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

amother

Floralwhite

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 4:01 pm

tigerwife wrote:

Right, I learned this too. Other things on the list are wearing clothes inside out or taking off multiple items of clothing together (like a shirt and undershirt) IIRC. Oh, and I always get the ends of the challah, especially when they're well done. Smile

What's the reasoning here? I don't mean to sound disrespectful, but these things sound so superstitious...

MiracleMama

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 4:11 pm

LittleDucky wrote:

I was told once that eating the ends is a segula for having a boy. I don't "hold" by segulas and think many are bubbemaises but interesting how there are two conflicting issues with the same part of the bread!

This is what my grandmothers always told me.

amother

Floralwhite

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 4:23 pm

amother wrote:

I heard the reason not to is because demons attach themselves to the ends. We just cut off a little piece.

What???

Is this Judaism or some voodoo pagan cult...

Sorry, I know I'm being rude, but I'm a bit flabbergasted.

MitzadSheini

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 5:05 pm

amother wrote:

What???

Is this Judaism or some voodoo pagan cult...
.

The Rambam agrees with you in general.

I don't know of the specific issue with bread and demons, only the gemara about forgetting learning that was quoted above.

However, about demons in general. I think that "demons" is a not so great translation for "shaidim". For the most part, using the word "germs", "bacteria" or "virus" will make the word " shaidim" more understandable to the modern mind.

See also

https://unitedwithisrael.org/j.....cult/

happybeingamom

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 5:28 pm

Not chasidish but these things are from the gemorah and my father would not let the girls in my family partake either. My sisters and I were required to learn Torah Sh'bKsav (spelling) my father did not want us to forget that. No raw olives and not wearing clothing backwards were big ones. I vaguely remember about the ends of bread.

Last edited by happybeingamom on Mon, Oct 31 2016, 5:34 pm; edited 1 time in total

moonstone

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 5:31 pm

When I read the title of this thread, I thought, "Oh, no, not ANOTHER silly "rule" that otherwise intelligent people believe in." And don't bother yelling at me for being disrespectful - this is just ridiculous. This is not Judaism. Demons in bread? Oh, good grief.

amother

Floralwhite

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 5:36 pm

moonstone wrote:

Thank you. Where do all these things come from? I just don't understand, this is supposed to be a rational religion...

amother

Jetblack

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 6:39 pm

amother wrote:

Thank you. Where do all these things come from? I just don't understand, this is supposed to be a rational religion...

Rational religion? Not how I would describe it. Many things about Judaism are not rational at all.
Do you have great understanding of why we can't eat milk and meat together? Is that more rational than this concept? ( Well I know its stated in Torah shebiksav so it's different and not up for discussion, but still not rational).

amother

Floralwhite

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 6:54 pm

amother wrote:

Yes, you're right... I should have added "relatively speaking."

zaq

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 8:21 pm

amother wrote:

Actually, as I recall being taught, there are two reasons for this issur. One is that pagan nations boiled young animals in their mothers' milk, either as part of a religious rite or as a delicacy. The other is that doing so is the ultimate cruelty, taking a mother's milk that she produces to nurture her young and using it to kill her young instead. All the other extensions, such as keeping separate sets of dishes and waiting several hours between eating meat and dairy are syagim on top of syagim to make absolutely sure that there is not the most remote possibility of a vestige of a chance that we would ever inadvertently transgress this commandment.

pause

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 9:23 pm

tigerwife wrote:

and eating olives without olive oil
and sleeping with your clothing under your head

tigerwife

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 9:25 pm

zaq wrote:

Pretty sure Ramban disagrees with this (Rambam's explanations on certain lavim, such as why we can't mix milk and meat) and holds that certain parts of the Torah are chokim- we are not meant to understand. Rational? Not really. But religion is heavily based on faith, anyway.

Anyway, for those ridiculing the concept- it's ok to learn a little. Just because you've never heard of something doesn't mean it doesn't exist. No need to be shocked and start doubting Yiddishkeit- most of us do learn something new every day. Perhaps someone can post a source for the list of actions that are kashe lishikcha. It shouldn't really affect your life either way.

pause

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 9:29 pm

zaq wrote:

Don't mean to nitpick at all, but these aren't reasons.

The reason is because Hashem commanded us. After the fact we (our chachamim) can (help us) find explanations. Some make sense to us and some don't, but the mitzvah remains regardless. That's why it's called a ta'am hamitzvah, a taste of it. Like food has a good taste but the reason we eat is because of its nutrition, same is with mitzvos. We do them because we are doing retzon Hashem and the good taste (the explanation we have for some mitzvos) help to motivate us to do the mitzvos.

It's important not to confuse the reason with the after-the-fact explanation. One is a prerequisite to action and one isn't. No, our religion is not a rational one where we do things that we understand. We do things as we were commanded.

DrMom

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 10:44 pm

pause wrote:

Right.

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

CatLady

Tue, Nov 01 2016, 4:15 am

I have never heard of this in my life, or maybe I've eaten so many heels of bread in my 60 years of life that I have just forgotten! And in the spirit of this thread, my late mother, who had osteoporosis, never had a spinal fracture despite the fact that I stepped on many a crack as a child.