Rabbi orders that dolls be maimed.

[woo me with science]

JERUSALEM -- In a tough break for the children of Orthodox Jewish families, a former grand rabbi of Israel has urged parents to amputate their dolls to avoid the perils of idolatry.

Basing the move on a Biblical ban on the possession of idols, Mordechai Eliyahu, a Sephardic rabbi, broadcast his edict on a religious radio station calling for an arm or a leg to be dismembered.

In the case of a teddy bear or other stuffed animals, the children will see their beloved toys lose an ear or an eye instead.

"It is very important that these toys do not remain intact so as to remove the element of idolatry," said Eliyahu.

.....

Religious edicts are not legally obliging in Israel.

http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20060327-033624-1988r

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. So kids won't love something that is "broken"? Unreal

[carboncat]

7. No--he said 'to remove element of idolatry'..

He DID NOT say it was because the children weren't to love something broken. Many religious communities don't believe in worshiping images. It's not fair to read more into it than that.

[Maru Kitteh]

23. Where exactly did it say that Jewish kids were "worshiping" their toys?

And how exactly will removing one ear from a Teddy bear or an arm from a doll solve this? Doesn't this kind of notion reinforce a prejudice against those who suffer from dismemberment or birth defects? I find it all very strange and a little disgusting, even sadistic.

[carboncat]

26. You said that--I didn't.

I said that many religious communities don't believe in worshipping images. The Rabbi said he wanted to 'remove elements of idolatry'.

How he chooses to interpret his own religion is his business. I happen to be an atheist and I sure as heck don't feel I have to justify my beliefs to anyone. I believe other people than myself likewise have that right as long as they are not hurting others or their possessions.

[Maru Kitteh]

32. Well this guy is hurting others and their possessions

" Shmuel revealed that his father had forced one of his followers to snap off the ear of a replica of a statue of Moses by Michelangelo that he had bought at an exorbitant price"

Plus, he's hurting the most vulnerable and voiceless of humanity, children. It's sick and a little sadistic. There are much bigger symbolic fish to be fried.

Pat Robertson is a maniac
Mullah Omar is a maniac
This guy, he's a maniac too, but less successful so I guess we can at least be grateful for that.

[carboncat]

36. No

"Forced" one of his followers? What did he do, hold the guy at gunpoint? You want your beliefs to be respected, but you don't want to respect others.

[Richard Steele]

38. Dictatorial control of another person's life is not an "opinion" ...

...and it is certainly not worthy of my RESPECT.

Your "respect others" comment is as clueless and meaningless
as any NeoCon 'Talking Point'...

Which is apropo, because it actually _IS_ a tired old NeoCon talking point.
Check out some of the NeoNazi sites- they use it all the time.

[GreenPartyVoter]

33. This is very true, but I don't think mangling teddy bears and dolls will

underscore that point for children. I hardly think kids "worship" their stuffed animal buddies and that what this rabbi is proposing is spiritual abuse. (Note I said "This rabbi" not "Orthodox Judaism")

[Jackpine Radical]

2. More proof that any religion, carried to literalist extremes,

can descend into profound idiocy.

We're on the edge of species extinction due to global environmental threats, a madman has control of the nuclear football, and this guy is desperately concerned that a child somewhere is gonna mistake his teddy bear for a deity and worship it.

[gratuitous]

3. Well, one of the Big Ten is . . .

A very strict prohibition against graven images and idols. Using an expansive application of the language of the commandment, you come up with a God-ordained judgment on your head if you draw, sculpt, or create anything in the image of anything in creation. Moslems usually interpret this as a prohibition against depicting God or his prophet Mohammed.

Try this interpretation on your fundy friends! Watch 'em squirm when you remind them that it's in the Ten Commandments.

[CornField]

4. That rabbi needs to stay away from my Drowsy!

I would have been horrified if my parents had taken my friend and snapped off her leg or arm. She had done nothing except soothe me in the scary dark -- let me hold her when I cried -- and listen while I told of my latest adventures. She happily sat in a chair, regardless of the humiliating outfit in which she was dressed, and never made a peep about the tea actually being Tang or Kool-Aid.

Time and time again I've heard religious folks say that children -- incapable of sin -- will be the first to enter heaven. If this is the case, why do the same religious folks take away toys and fun in an effort to teach those pure souls the truth of God?

[Clark2008]

16. Awwww.... I had a Drowsy, too

[gollygee]

17. My daughter had one of those

but the head kept falling off. So I guess she was set.

But just so you know, they're making them again!

[Warpy]

5. Teddy bears that are well loved

generally lose eyes and ears through chewing.

I can't see any two year old being guilty of idolatry. This Rabbi needs a reality check. Fast.

It's crackpots like him that give Judaism a bad name.

[aden_nak]

6. Since when do kids WORSHIP dolls and teddy bears?

Love them, maybe. Take comfort in them, perhaps. Blow them up with firecrackers. . . sometimes. But worship them? Seriously?

[annabanana]

8. Fundamentalism is a mental illness

regardless of the purported faith...

[carboncat]

14. Orthodox Judaism is...

..a time-honored, well-respected religion. They have the right to interpret their religious edicts as they see fit.

[rpannier]

15. So that must also apply to

The Islamic Clerics of the Taliban who blew up the centuries old statues of Buddah that were carved into the mountains in Afghanistan -- According to their edicts and interpretations those were idols.

[carboncat]

18. If they owned them, then yes.

The Rabbi spoke of removing idolatry from his own home, amongst his own things. He did not advocate his people to go into other houses and do it to others, or run into stores and do it to the merchandise.

[Flubadubya]

20. No one "owned" those statues, certainly not the Taliban.

The destruction of those stautes by the Taliban was disgusting and wrong, both from an historical point of view and from an ideological one. Gross that you should defend them IMHO. :thumbsdown:

[carboncat]

24. So I agree--the answer would be no.

[immoderate]

19. Irrationality is within their purview.

--IMM

[carboncat]

21. Well...

I DID think it was pretty ridiculous, but I don't think all fundamentalists ought to be branded insane because of it!

[immoderate]

22. Funny, I self censored what I originally wanted to say.

Irrational is fair.

These people aren't crazy either: http://www.alaska.net/~clund/e_djublonskopf/Flatearthsociety.htm

--IMM

[carboncat]

25. Nobody likes blanket statements.

They're not very accurate. AB said ALL fundamentalists were insane and I think we know it's not fair to say that. That doesn't mean I thought what the Rabbi did was very sensible, but it's not for me to judge him.

[immoderate]

27. But he would judge you.

--IMM

[carboncat]

28. No, I'm not Jewish.

And just because he would feel the need to judge me doesn't mean I was right in doing the same thing to him. I behave according to my OWN beliefs--NOT in reaction to HIS. I believe in the right to practice the religion of your choice as long as you're not hurting someone else or their possessions. What he believes is his own business.

[immoderate]

31. You're guilty of not being Jewish, and if you were,

you're guilty of being the wrong kind of Jew. Like most fundies these people are full of judgment. I have some experience here.

But there's another problem. The question is, are liberal theists, as you allude you are, enablers for those who deny the need for rational, critical thinking in the modern world. It is arguable what level of religious thought is harmful to civilization. I am generally for letting people believe what they want, because I know that they will, but I am not convinced that is desirable. I don't see a conscionable remedy except for persuasion. The theists get to indoctrinate people from birth.

--IMM

[carboncat]

37. You are beyond the beyonds.

I happen to be an atheist.

[immoderate]

39. It wasn't apparent from your posts.

I don't understand what your remark refers to.

--IMM

[rpannier]

9. Another seat at the "Insane, Bizarre, Fanatics of the World Table"is taken

This guy can sit and talk with Falwell, Bin Laden, Robertson, Al-Zaqarwi (I can never remember how to spell his name), Phelps, Faiez Mohammad (he's the Denior Cleric in Afghanistan that wants Rahman executed),James Dobson, the Grand Ayatollah in Iran, and the President of Iran. They can talk about beheading Smurfs, teddy bears, stoning Sponge Bob and hanging the purple teletubby.

On edit:
We can call it "Nuts of the Round Table"

[in_cog_ni_to]

10. self delete

[Ian David]

11. What kind of sick fantasies does Mordechai Eliyahu have?

Mordechai Eliyahu, we'll be seeing you on Oddball... Weird News... Worst Person in the World?

This Week in god for sure!

Fundies are weird.

[Ian David]

12. Oh yeah. Taking out your toy's eye will make it look less Israeli

Sure.

[Danmel]

13. They must be very fringe

I'm Jewish and I never heard of amputating limbs of toys.

I have however heard of leaving things just a wee bit incomplete- like when you paint or wallpaper a room, you leave an inconspicuous place undone because you are not complete as a Jew until the Temple in Jerusalem is rebuilt.

But I never heard of mutilating toys.

[TahitiNut]

34. A Muslim principle in weaving an "Oriental Rug" ...

... is to deliberately weave in a flaw because only Allah can make something 'perfect' and for man to even try to do so is heresy.

"Mindfulness" is represented by rituals or practices in all faith traditions, even if in different ways.

Looking on the bright side, maybe American kids could send these conservative Jewish kids little prosthetics for their dolls. That might encourage a "mindfulness" that'd be helpful in a secular way.

:shrug:

[Danmel]

40. That's pretty interesting

about the rugs
I doubt these kids are "Conservative Jews" I am a conservative Jew (religious observation wise obviously not politically,) and we do not , I repeat, we do not amputate the limbs of our children's toys to discourage idolatry.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

29. insanity

[BiggJawn]

30. Thank you, Rabbi...

For helping to prove my thesis that the ultra-religous of ANY stripe are mentally ill.

So a one-armed Barbie is less of an "idol" than a complete one?
Next you'll have the Patriarch of Jerusalem calling for Israeli Christian kids to throw away their "voodoo dolls".

[YouthInAsia]

35. No, not the Jews too! It's spreading!

[SoCalDem]

41. Voo-Doo or Jew-Doo..

Please don't kill me, but that's what immediately popped into my twisted little mind :evilgrin:

[Kerrytravelers]

42. Huh? I had to be sure this isn't an Onion headline.

[Solly Mack]

43. he can keep his fucking ideas off my Pooh

"Parents, take your child's most beloved doll or stuffed animal and let's play maim the bunny!!!! Rip a leg off! Rip an arm off! Rip an eye out! Rip an ear off! - Traumatize your children so that they might never forget God!"

Yeah, OK.