Torah and Jewish Idea > Torah and Jewish Idea
does the Tanakh explicitly talk about drugs?
The One and Only Mo:
Drugs are bad mmkay?
muman613:
Zenith,
One more try on my part to explain to you the Jewish beliefs...
We do not believe anything is 100% good or 100% bad... Each of us contains the potential for good and the potential for bad. We call these two parts by various names depending on how we are trying to relate to them.
1) Nefesh Sichli vs Nefesh Behami
These two refer to the Human/Intelligent soul versus the Physical/Animal soul... Each of these two souls have different drives. The Intellect/Holy soul is what drives us to do good, to help others, and to have lofty goals. This is the soul which Torah says is made in the image of Hashem, and it is the life-breath which he breathed into our nostrils.
Nefesh behami, the animal soul is the part of us which is driven by lusts and desires, called Teiva/Arrogance. The animal soul is responsible for our hunger, pain, and lusts.
2) Yetzer Tov vs Yetzer HaRa
These two refer to the same concepts as the Nefesh haSichli & Nefesh HaBahami... The Yetzer tov is the 'Good inclination' which is driven by the Nefesh Sichli while the Yetzer HaRa {the 'Evil Inclination'} is driven by the Nefesh Behami. The Evil Inclination is in all of us and we all struggle with this internal force.
There is some connection between the Yetzer Hara and what the Jewish faith calls HaSoton. But I will not go into that here.
Remember that originally Hashem created a perfect world... But because of Adams desire for more, his Arrogance/Lust to be like Hashem, he brought death and confusion into the world. Things are no longer 'Black and White' and now we can only see things in 'Shades of grey'.
What is important in life is to do the right thing. It is not important to be rich, live a long life, etc.... The goal is to get close to Hashem and perform the commandments which he commanded in order to bring rectification to this world.
I think it is important to realize that the world we live in is imperfect for a reason. It allows our free-will to be exercised...
References :
http://www.theshmuz.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=Prod&Product_Code=Shmuz_Number_13&Category_Code=Mussar
--- Quote ---#13 Free Will – Part 1: Nefesh Habahami, Nefesh Hasichli Has there ever been a time when you reacted to something, and you couldn’t believe that it was you who was speaking that way? Have you ever said something and had a feeling of, “What came over me – it was as if I were possessed?
In this introduction to the inner workings of the human being, we come face to face with the understanding that I am created from very diverse elements. Within me are different forces pulling in opposite directions. Not only isn’t this accidental, it is actually a necessary component of FREE WILL. Free Will means that I could go either way. It is my choice, not something that I was programmed to do that made me choose this way. Yet without this there would be no temptation, and Man would do good - only good, not because he chose to, but because he was programmed for it, hence there would be no Free Will.
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http://mobile.chabad.org/m/article_cdo/aid/54662
Zenith:
--- Quote from: KWRBT ---
--- Quote from: Zenith ---About harming yourself... I really have doubts that G-d condemns a diabetes man for eating a cookie (i.e. he's had relish for cookies), though he is forbidden to. And if Pepsi would do some kind of harm, it's hard for me to believe that G-d would condemn a man for drinking Pepsi.
--- End quote ---
I really have no idea what you are talking about.
--- End quote ---
I don't understand what is unclear to you. It was about the idea that harming yourself is a sin against G-d. So literally, this would mean that a diabetes man would sin against G-d if he ate a cookie, and if indeed Pepsi is unhealthy, anyone who drinks Pepsi knowing that it is unhealthy sins against G-d.
--- Quote from: KWRBT ---
--- Quote from: Zenith ---And if you support the idea of not doing anything that harms you, how can you prove the drinking of wine (i.e. alcohol) as ok?
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I think you need to read my post again because you are twisting what I said.
Also it sounds as if you imagine the only way we can be COMMANDED (that means obligated) to do something is if a person is perfect and can achieve it every single time always without fail.
--- End quote ---
There is a big difference between doing something wrong because of negligence (unintentionally) and doing it deliberately. The fact that no person is perfect means that he will inevitably do wrong, even if he struggles hard to do only good and not to do anything bad. However, there are also people that say "no man is perfect" as a justification for something bad they are about to do. The first is negligence, the latter is deliberately doing something bad. And if offerings were needed for unintentional breaking of commandments, then what to say about deliberately doing something wrong? So this would mean that if it is indeed prohibited to harm yourself, then it is also strictly prohibited to eat unhealthy foods and drink unhealthy drinks, because you harm yourself by using them.
--- Quote --- In fact, it was an old missionary claim that they used to bash Judaism with. They would say, no person can possibly fulfill all the mitzvoth without fail, therefore (they claimed) they are abrogated because G-d found out that no man can fulfill them. That whole line of reasoning is a joke to any moderately Jewish ear. Especially for those myriads of traditional Jews who DID keep all the laws, observed the shabbat, the customs, etc even while this so-called argument was being spewed. It is possible to keep all the commandments one is obligated in. That doesn't mean a person will be perfect and never fail.
--- End quote ---
Leaving out the fact that I don't believe that the laws are abrogated because nobody can fulfill them without fail, I don't understand what you blame that missionary of. I mean, even if the myriads of traditional Jews DID keep all the laws at certain times/moments, the fact that they failed other times proves wrong the saying that "It is possible to keep all the commandments one is obligated in", because "It is possible to keep all the commandments one is obligated in" means, without failing. That is, you cannot claim to keep all the commandments if you have once stolen something, or you have killed somebody one day - just because most of the time you did not steal and did not kill. In other words, you become a breaker of the law the first time you brake (or, fail to keep) a law. The same as the state laws: you are labeled by it "a criminal" if you break once one of its laws (e.g. the prohibition to kill), though you've always been and you will continue afterwards to be a "nice guy".
--- Quote ---
--- Quote from: Zenith ---And if the chemical ingredients of foods are unhealthy, does that mean that you are supposed to eat only natural foods? consider also that many cannot afford eating only natural foods.
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I think you are reading into my words something I haven't said.
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I don't understand what exactly you mean... the topic was harming yourself, which is considered to be a sin. And, in my logic, this would mean that we must eat only natural foods.
P.S. sorry for going off-topic.
Zenith:
--- Quote from: KWRBT ---
--- Quote from: KWRBT ---"The degree to which one damages himself by having one drink of pepsi is rather small - and its also a functional form of nutrition, not just a poision like a drug- so I don't think the idea that any drink of pepsi is a sin against G-d is a correct attitude to take. But if you imbibe tons of it in an overall process of letting yourself become unhealthy and living an unhealthy lifestyle where you have no concerns for such things - then that would be sinful."
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Maybe this will help clarify your seeming confusion about my comments.
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I understand what you mean, but the problem is that nothing is exact. Should a man just decide for himself what is ok and what is sin, and expect to be judged by G-d according to his own beliefs?
Zenith:
--- Quote from: Kahane-Was-Right BT on February 22, 2011, 10:26:48 PM ---Btw, one cup of wine is not unhealthy. The scientific journals say it's healthy to have one glass of red wine per night, in fact.
Where do you get the idea that one drink of wine is unhealthy? Unhealthy to what, exactly?
The liver is built to process a certain amount of alcohol in a certain period of time. It's when you imbibe more than this amount (or even having that small amount to frequently) that you are damaging yourself.
--- End quote ---
doesn't the alcohol kill neurons? that's what I've heard.
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