The week of unleavened kibble

The BBQ Pit
1

Hmm, MPSIMS or Pit? Okay, Pit.

I am Not Religious and have been rather adamantly so since my youth (i.e., growing up born again, enough of that). So, in his continuing quest to drive me crazy, about five years ago my husband experienced a religious conversion. If that wasn’t bad enough, this particular religion (or cult, as I consider it) compels him to observe way too many holidays, in peculiar ways, not eat certain things and not have them in the house, and I’m not supposed to have them in the house either. No–he didn’t become Jewish. Messianic. The whole group of them won’t say they are Jewish and won’t say they are Christian–they are believers. But they read from the Torah, in English and Hebrew (although even when reading in English the names are all given in Hebrew).

Apparently this alone didn’t drive anti-religious me crazy enough, so last year, before Passover, he read the label on the cat food and determined that it contained some leavening agent (brewer’s yeast), and therefore it had to leave the house for the week and the cat had to eat something else.

She was Not Happy.

This is a cat who, when Not Happy, slashes things.

I was not very happy either. In fact I was considering divorce, and I would definitely get the cat. We would have a big party. She’d get Meow Mix and I’d have shrimp. Mmmmm.

Instead of getting a divorce (and really I don’t want a divorce, just my own apartment), I sneaked some Meow Mix into my office, a part of the house that is indisputably My Place, and the cat visited often, and we got through the week without having our curtains slashed or losing any clothing.

This year I tried to pre-empt The Week of Unleavened Cat Food by having a reasoned discussion questioning why my husband’s spiritual well-being depends on forcing other people (and cats) not to eat certain things. And this year we have two cats who are eaters of dry food. Both active, healthy, and with nice glossy coats.

Well, it turns out that the new cat will eat anything, and is happy to have Fancy Feast, and will probably desire Fancy Feast forevermore. But the other cat is back in Slasher mode and things are looking grim.

I really do hate sneaking around (the cat doesn’t mind, though) and I’m thinking of just saying, “Okay. I’m feeding the cat her regular stuff in my office. Deal with it.” Or not. And I’m telling the cat she’s lucky he didn’t become a vegan.

2

Good on you for being so tolerant of your husband - you’re a bigger person than I.

If my SO did something like that, I would tell them; “You are an idiot and I have lost all respect for you. Bye.”

Put the Meow Mix in the office. Save your curtains!

3

Seems to me it would be a lot easier if HE left the house for the week.

4

Obviously, your husband snacks on the cat food late at night while sleepwalking.
Just to be safe, he needs to be sure that it contains no yeast.
Be compassionate! You wouldn’t want to be responsible for his damnation through cat food, now, would you?

5

“My husband’s breath smells like catfood”?

:dubious: :eek:

Well, someone had to say it. :smiley:

6

Clearly, your husband wouldn’t deserve you.

7

That’s a little harsh, don’t you think?

I am attracted to people with a certain level of discernment and intelligence. If they were to join a cult or another movement that I thought was completely wacko, I would lose respect for them. I don’t see how I could sustain a relationship with someone I didn’t respect. The qualities it takes to be a cult member are not ones that I find desireable in a partner, therefore, I would prefer not to be in a relationship with someone who was in a cult.
Canadian author Susan Musgrave left her husband, Stephen Reid, when he fell back into his heroin addiction and robbed a bank. Is she a bad person for leaving him?

8

Because a messianic Jew and a bank-robbing heroin addict are so analogous… :wally

9

I knew you were going to bring that up; my answer is that a stupid choice is a stupid choice is a stupid choice.

Again; do you think it is reasonable to ask someone to stay in a relationship with someone they no longer respect?

10

Thanks for thinking I’m tolerant. I think I’m tolerant–he doesn’t. Actually I have lost a lot of respect for him, but not all of it. Yet.

Not to mention my ankles!

I thought something like that myself . . .

You know, a lot of people I’ve been close to have done weird things while sleepwalking. I think you may be onto something here.

I could be wrong, but I think if you eat it by accident it doesn’t really count!

11

It’s one thing to become a Messianic Jew. It’s quite another to take it so far you make your fucking cat go kosher. It’s like those PETA freaks who make their cats eat vegan food.

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Update: The cats won. I got up this morning and was making my coffee when I heard a crunch. Dry cat food (brewer’s yeast and all) in both dishes.

Metacom, while becoming a messianic believer is not in the same league as being a heroin addict bank robber, I do consider it a betrayal.

13

Her husband’s demands are ludicrous, invasive, and wholly idiotic. You’re extremely off-base. He’s forcing his wife and his fucking CATS to conform to his moronic religious dictates. My mind boggles that she still has patience enough with his asshattery to stay with him, but to each her own.

And you may very well be a pinhead as well. I haven’t made up my mind yet.

14

The OP was damn funny. Well done!

15

If dogs are allowed to eat pork, them maybe cats should be allowed to eat leavened kibble? The rules of diet for people and animals are not the same.

16

This thread reminds me of last Friday morning: I walked into work to find one of my Jewish coworkers munching on a bacon and egg toasted sandwich, only to complain later about the cost of the special toothpaste she needed to buy to comply with the Passover restrictions.

:smiley:

17

I would just like to point out while I chow down on my matzah, in case it is not clear to anyone, that real Judaism does not require that cat food, etc. be ‘kosher’ ever, but there is in fact kosher for passover pet food available… I don’t think it’s required but I’ve never had any pets. But any pets I would have would not be Jewish :slight_smile:

Oh, and your husband sounds like he’s being completely unreasonable.

Cheers,
Daphne

18

What group does your husband belong to? An Armstrongist or Sacred Name group?

I did think that in a Torah-observant home, every speck of leaven, including in pet food, had to be out of the house during the Passover/Unleavened Bread festivals.
However, since he came into this faith into the marriage w/o you, there should be a sphere in which you & your realm are exempt. If you both were observant when the marriage began & one of you ceased to be, I’d say observancy should prevail.

And why would becoming messianic be a betrayal?

If you two don’t have kids, maybe it may be time to part if you feel that strongly.

Incidentally, I see both sides. The “moronic religious dictates” are in fact part of Jewish Law & the guy is trying to be true to this. On the other hand, it’s not fair to adopt a belief/lifestyle later in the marriage & expect the spouse to conform.

19

In a Jewish home and under Jewish law, one cannot eat any leaven (“chametz”) during Passover, nor even own any. So, it’s not necessary that the cats eat only Passover food, it’s that a traditional Jew cannot own or utilize chametz-dik cat food.

For the ultra-traditional, this poses a problem. Since today is the second day of Passover and a holiday on which religious Jews would not get on the internet, you may have to wait until tomorrow for an orthodox Jewish view on this.

It’s not an issue for most Conservative Jews, who just toss off the question of pet food with a shrug. Neither is it an issue for Reform Jews, obviously.

One possible way around it, IMHO: according to Talmudic analysis, something that a dog would not eat is not considered “food.” Thus, for example, if there were a piece of dried bread that was encrusted on your stove and had been sprayed over with oven-cleaner, it would not longer be “food” and thus wouldn’t be chametz. Since a dog presumably wouldn’t like the cat food, you might try to use this as a rationale for dodging around the restrictions.

Clearly, the better route is if he comes to his sense on his own, which seems to have happened.

Depending on where he started from, it could be seen as either a betrayal of Christianity (well, at least, of Pauline Christianity) or a betrayal of Judaism.

20

Bad guy vs. whacko – it’s not really an attractive choice, Metacom. Thanks for making the weakness of your argument so clear.