Friday, July 08, 2005

DovBear Improves the World

I'm still not king of the word (damn Republicans) but my list of the little things I will abolish as soon as I get my hands on the sceptor keeps getting longer.

Three new entries:

1 - Yom tov sheni shel chutz ha'oretz is a sensless and unecessary custom. Sure, we needed it 2000 years ago to protect people from desecrating holy days, but that reason is gone: we have invented calandars. So shouldn't it be obvious to everyone that it is time to let the custom go? The Torah only tells us to keep one day of Shavuot and 7 days of Pesach and Suckot. Why do we think we're so much smarter?

2 - Kiddushin The solution to the aguna crisis is obvious, but no one has the guts to implement it: abolish kiddushin. And no, this isn't as crazy as it sounds. The Sages in their wisdom permitted men to aquire pilagshim. A man and his peelegesh enjoy all the rights and privlages of married adults. They can raise a family, insult each other in public, and all the rest. They can even intitate their relationship with a lavish ceremony that bankrupts the peelegesh's father. The only difference between this relationship and ordinary kidushin is that there is no kesubah. And (follow along) if there is no kesubah there is no get, and no possibility of a woman becoming an aguna. Neat, huh? So why isn't this in practice?

3 - The ban on kitniyos Earth to Ashkenazim: Beans aren't chumetz. And now that we live in a world where we can buy bug free spinach, don't you think we can find a way to be 1000 percent sure that the container of beans never held flour?

So what gives?

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