A reader asks:
“Why did Elijah and John the Baptist wear camel hair when camels aren’t kosher?
Is this something significant to Jews that we just don’t get, or am I missing something?”
My impression is that camel hide is rough and uncomfortable and was therefore worn as a form of penance and mortification, at least by John. Perhaps this somehow mitigated against ritual impurity (as long as the meat was not eaten). But that’s just a guess. Google may know more.
Also, there may be a distinction between how Jews regard John the Baptist’s ascetic practices and how Christians do. And there may be distinctions between modern and ancient views by both groups too. Ancient ascetic practices often amaze moderns. Living in caves, living atop pillars, vows of celibacy even in marriage, and amazing feats of fasting are just a few of the forms of penance both Jews and Christians undertook in antiquity. How that related to specifically Jewish views of kosherness after the coming of the Christ, I have no idea. Perhaps a Jewish reader has more insight.
And wonder of wonders, Jewish readers did have more insight!
One wrote:
There is no prohibition against wearing furs, leather, or cloth from non-kosher animals. The only fabric prohibition is against wearing sha’atnetz, which is specifically defined as a mixture of linen and wool. All other textiles are permitted.
And another added:
Mark, pigs are not kosher but a Jew can allow a porcine heart valve to be implanted. The camel cloth can be worn as well because in neither case was the animal eaten. Beyond that, if the choice is between eating bacon and starving to death, Jews can eat the bacon. As a Jewish content provider remarked, Jews live by the laws, not die by them.
Also, of course, the discussion reminds me of the comment a friend once made regarding contemporary revulsion to ancient ascetic practices: “The culture that created the Stairmaster believes in penance and mortification just as much as ancients do. It just deploys it for vastly inferior ends.”
Advertisement
