Eating the end pieces of a loaf of bread, ok?

gp2.0

Tue, Nov 01 2016, 7:05 pm

chanchy123 wrote:

I couldn't read through this entire thread, but I have never heard of this. This sounds crazy to me. I wonder what stream of Judaism you are all from.

The source for this is in the Gemara. So...whatever stream of Judaism they were from. Wink

pause

Tue, Nov 01 2016, 8:05 pm

DrMom wrote:

Right.

And not eating bread ends is NOT commanded. It's made-up nonsense.

I wasn't referencing the OP at all. I was responding to the specific post I quoted.

Last edited by pause on Tue, Nov 01 2016, 9:08 pm; edited 1 time in total

Laiya

Tue, Nov 01 2016, 8:58 pm

moonstone wrote:

Learn something? You seem to be suggesting that this bread thing is a part of Judaism that I never knew about but am lucky to be learning about now. But all I'm actually learning is that some people believe in nonsense. When I was a kid, and one of my siblings was lying on the floor watching TV, my grandmother would get upset if I stepped over them. "You'll stunt their growth!" she'd say. Well, that was nonsense, and I put this "demon bread" in the same category.

Although... I once left an end piece of bread in the toaster too long and it got burned. Hey, maybe that was the evil work of the demon! Twisted Evil

I've heard this (not stepping over someone) as being connected with not treating a person like a meis.

Volunteer

Tue, Nov 01 2016, 9:19 pm

zaq wrote:

I don't know how it affects Torah learning but eating underbaked dough is detrimental to one's innards.

I can't possibly be the only person here who thinks the Talmud has a sense of humor and is using underdone bread as a metaphor for "half-baked" ideas.

I also thought that the superstitions recorded in the gemara are either based on erroneous medical ideas of their era, or are symbolic ideas.
Maybe they thought that eating too many olives was unhealthy or could cause indigestion.
Maybe the bread heel thing represented something negative in their culture.

My grandmother believed that it was bad luck to leave a wallet or purse empty of money. So even if she wasn't using it, she made sure to keep at least a little change in all her purses. That could easily be seen as symbolic.

Although we aren't supposed to believe in superstition, Judaism is full of symbolic acts as a general thought pattern, so I can see how a few of these things survive.

I bet some of those superstitions were developed to encourage good habits. For example, not leaving nail clippings around. Stated reason: miscarriages. Real reason: it's gross.
Or, not to leave a book open and walk away. Stated reason: you'll forget what is written inside. Real reason: it protects the book, and it keeps your desk neat.

zaq

Wed, Nov 02 2016, 11:52 am

estelle wrote:

That has zip to do with the end portion of the bread. The custom is to leave a piece of bread, and any section of the loaf will do. If you happen to love the heels, which as you can see from the thread many people do, the center slice is perfectly acceptable.

zaq

Wed, Nov 02 2016, 11:54 am

Laiya wrote:

I've heard this (not stepping over someone) as being connected with not treating a person like a meis.

Narishkeit. One doesn't step over a mes. Ever. One doesn't even pass things across the mes's body when doing a tahara but passes them down or up and around either the head or the feet to the other side.

zaq

Wed, Nov 02 2016, 11:55 am

Volunteer wrote:

I think I love you.

LittleDucky

Wed, Nov 02 2016, 12:03 pm

estelle wrote:

My father doesnt eat the ends of challah. I vaguely remember asking him about it and he said something to the effect of - when we bentch and tell Hashem thank You for giving us a satisfying meal, we want to show Him that we are so satisfied that we even have some left over.
Something like that.
But gosh the amount of people who think its ok to mock something that's obviously a widespread minhag just because they havnt heard of it and think it doesnt make sense! im genuinely shocked!

Just because something is "widespread" does not make it Halacha or even correct. Cutting the roast in half because the pot was too small vs an integral part of the recipe?
Or jumping off the Empire State Building because someone else did it?
Or more relevant:
Schlissel Challah might actually come from Christianity. But I know people who are adamant to never miss it and think I am crazy for not doing it.

Laiya

Wed, Nov 02 2016, 12:17 pm

zaq wrote:

Not referring to halachos of tahara, more like saying, Don't just step over a person like they're a body.

No clue if there's any source for this.

gp2.0

Wed, Nov 02 2016, 12:33 pm

Not leaving nail clippings around can actually get a lot more complicated than "it's gross."

A nail lodged in someone's foot could cause a potentially fatal infection, due to the puncture wound.

A nail that was used to scratch blisters from an infectious disease is a conduit to spreading the disease further if it's just lying around.

I don't believe we are required to keep any historical superstitious practices unless they are Halacha, but I still wouldn't presume to mock something that has a clear source. Clearly this mattered to someone once, enough that they thought it was worth repeating and writing down for posterity. Who are we to mock our own history? You don't have to keep a practice in order to respect it.

zaq

Wed, Nov 02 2016, 1:29 pm

Laiya wrote:

Not referring to halachos of tahara, more like saying, Don't just step over a person like they're a body.

No clue if there's any source for this.

What you're saying is that people shouldn't step over live people because that would be treating them as if they're dead bodies, and I'm telling you that you davka DON'T step over a dead body. You don't even pass things over a dead body, much less step over one. It would the ultimate disrespect.

There are other things one doesn't do because it resembles care of a dead body, such as not putting on two shoes at the same time or not cutting adjacent nails one after the other.

Volunteer

Wed, Nov 02 2016, 8:07 pm

gp2.0 wrote:

What you write here makes sense. I was not trying to mock any of these things, just trying to suggest a possible explanation.

gp2.0

Wed, Nov 02 2016, 8:28 pm

Volunteer wrote:

What you write here makes sense. I was not trying to mock any of these things, just trying to suggest a possible explanation.

Oh sorry I wasn't clear. I liked your post and I was just adding to it. Your post wasn't mocking. Other posts were.