Rambam Yomi- Avodat Kochavim (8-12)
Avodat Kochavim (8)
A false deity which was not made by man or touched, moved, or changed by man for the sake of worship, does not become forbidden. You can benefit from them. Hence, you can benefit from the sun. You can also benefit from water. Anything that man has not messed with is of worth. Man messes up everything. Even the Animal Kingdom doesn’t look like a place animals would want to live. Little kids staring right at the things. Is it idol worship?
If the immobile object was moved for idol worship, and worshipped, it is forbidden. You cannot benefit from its arm, and lean on it.
Planting a tree for the sake of serving it, is considered to be an Asheira, and you cannot derive benefit from it. If you cannot figure out that something you planted is not omnipotent, then I am going to have a hard time teaching you math.
8:4-5- The stuff that covers the object being served is considered to be forbidden, even if the object isn’t anymore. You therefore get rid of the stuff that covers it and then the non-movable object is fine. For example, a dog with a pink sweater and hat, which looks kind of weird, somehow looks normal once you remove the hat and scarf.
8:6- You get rid of idol stuff by crushing it and throwing it in the air or burning it putting it in the Dead Sea. You don’t get rid of it at a garage sale. Hoarding is not halchikly correct.
8:8-9- A non-Jew’s idol stuff can be nullified. But it has to be nullified before they get rid of it. It cannot be a magical, ‘I nullify this idol now. You are paying me enough for me to not worship this anymore.’ If it is a Jew’s, it cannot be nullified. Jews mess up stuff more.
Offerings to idols can never be nullified. This makes sense, as it is an object that went the whole way to being sacrificed. No matter how good it tastes, they probably didn’t even slaughter it in the correct halachik manner. That is why you have to watch out for the Ba’al guys.
8:10-11- You mess up the face and that nullifies the idol. Nobody wants to serve anything that has a messed up nose. That is the one thing that kept Michael Jackson from being worshipped. But this all depends on how and when it was done. Kavanah (intent) is important. If you cut off the nose because you want the idol to look like Michael Jackson, then we have an issue again.
8:12- If they stop worshipping because of war, that means nothing. But if it is at a time of peace that they break the idol, you can benefit from it. It shows that they nullified it. It is kind of like an offering in times of peace, not a peace offering. Lesson for Idol Worshippers: Don’t give up on your idol in times of peace. It is not going to help make peace with Jews. If you are losing the war, then you should rethink the whole worshipping process anyways. Maybe do a rally cap or something. Maybe rally cap the cap you put on the idol.
If they destroy the altars or the trees, not for the purpose of serving the thing, then you can benefit. Lumberjacks are heros in our world. A righteous gentile, if I may say.
Sometimes people are arm people. If that is the case, a cut off arm does not nullify the idol. Next time somebody eats chicken, see if they are a leg man. That is the tell. If they say, ‘I am a leg person,’ they might have one of those leg idols.
Again, once it is a Jew’s, you can never benefit from the stuff, even if they are not an arm or leg person.
Avodat Kochavim (9)
9:1-5- You can’t do business of any sort with idol worshippers for three days before their holidays. They don’t know how to negotiate anyways.
The induction of a king is also considered one of their public holidays. Especially before elections in a democracy, make sure that you know who these people are voting for, before doing business with them. Jewish self hating Israels.
This is in Israel. Outside of Israel, we are more lenient, and only hold back from business on the day of the holiday itself. Otherwise, we would find ourselves doing business with only Jews. And being that they all the Jews we can do business with got fired because they cannot work on Shabbat, and the only business Jews have not taken over in America is the grocery business, you would be stuck with canned salmon and beef every Shabbat. And that does not taste the same. There is only so much idol fighting we can do, before my mom stops cooking a decent Shabbat meal. In Israel we are stricter with this law, because there are a lot of Jewish grocers.
The Rambam considered Christians to be idol worshippers, so you couldn’t do business with them from Thursday to Saturday, and on Sunday- which is their weekly holiday. No need to share this one with your neighbors.
If the immobile object was moved for idol worship, and worshipped, it is forbidden. You cannot benefit from its arm, and lean on it.
Planting a tree for the sake of serving it, is considered to be an Asheira, and you cannot derive benefit from it. If you cannot figure out that something you planted is not omnipotent, then I am going to have a hard time teaching you math.
8:4-5- The stuff that covers the object being served is considered to be forbidden, even if the object isn’t anymore. You therefore get rid of the stuff that covers it and then the non-movable object is fine. For example, a dog with a pink sweater and hat, which looks kind of weird, somehow looks normal once you remove the hat and scarf.
8:6- You get rid of idol stuff by crushing it and throwing it in the air or burning it putting it in the Dead Sea. You don’t get rid of it at a garage sale. Hoarding is not halchikly correct.
8:8-9- A non-Jew’s idol stuff can be nullified. But it has to be nullified before they get rid of it. It cannot be a magical, ‘I nullify this idol now. You are paying me enough for me to not worship this anymore.’ If it is a Jew’s, it cannot be nullified. Jews mess up stuff more.
Offerings to idols can never be nullified. This makes sense, as it is an object that went the whole way to being sacrificed. No matter how good it tastes, they probably didn’t even slaughter it in the correct halachik manner. That is why you have to watch out for the Ba’al guys.
8:10-11- You mess up the face and that nullifies the idol. Nobody wants to serve anything that has a messed up nose. That is the one thing that kept Michael Jackson from being worshipped. But this all depends on how and when it was done. Kavanah (intent) is important. If you cut off the nose because you want the idol to look like Michael Jackson, then we have an issue again.
8:12- If they stop worshipping because of war, that means nothing. But if it is at a time of peace that they break the idol, you can benefit from it. It shows that they nullified it. It is kind of like an offering in times of peace, not a peace offering. Lesson for Idol Worshippers: Don’t give up on your idol in times of peace. It is not going to help make peace with Jews. If you are losing the war, then you should rethink the whole worshipping process anyways. Maybe do a rally cap or something. Maybe rally cap the cap you put on the idol.
If they destroy the altars or the trees, not for the purpose of serving the thing, then you can benefit. Lumberjacks are heros in our world. A righteous gentile, if I may say.
Sometimes people are arm people. If that is the case, a cut off arm does not nullify the idol. Next time somebody eats chicken, see if they are a leg man. That is the tell. If they say, ‘I am a leg person,’ they might have one of those leg idols.
Again, once it is a Jew’s, you can never benefit from the stuff, even if they are not an arm or leg person.
Avodat Kochavim (9)
9:1-5- You can’t do business of any sort with idol worshippers for three days before their holidays. They don’t know how to negotiate anyways.
The induction of a king is also considered one of their public holidays. Especially before elections in a democracy, make sure that you know who these people are voting for, before doing business with them. Jewish self hating Israels.
This is in Israel. Outside of Israel, we are more lenient, and only hold back from business on the day of the holiday itself. Otherwise, we would find ourselves doing business with only Jews. And being that they all the Jews we can do business with got fired because they cannot work on Shabbat, and the only business Jews have not taken over in America is the grocery business, you would be stuck with canned salmon and beef every Shabbat. And that does not taste the same. There is only so much idol fighting we can do, before my mom stops cooking a decent Shabbat meal. In Israel we are stricter with this law, because there are a lot of Jewish grocers.
The Rambam considered Christians to be idol worshippers, so you couldn’t do business with them from Thursday to Saturday, and on Sunday- which is their weekly holiday. No need to share this one with your neighbors.
Answering your question: In the Rambam’s day, you couldn’t go to the YMCA. However, nowadays, since most members are not necessarily Christian, you can go.
For private holidays, of individuals, or celebrations of deaths, which are private, you just don’t do the business with them on that day. There are many exciting things that happen in our lives and many chose to celebrate them. The day that the guy shaved his beard, is a holiday for him; an exciting day for him, but didn’t get taken on as a national holiday. Another day of celebration is the day he did the Mohawk. Who wouldn’t celebrate a Mohawk? That is an extra special shaving day.
9:6-9- You can’t sell stuff that is for idol worship to people who worship idols. This would be obvious if money wasn’t involved. This question was brought up to the Rambam, because there was a 1,000% profit on the deal. It had to be asked. You can sell stuff that is not unique to idol worship, such as a drill. If they use the drill for idol worship, we don’t blame you. If it is mixed in with other stuff, you can sell it. Defecation is unique to serving Ba’al, so you cannot sell feces. However, if that is mixed in with paint, then you might be able to sell it.
You also don’t sell to a Jew who has no heart and would sell the idol stuff for money, to an idol worshiper. Such as the kind of Jews who don’t work in fundraising. You can only sell to Jewish merchants who don’t want to make money.
Also, don’t sell weapons to a thief, even if he is Jewish. Point: Do not be an accomplice. L: If you do sell a gun to a felon, wipe your handprints off it first.
9:9-14- You don’t go through cities that have idol worship. Maybe they’ll try to sacrifice you. Who knows what kind of habits you can pick up from these services they do. There are apparently those who find themselves in those cities. So you can give the business to the non-idol worshipping people.
You also don’t make domes that are for idols. Many people like working in the dome business. That is not a good business for a good Jewish boy.
Stay away from idol stuff is the lesson. Nonetheless, even though you can’t sell your home for idols, you can buy stuff from people who are not going to pay taxes which go to the idol. But if you buy from a merchant, you have to get rid of the stuff, because he is giving that money to taxes, which go to the idols. This means that you can go to the farm and produce fairs and bazaar to buy from individuals, because we know that none of them report anything. L: We must support the black market.
9:15- Can’t party with them because their daughters will lead your sons astray and lead them to idol worship (Shemot 34:15-16). That is what they do. They look good and then the kids stop to believe. 12 years of Hebrew school down the drain. And all you can think is why you spent $250,000 when you could have just hired one good looking Jewish woman and your son would have been a frum Jew.
You don’t even eat with them for a long time after their party. They love eating their idol worship leftovers.
9:16- Though we do not help raise idolatress children, we do stuff like help them birth, but only for money, because we are worried about strife. So you can save lives for money. If money is not involved, do not help these people. This why I am vehemently against these Habitat for Humanity kind of things. Where is the money in the southern hemisphere? Why would anybody go there? Sinners.
9:17-18- You can never do business with an apostate Jew. But you can do business with non-Jews who goes to an idol place, on their way back. On the way there, you can’t as they might use the money to serve the idol. And they never take a second out to think why they are always broke after serving the idols. Jews coming back from those places, you can’t do business with, because he might have sold idols and we cannot benefit from a Jew’s money from idol worship. This is why we kick them out of the community. He is getting all rich, and we can’t even take a gift. Can we benefit from money that is from the mob? I would venture to say yes, at this point. That is just based on what I have seen with most of the religious non-profits, who never turn away a person for their money. But that is only from non-idol money from the mob. If it is money from killings, that is definitely fine.
Avodat Kochavim (10)
10:1-3- Got to let an idol worshipper die. (Devarim 7:2) ‘You shall not be gracious to them.’ You shall not be compassionate. This helps when you are trying to get somewhere and you notice somebody drowning. You can just let it happen. It saves some good time.
More stringent with Jews, you have to seek out to kill Jewish idol worshippers. You would probably have to drown the Jew yourself. Keep in mind that the Rambam is not telling the average man to decide on what idol worship is. We don’t want Bernie, who didn’t get enough food at Kiddush, jumping over the table and killing Fran, yelling, ‘You herring eating heretic.’ Stabbing her to the words, ‘Share, Share, Move to the side so I can get to the table.’ If that was the case, that herring was being used for idol worship, we wouldn’t be able to eat it.
Man, the Rambam is honest. It is good that this is not written in English. There is one way you can save the life: For money. If there might be consequences that are negative, then you can medically treat the idol worshipper.
10:3-4- Can’t sell them fields and stuff. L: Jews should not be involved in real estate. Correct. Give all the money back. In Suria, we are a bit less stringent, because that is not the internal part of Israel.
Outside of Israel, you can sell them houses. We are back in business, my Jewish entrepreneurs. This does not mean to get involved in building rentals, because that just causing anti-Semitism. Nobody likes to pay rent, and they hate people who collect money that is owed.
You can’t even talk about how good they are, as that might cause you to learn from their evil ways. ‘Look at Darren. He is in shape. I want to be an athlete.’ Chas vShalom. ‘Look at Karly. She does her hair real nice.’ Chas vShalom. ‘Look at that couple. They get along.’ Chas vShalom you idol loving, in shape, sweet couple who doesn’t discipline your child who is dating Karly because she has nice hair.’
10:5- You provide for poor idolaters, with the poor Jews, for the sake of peace. Same with saying ‘Hi’ to idolaters. You can say ‘Hi’ for the sake of peace. If saying ‘Hi’ brings bad feelings, kind of like the anger that interaction makes for in when you wake somebody up in the morning, then you can’t do.
L: For the sake of peace, you do not have to let people die.
10:6- This is only when the Jews do not have power. When we have power, we don’t have to worry about peace, and we are not allowed to have idol worshippers in our land. You don’t want idol worshippers voting in the elections. Next thing you know, they are celebrating their election holiday, and we can’t pick up new groceries for four days.
L: If we weren’t scared, we would be allowed to kill the idolaters. ISIS is wrong, because they are not honing their murders. It is only idolaters…I think I have gone too far, and I do not fully understand the Rambam and who is considered a real idolater. I am also afraid that some of my best friends are idolaters.
Non-Jews can be in Israel if they are keeping the 7 laws of Noach, and we are celebrating the jubilee year where the land goes back to its original owners. You can even buy stuff from regular non-Jews. And they think this whole thing with the Rambam is overkill. Converts are always welcome. If you are Jewish, you can be in Israel.
For private holidays, of individuals, or celebrations of deaths, which are private, you just don’t do the business with them on that day. There are many exciting things that happen in our lives and many chose to celebrate them. The day that the guy shaved his beard, is a holiday for him; an exciting day for him, but didn’t get taken on as a national holiday. Another day of celebration is the day he did the Mohawk. Who wouldn’t celebrate a Mohawk? That is an extra special shaving day.
9:6-9- You can’t sell stuff that is for idol worship to people who worship idols. This would be obvious if money wasn’t involved. This question was brought up to the Rambam, because there was a 1,000% profit on the deal. It had to be asked. You can sell stuff that is not unique to idol worship, such as a drill. If they use the drill for idol worship, we don’t blame you. If it is mixed in with other stuff, you can sell it. Defecation is unique to serving Ba’al, so you cannot sell feces. However, if that is mixed in with paint, then you might be able to sell it.
You also don’t sell to a Jew who has no heart and would sell the idol stuff for money, to an idol worshiper. Such as the kind of Jews who don’t work in fundraising. You can only sell to Jewish merchants who don’t want to make money.
Also, don’t sell weapons to a thief, even if he is Jewish. Point: Do not be an accomplice. L: If you do sell a gun to a felon, wipe your handprints off it first.
9:9-14- You don’t go through cities that have idol worship. Maybe they’ll try to sacrifice you. Who knows what kind of habits you can pick up from these services they do. There are apparently those who find themselves in those cities. So you can give the business to the non-idol worshipping people.
You also don’t make domes that are for idols. Many people like working in the dome business. That is not a good business for a good Jewish boy.
Stay away from idol stuff is the lesson. Nonetheless, even though you can’t sell your home for idols, you can buy stuff from people who are not going to pay taxes which go to the idol. But if you buy from a merchant, you have to get rid of the stuff, because he is giving that money to taxes, which go to the idols. This means that you can go to the farm and produce fairs and bazaar to buy from individuals, because we know that none of them report anything. L: We must support the black market.
9:15- Can’t party with them because their daughters will lead your sons astray and lead them to idol worship (Shemot 34:15-16). That is what they do. They look good and then the kids stop to believe. 12 years of Hebrew school down the drain. And all you can think is why you spent $250,000 when you could have just hired one good looking Jewish woman and your son would have been a frum Jew.
You don’t even eat with them for a long time after their party. They love eating their idol worship leftovers.
9:16- Though we do not help raise idolatress children, we do stuff like help them birth, but only for money, because we are worried about strife. So you can save lives for money. If money is not involved, do not help these people. This why I am vehemently against these Habitat for Humanity kind of things. Where is the money in the southern hemisphere? Why would anybody go there? Sinners.
9:17-18- You can never do business with an apostate Jew. But you can do business with non-Jews who goes to an idol place, on their way back. On the way there, you can’t as they might use the money to serve the idol. And they never take a second out to think why they are always broke after serving the idols. Jews coming back from those places, you can’t do business with, because he might have sold idols and we cannot benefit from a Jew’s money from idol worship. This is why we kick them out of the community. He is getting all rich, and we can’t even take a gift. Can we benefit from money that is from the mob? I would venture to say yes, at this point. That is just based on what I have seen with most of the religious non-profits, who never turn away a person for their money. But that is only from non-idol money from the mob. If it is money from killings, that is definitely fine.
Avodat Kochavim (10)
10:1-3- Got to let an idol worshipper die. (Devarim 7:2) ‘You shall not be gracious to them.’ You shall not be compassionate. This helps when you are trying to get somewhere and you notice somebody drowning. You can just let it happen. It saves some good time.
More stringent with Jews, you have to seek out to kill Jewish idol worshippers. You would probably have to drown the Jew yourself. Keep in mind that the Rambam is not telling the average man to decide on what idol worship is. We don’t want Bernie, who didn’t get enough food at Kiddush, jumping over the table and killing Fran, yelling, ‘You herring eating heretic.’ Stabbing her to the words, ‘Share, Share, Move to the side so I can get to the table.’ If that was the case, that herring was being used for idol worship, we wouldn’t be able to eat it.
Man, the Rambam is honest. It is good that this is not written in English. There is one way you can save the life: For money. If there might be consequences that are negative, then you can medically treat the idol worshipper.
10:3-4- Can’t sell them fields and stuff. L: Jews should not be involved in real estate. Correct. Give all the money back. In Suria, we are a bit less stringent, because that is not the internal part of Israel.
Outside of Israel, you can sell them houses. We are back in business, my Jewish entrepreneurs. This does not mean to get involved in building rentals, because that just causing anti-Semitism. Nobody likes to pay rent, and they hate people who collect money that is owed.
You can’t even talk about how good they are, as that might cause you to learn from their evil ways. ‘Look at Darren. He is in shape. I want to be an athlete.’ Chas vShalom. ‘Look at Karly. She does her hair real nice.’ Chas vShalom. ‘Look at that couple. They get along.’ Chas vShalom you idol loving, in shape, sweet couple who doesn’t discipline your child who is dating Karly because she has nice hair.’
10:5- You provide for poor idolaters, with the poor Jews, for the sake of peace. Same with saying ‘Hi’ to idolaters. You can say ‘Hi’ for the sake of peace. If saying ‘Hi’ brings bad feelings, kind of like the anger that interaction makes for in when you wake somebody up in the morning, then you can’t do.
L: For the sake of peace, you do not have to let people die.
10:6- This is only when the Jews do not have power. When we have power, we don’t have to worry about peace, and we are not allowed to have idol worshippers in our land. You don’t want idol worshippers voting in the elections. Next thing you know, they are celebrating their election holiday, and we can’t pick up new groceries for four days.
L: If we weren’t scared, we would be allowed to kill the idolaters. ISIS is wrong, because they are not honing their murders. It is only idolaters…I think I have gone too far, and I do not fully understand the Rambam and who is considered a real idolater. I am also afraid that some of my best friends are idolaters.
Non-Jews can be in Israel if they are keeping the 7 laws of Noach, and we are celebrating the jubilee year where the land goes back to its original owners. You can even buy stuff from regular non-Jews. And they think this whole thing with the Rambam is overkill. Converts are always welcome. If you are Jewish, you can be in Israel.
Avodat Kochavim (11)
11:1-3- Do not follow the idolaters in any way. The parades look fun, but you are not allowed to join it; even if the floats are really cool.
There are a bunch of psukim (sentences) in the Torah about not following their statutes and not being like them. H’ made sure to cover it all. Don’t dress like them. Metrosexual is forbidden.
If it is for working with the kingdom, you may dress like them, because otherwise it is an embarrassment. Dressing in shorts at the dinner table, and in an undershirt. Not right. You are not allowed to be comfortable. It is not like you are a single dude, living with another dude. Imagine you are sharing dinner with a woman. Rambam doesn’t talk about if it is mutar (allowed), if a woman wants you to dress metrosexual. Again, skinny jeans should be asur (forbidden)
11:4-16- All the witchcraft, magic, sorcery, soothsayer, incantation stuff, astrology stuff that makes for good movies, is forbidden. You get killed for some of it. Is Harry Potter a good guy, or a sinner? I think we all know. You think he is innocent with those glasses. No. It is asur now to wear glasses, thanks to Harry Potter and his sorcery.
A lot of the astrology stuff has to do with making decisions based on it. If however, there was already a decision made, and then to say, this is a good omen. That is OK, because he is not holding himself back from doing anything. So it might be permitted to get your sign read, so that you can blame your lack of accomplishment on your star and sun stuff, and how you have not reached any ascendant. But you can’t say that a relationship won’t work out because of astrology, because it is annoying to hear you talking about that stuff.
You can’t use the Torah for any of this witchycrafty stuff either. That would also be denying the Torah, as the Torah is not cures for the body, but ‘Life for your soul’ (Proverbs 3:22). Which is why most people that are frum and learn a lot of Torah are out of shape. They are true chassidim.
Right by the negative commandments of all this stuff, it is written ‘Complete you shall be with H’’ (Devarim 18:13). If you are connecting with H’ in an off way, such as making H’ appear or disappear, or putting H’ in a box, then you are not really complete with H,’ nor do you understand H.’
People who practice this stuff are considered fools. Yet, I still feel like an idiot when I can’t figure out where the bird is coming from in the magic show.
Point: You don’t want to get killed for witchcraft or fooling people that you are doing something that is not real, making them think it is. Pulling the wool over peoples’ eyes. Magicians have a special place in hell. They are teasing people too. Like there is really a rabbit in the hat? Mean. Maybe we should put you in a box and cut you in half.
This is probably why it is forbidden to do hypnotism in Israel. Religious persuasion is legal, because it does not involve hypnotism. Religious persecution and forceful persuasion is fine in these parts of the world, as long as it has nothing to do with magic.
Where do we draw the line as to what is the idol worship? I think we can draw the line with bad entertainment. If the guy puts on a bad show, it is asur.
What can Jews do for decoration? That is the question I am still stuck with. I feel like every one of my friends’ homes is a little stumbling block, with their little art flying around.
Cool hairstyles are out
12:1-6- You can’t cut the payis like the priests of the idol worshippers did. 40 hairs is the amount we have to leave, as we heard from the elders, who were probably rabbis. They might have been just a bunch of older men who were talking about the last hairs that are left on their head, and how important it is to keep that stuff, in order to keep youthful.
The isur (what is forbidden, you heretic who thinks that getting haircuts is all good, and that it should be celebrated) is on the one who does the shaving. L: Once the barber takes off your hair- as you requested, then you should whack them.
We are only talking about with a razor. With scissors, this is all OK. Shavers are considered scissors. With a real small piece of paper, they might cut it.
This whole thing about not cutting the corners of the head is only for men. (VaYikra 19:27) It says to not destroy the corners of the beard, after saying not to cut the corners of the head. Since women do not have beards (generally) they can shave their heads. Another mitzvah women don’t have to worry about.
This, the beard shaving, and a Kohen not becoming impure from a dead body are the only three negative commandments that a woman is not obligated in. That makes me feel better. This whole women can have a good time and I can’t is bothersome to me. They should be responsible for something too. I wouldn’t want to leave an irresponsible person in charge of my children, for the first little while of their lives. That is not male chauvinism. That is the thoughts of somebody who does not have time to help out around a house, because he has to focus on his 40 hairs.
But women still can’t shave a man’s payis. They shouldn’t even be touching them.
12:7-8- Beards have basically the same laws. You can shave the mustache and flava. Many have asked. Answer: The Abraham Lincoln is Kosher.
His name is Abraham. There is something Jewish there.
12:9-10- Law from The Rabbis: A man cannot adorn himself as a woman, nor a woman as a man. This means shaving his body. Certain parts are fine, such as the feat. Even so, a man should look like a beast. Bodybuilding is wrong, because women shave their pits. According to halacha men should be power-lifting beasts, with hair. If a woman says a man looks good, then that man is doing something wrong. Asur.
Man cannot dress in colors and women cannot dress with a turban. A man cannot wear bracelets in a place where men do not wear jewelry. And you cannot pick out your white hairs or dye your hair. Accept that you are balding is the lesson. If you need to, cover it with a turban, then cover it with a turban. Get a bigger Kippah. I was never into the whole nose stud and eyeliner on the man anyways.
Point: Women should try to look decent. Men should not.
12:11-16- You can’t tattoo, which in the Torah is a cut in the skin and a dye. One of them seems to be fine.
Gouging and gashing are also forbidden. This is all Torah stuff so far (VaYikra 19:28, gashing is from Devearim 14:1). The Rambam is not making this up. It has to do with what idol worshippers would do to serve their idols and also for the dead. They would tattoo themselves to show they were branded in service. They would gouge themselves for the dead, and gash themselves for idols. Whatever the difference is between the two. I have no idea. Don’t hurt yourself like the idol worshippers did. This law is kind of a moot point for most of these people. If the person is willing to cut themselves and gouge themselves, they are going to be fine with lashes.
From gauging, it is also learned to not have two courts in a city. Learn the Hebrew and figure this one out. This whole Hebrew for gauging meaning having to courts could make for a good Dvar Torah (a little speech, you apikores who gauged the morals out of your city- you see how good that sounds).
We learn something else in that Pasuk in Devarim and VaYIkra 21:5. You can’t make bald spots for dead people. I take a bit of offense. Always busting on bald people. Even dead people don’t want to be bald. It would seem that you can’t make bald spots and some people just have bad balding patterns. Should natural balding patterns be forbidden? Yes. If they are using toupees. And they are always smiling when they are putting them on in the ads. Is it because they know they are sinning? Maybe. It might just be false advertisement. I see through those smiles of sin.
But you can bald yourself for losing a house or a ship. When life is real bad, it is understandable that there is not hope; you might as well bald yourself.
L from Hilchot Avoda Zara: You can’t do anything that the idol worshippers would do. You can’t look decent. You can’t cut your hair nicely. You can’t sacrifice your babies.
Shopping at Banana Republic is probably asur. The only mutar place to shop is Amazing Savings.
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