Rabbi Rules It's Better to Swallow Gum

AP ^

[TheOtherOne]

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.

I typed and deleted this from my original comment.

My mother was walking down the street, noticed a cute old man. He comes up to her and says, "you chomp your gum like a pig!". My mother was flabergasted and said nothing. I told her later...you may have offended him unintentionally...he was rude on purpose.

[familyop]

"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."

Hmmm. I wonder what eastern Rome has to say about that. The pondering keeps me awake at night (irony, sarcasm). [grin]

[familyop]

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

...agreed. Someone with the Associated Press was looking for something to exploit for public ridicule.

[radiohead]

he was rude on purpose.

I must admit, sometimes it is all I can do not to reach over and just smack someone who is chewing gum, especially if they are popping it, but I would never say anything to their face. My grandmother was a good Baptist woman from Virginia. She may not have approved of gum chewing, but she would never have approved of being rude, either.

[cherry]

I swear I thought it read "rabbi rules its better to swallow GUN"......better go get those reading glasses.....lol

[Seeing More Clearly Now]

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

You are right. Thanks for giving a name to it. 'Mocking religious Jews disguised as a news story by secular media' is indeed a regular genre pumped out from the Associated Press and other main stream media. It's always some Jewish practice, law, or custom or some religious Jewish person whose activities are taken way out of context and framed as a Ripley's Believe It or Not freak story.

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

At least it's not a Muslim fatwa decreeing death to gum chewers.

[onedoug]

That's Talmudic?

[GSlob]

It is the hallowed wisdom of the ages. Does it matter whether it is talmudic or not?

[onedoug]

I'm just wondering where this rabbi decrees this a matter of Halacha, if it isn't Biblical or Talmudic. If he doesn't have a source, it's just his opinion, and he shouldn't be stating it as a matter of Jewish law.

[GSlob]

I doubt the rules on chewing gum could be directly inferred from any religious text, since all these pre-date the introduction of the chewing gum, and thus do not deal with the subject. So, any interpretation from old texts would have to be strained, to say the least.

[investigateworld]

I think Rabbi Hillel's words: "What is offensive to you, don't do to others", applies here.

[onedoug]

So it IS his opinion, and should be so stated.

Though i, your reference to Hillel is well taken.

Not the greatest of all possible offenses, but....

[GSlob]

Well, since I'm not offended by the people chewing their gum and discreetly disposing of it, (and I am not alone in that), your supposed inference is lacking in generality, thus probably does not apply.

[verity]

What if it is bubble gum and one has persistent flatulence?