Another Weekend, Another Update; or, "I'm a Psychic!"

This weekend, in Miami Beach, I was hanging out at a bachelor party with a bunch of buddies from my college days. Naturally enough, three of us requested that there be at least a few regular hamburgers with no cheese and that at least one of the pizzas be just plain cheese. Even though one of the coordinators of the party was nice enough to bring a package of "all beef" sausages for us, it turned out they had dried skim milk as an additive (why? I don't know), so we politely declined. Out at the steakhouse, while I broke from the other two and had a steak (it's a party, right?), they had various fish dishes. All of this different-ness generated a few questions and conversations at this otherwise hedonistic celebration of the end of bachelordom, that featured a bona fide "Beer Olympics" which was obviously dominated by the bachelor's own hand-picked team.

Being that the group was mixed in with a few non-Jews, there were some "simple son" questions of "What are the rules?" My roommate, who despite perfectly fitting the bill was for the first-time ever called a "WASP" over the weekend, led that charge asking what did a hamburger have to do with not eating pork? (Since that was the only restriction he had known about.)

The bachelor himself brought out his favorite question: "What's the reason that I can't have chicken and cheese together?" Which is an interesting question, certainly. It's a matter of Talmudic "building a fence around the law" by broadening the restriction so that even if you break the custom (by eating a chicken parm, e.g.), you're still a good deal away from breaking the Biblical commandment itself. This led to a discussion of the concept of Karaitism, an Abrahamic sect that just follows the Biblical rules as stated in the Torah itself eschewing any and all Rabbinical interpretations and whether it was Judaism or not, etc.

I had some personal conversations with one of my buddies about how he feels very culturally Jewish but is not sure whether he believes in G-d, or at least in "the vengeful, Jewish G-d". I pointed out, much like my post of Thursday afternoon, that this was just a misconception. There are certainly instances where G-d acted vengefully (Noah & the Flood came to mind) and there are two different instances in the Torah (parshiyos Bechukosai & Ki Savo) where Israel is promised blessings if they perform the mitzvos and terrible curses if they don't. But Judaism generally envisions G-d as a parent figure who just wants His children to have good lives.

Then, current events came around and we started talking about how disgusting the intactivists are and I was at the very least pleased that the whole group, Jews & Gentiles alike, agreed that the measure was just thinly veiled anti-Semitism.

So, there you have it, outside of the small electrical fire, having to sleep through a balmy Miami night with no air conditioning, approximately 60 irritating mosquito bites, I pretty much foresaw the entire weekend. . . . spooky, huh?

Later this week I'll try to see what I can prognosticate with this week's parashah, Pinchas.