Rabbi Rules It's Better to Swallow Gum

AP ^

[TheOtherOne]

For the first 25 years of my life I swolled my gum...still do ocassionally. No harm to me.

[TheOtherOne]

"Gum cannot be thrown where others are liable to be disgusted by it," said Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the rabbi of the holy city of Safed.

Improperly discarded gum may appear to be hidden, but "God knows" where it is, Eliyahu said, according to the newspaper.

Swallowing the gum is a better solution, the rabbi said, though he criticized the use of chewing gum in general.

"Chewing gum is the practice of lower forms of life. It expresses inner tension and lack of control. People with self-respect do not chew gum except on special occasions because of special circumstances," he said.

[dware]

"Chewing gum is the practice of lower forms of life. It expresses inner tension and lack of control. People with self-respect do not chew gum except on special occasions because of special circumstances," he said.

WTF?

[TheOtherOne]

from the story...not my belief

[hlmencken3]

It's called 'mocking religious Jews disguised as a news story by secular media'.

[night reader]

Does your chewing gum lose its flavor on the bedpost over night?
If your mother says don't chew it, do you swallow it in spite?
Can you catch it on your tonsils and fling it left and right?
Does your chewing gum lose its flavor on the bedpost over night?

[BlackVeil]

This story seems odd - there have been other threads describing religious rulings which seem eccentric. Obviously, as you say it is a way for the secular to mock the religious.

But even the most legalistic rulings have a point - it is in the details of life, not in the grand sweeping statements, that values find their actual expression.

And discarded chewing gum is disgusting and unhealthy. So the Rabbi is right.

[TheOtherOne]

It's called 'mocking religious Jews disguised as a news story by secular media'.

How is a no littering rule a bad thing?

[Duke Nukum]

Well, to me, it just seems like common courtesy. And you don't have to swallow it, do you? You could put it in a tissue and discard it later.

I don't chew gum often, mostly at work after lunch to freshen the breath.

I've tried those little strips you place on your tongue and they dissolve but that's unsatisfying. For one thing, my mouth is too big for just one and for another, the gum can pick up small particles of food, or so I say.

[TheOtherOne]

I've tried those little strips you place on your tongue and they dissolve but that's unsatisfying. For one thing, my mouth is too big for just one and for another, the gum can pick up small particles of food, or so I say

You must be huge...those strips are small but most powerful (certainly for my mouth)

[ditto h]

I gotta admit, I had to read this title twice.

[Alouette]

WWGWBD?

A few years ago my son was invited to a state dinner given by Vladimir Putin in honor of the visit to Russia of the President of the United States. (My son works for the Chief Rabbi of Russia)

His Excellency, the President of the United States, took the chewing gum out of his mouth and stuck it underneath the Kremlin dining room table. The Chief Rabbi did not admonish him.

FRmail me to be added or removed from this Judaic/pro-Israel ping list.

WARNING: This is a high volume ping list

[onedoug]

That's Talmudic?

[Ciexyz]

Does your chewing gum lose its flavor on the bedpost overnight?

My Dad used to sing me that song when he tucked me into bed at night...and that was in the 50's, tee hee.

[Kirkwood]

He was planting a bug.

[montag813]

He was planting a bug.

ROTFL!

[GSlob]

Well, in Middle Ages it was considered improper to blow one's nose into the tablecloth and to spit the bones across the table onto somebody else's plate (Hans Sax). Proper course of action was to blow one's nose on the floor and then rub the booger into it with one's boot (Domostroi). Indeed, medieval manuals on manners are full of such tidbits.

[Duke Nukum]

I forgot to mention that I'm a 20 oz/day Listerine junkie.

[radiohead]

"Chewing gum is the practice of lower forms of life. It expresses inner tension and lack of control. People with self-respect do not chew gum except on special occasions because of special circumstances," he said.

Sounds like my grandmother. And she wasn't cutting any slack for special occasions.

I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I can't imagine chewing gum and dislike seeing people (it's more like hearing them) chew it. It appears to be an oral fixation for which the person should probably seek therapy.

Yes. This is anal. It's only gum. I know I need help. But if people could chew without being so freaking loud about it, maybe I could overlook the fact they are acting like a cow.

[BlazingArizona]

There's a job waiting for this guy in Singapore.