“Also, I remember from a movie showing Hassidim that they had separate refrigerators for milk and meat products.” ~Irishman
I am an entirely religious Orthodox Jew, and I would like to state that I am quite certain that this practice (which I’ve never heard of before, incidentally) is absolutely ridiculous and has no basis in Jewish law or anything else. Following such a “stringency” is no more admirable than following a “stringency” of, say, turning around three times before you eat anything. It is meaningless and moronic, and they should be putting more effort into actually following real laws (such as saying the morning amida prayer before a third of daylight hours have passed, say) rather than inventing idiocies. It should be noted that I am no great scholar, but I would bet that there’s no basis for this whatsoever (if I ever bet and betting were permitted, that is).
It should also perhaps be noted that I am a misnaged (literally “one who opposes”), an opponent of khasidus (the state of being a hasid; literally “devotion,” which just shows you how arrogant they are). However, I would denounce things like this no matter who practices them. I am always opposed to stupidity, regardless of its practitioner.
“The Herculean leaps of logic required here seem absolutely ridiculous. There’s no kind way to say how stupid this sounds. I guess I’ll just take comfort in the fact that I don’t have to worry about it.” ~Irishman
I understand that this may seem ridiculous. Let me explain the basis for these things, so that even if you don’t believe in the premises the logic of these things is understandable given those premises.
The written Torah (a.k.a. the Pentateuch; the first five books of the Bible, from Genesis through Deuteronomy) is not exactly the basis for Jewish law. Instead, an oral tradition, known as the oral Torah, has been passed down from generation to generation. According to tradition it originated at Mount Sinai, when God gave it to Moses, but you can draw your own conclusions. At any rate, it resembles what the written Torah says but is much more complex and detailed, and sometimes directly contradicts what the written Torah says. For instance, the written Torah merely states “bind [these words] as a sign on your hands, and they should be totafos [no known translation] between your eyes.” The oral Torah explains that a few excerpts from the written Torah must be written on scrolls and placed in two special leather boxes in a very specific manner, and that these boxes must be bound with special leather straps in a certain manner onto you, one on the upper arm and one on the forehead above the hairline, and that this must be done daily, and that the commandment only applies to men, and so forth.
In any case, for the purposes of Jewish law (halakha) we do not follow the written Torah. We follow the oral Torah. Now, this oral Torah has certainly been distorted between Sinai and the time of the Talmud, when it was written down (a difference of maybe a thousand years or so). This doesn’t matter, either. As I explained, the oral Torah that we currently have is the law, regardless of what it used to be.
So it has been established that we follow the oral Torah as written down in the Talmud. The commandments in this oral Torah, with all their details, are known as Biblical commandments.
There are also some commandments derived from the Prophets (although not many). Prophetic commandments, as far as I know, are followed more or less literally. These are also binding upon all Jews. Again, what is actually written in the Prophets is pretty much irrelevant; we follow the Talmud alone.
The Rabbis then issued decrees for various reasons, imposing additional stringencies (or occasionally quasi-leniencies) on us. Again, the original decree is irrelevant; the way these Rabbinical commandments are explained in the Talmud is what is binding.
Finally, tradition is added in. Over the years various communities have developed different traditions, and those are more or less binding upon those whose families originally came from those communities. Which set of traditions one follows isn’t entirely set in stone; one who moves to a new community might follow some or all of the traditions of that community, a convert or one who doesn’t know what his family traditions are can pick any set of traditions he wants, and so forth. Some of these traditions might be stringencies, and some might be variations in such things as Rabbinically mandated prayers that have crept in over the years. These traditions aren’t explained in the Talmud and aren’t considered binding upon all Jews, although religious Jews have to follow some sort of tradition in most subjects. (For instance, there are a number of variations in the amida prayer, depending on the community. All religious Jews have to pick one of these variations. You generally aren’t allowed to make up your own.)
It should also be noted that I have listed these varieties of commandments in descending order of importance and they are followed in that order. Biblical commandments supercede Prophetic commandments (although they don’t generally come into conflict with each other), both usually supercede Rabbinical commandments (although the Rabbis had the power to decree that in certain circumstances one is not permitted to follow a Biblical or Prophetic commandment), and all of them supercede tradition. This last point is often ignored by Jews trying to cling to their traditions at the expense of actual Jewish law, but some traditions are simply wrong.
So, let us look at the prohibition against milk and meat:
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The written Torah just states, “Do not cook a kid in its mother’s milk.” This is irrelevant. We do not follow the written Torah.
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The Talmud states that there is a Biblical prohibition against eating any dairy product together with any meat (although poultry and fish are okay). Although this is not stated in the written Torah at all, it is the oral law and is considered a Biblical commandment anyway. “Biblical commandment” is something of a misnomer in this case, because the commandment isn’t written in the Bible itself, but that’s what it’s called.
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The Talmud further explains that the Rabbis were worried that people might confuse poultry with meat, so they prohibited the combination of poultry and dairy products as well. This is a Rabbinical commandment and has nothing to do with the Bible.
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Traditions later developed, and stringencies were applied. For example, most Orthodox Jews are probably more careful than is strictly necessary about seperating utensils used for meat and dairy products. Although there is a prohibition against using the same utensils for both (I’m not sure if it’s Biblical or Rabbinical), it only applies in certain cases. Religious Jews usually don’t use the same utensils for meat products and milk products at all, even when it would technically be permissible, and in my experience generally use seperate tablecloths for milk and meat products, and so forth. None of this is technically required. Some of it is useful, however; the laws about when one may or may not use a utensil for both meat and dairy products are fairly complex, and it’s useful to not have to worry about it. Putting milk and meat in seperate refrigerators is exceptionally extreme, but it falls under this too. Again, none of this is actually binding.
Now I will summarize the principles involved in Jewish law:
- What the written Torah says is irrelevant to Jewish law.
- What the oral Torah says, as explained in the Talmud, is considered Biblical law and is binding.
- What the written Prophets say is irrelevant to Jewish law.
- What the oral tradition says the Prophets commanded, as explained in the Talmud, is considered Prophetic law and is binding.
- What the Rabbis may or may not have actually decreed in the past is irrelevant to Jewish law.
- What the oral tradition says the Rabbis decreed, as explained in the Talmud, is considered Rabbinical law and is binding.
- Traditions that later developed are more or less binding, but are very flexible compared to actual commandments and are always subordinate to them.
Even if you think these premises a bit odd, I hope I have made the logic behind all this clear once you understand them.
