pigs were carriers of ual relations when a woman is
the disease trichinosis, which menstruating. (If husband and
could be passed on to those who wife were completely separat-
ate their meat. "See," some sug- ed, the rabbis reasoned, it
would prevent a chain of inti-
macy that could lead to inter-
course.)
The manner in which Jewish
families observe these laws is
varied. Some couples will not
touch at all while the wife is
niddah. Others are less strict
about touching, but restrain
from any deep physical expres-
sions of affection.
That men and women are
separated from each other in
Orthodox congregations has
nothing to do with a woman's
status as a niddah. The prece-
dent was established in the
Temple, which had a separate
section where women stood
during portions of the religious
service.
Q: During the O.J. Simpson trial,
I heard a lot about Faye Resnick, a
friend of the murder victim, Nicole
Brown Simpson, and author of two
books about her relationship with
O.J. and Nicole. Later, I learned
that Ms. Resnick was a self-ad-
mitted drug abuser, and recently I
read that she had signed a contract
to pose nude for Playboy. I know
that Resnick is a common Jewish
name, but I shudder to think this
woman might be Jewish. Tell Me
Why, say it's ain't so!
A: It ain't so. Stop shudder-
ing.
Ms. Resnick was born Faye
Hutchinson to a mother of
Spanish-Italian ancestry and a
father of English heritage. Her
father abandoned the family,
and her mother raised Faye
and her three siblings in the Je-
hovah Witness faith.
Faye got her Jewish last
name in 1986 when she
married millionaire business-
man Paul Resnick of Beverly
Hills. It was her third mar-
riage, and the couple divorced
in 1991. Although they had
no children, Paul assumed
paternity of Faye's daughter
from a previous marriage. In
all, Paul Resnick has been
married five times and has
seven children.
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