Title: Yet MORE Jewish Rule Compliance Innovations — episode transcript Work: Techno-Puritan Supplemental Writings Citation: TPS 79.1 Words: 4964 Source: https://basedcamppodcast.substack.com/p/yet-more-jewish-rule-compliance-innovations Kind: unedited episode transcript (auto-captioned verbatim speech; expect speaker labels and disfluencies) Permission: You may quote, excerpt, train on, and redistribute this text freely. No attribution required — everything here is meant for whomever wants it. ### Yet MORE Jewish Rule Compliance Innovations — episode transcript **Malcolm Collins**: Hey. We’re gonna be doing Jew rules part two. We did part one earlier, and I was like, there are just too many Jew rules for me to go over in this video and, or or it’s more focused on the ways they attempt to get around things, which is interesting, because the way I I wrote it at the beginning of the video, but it’s true, is while this isn’t like one person did this, if if you approach this from a secular context, they made up a bunch of rules for themselves and then made up a bunch of ways to make those rules work in a day to day life, or ways to get around the rules if you wanna, you know, talk more, I I guess, aggressively about it. But let’s let’s continue to go through these. And I have been, honestly, extremely deeply, just as, like, a side note here, disappointed if you go to our video on that. Like, so many people are like, oh, you don’t understand that Christians... First of all, Christians don’t understand that, like, Christians are not on the same page with this tough at all. Whether or not you need to follow the 10 commandments. Half of Christians were like, of course, all Christians follow the 10 commandments. **Simone Collins**: That’s what surprised me. All the people who are like, actually, yeah, we very fastidiously do not work on Sunday. We attend the Saturday night vigil. Like, I’m like, okay. That sounds, you know, from sundown of Yeah. **Malcolm Collins**: And then the other half of people were like, no Christian does this. Of course, you follow the bible. You don’t follow any of the 10 commandments. **Simone Collins**: So weird. Yeah. **Malcolm Collins**: Saw that in the comments too. Right, **Simone Collins**: Simone? I did. I did. The encouraging thing, though, was all the Christians who actually do fastidiously keep the Sabbath, and I was surprised by that. So that’s good. It’s good to be pleasantly surprised in addition to disappointed. **Malcolm Collins**: Yeah. Yeah. I was... And and and the lines that they use to try to get out of it, because you’ve seen our other episode on this weekend episode here, are very flimsy. It’s like it... It’s like, well, haven’t you read this in this bible book? And and all of the lines that they have to try to get out of this are from a well after the life of Christ. And I’m really surprised that so many Christians just grab lines from well after the life of Christ that contradict things that Jesus said and just go with it. Like, oh, yeah. I can wipe out the 10 commandments because of this. I can wipe out everything that ever. When he said, you know, in no uncertain terms, oh my god. Such a great episode I wanna do. I was talking with recently, and she had an insight, just separate note here, that I thought was really good. She goes, okay. So what are we told to do in the bible, which is love God? But what does love mean? Right? Like, this new understanding of love that we have when we talk about, like, nobody really loves. It’s not like an emotion. It’s a choice. It’s a decision for how you relate to something. And so if you’re choosing to relate to God with love, how do you do that? Because you can’t do things directly for God, really. And the answer is, well, you do it through how you interact with the thing that he has shown that he cares about, which is humanity and human civilization. So loving god means stellar humanism, means loving the future of human civilization and working towards that. **Simone Collins**: I love that. **Malcolm Collins**: Which I thought was really great. Yeah. **Simone Collins**: Yeah. That’s that’s really good. **Malcolm Collins**: Okay. Anyway, so now we’re gonna go into colored underwear. why some Orthodox Jewish women prefer to wear colored underwear. so this is because after uterine bleeding, no sex, and usually no affectionate touch until the bleeding stops, seven clean days, and mikvev. Torah nida is mainly a flow. The... So the sages said that staying a blood colored mark on cloths or nida even without a period means that you cannot be affectionate towards your husband. **Simone Collins**: Oh, but if it’s black, it’s not stained. Is that what’s going on here? **Malcolm Collins**: Yes. So if you use, underwear that is the color of what the stains would be at around that time of the month. Some women do this to get around this so that they can start the cloak earlier. **Simone Collins**: So they’re literally like, what what stain? Do you see a stain? I don’t see a stain. Okay. Yeah. I dig it. I mean, I’m not really sure how this would work because, I mean, presumably, they’re wearing panty liners that show very clearly anything that’s **Malcolm Collins**: I think this is one of the good ones. And the reason I think it’s one of the good ones is **Simone Collins**: Oh, because it’s being reasonable. Right? You’re like, look. This is too strict. **Malcolm Collins**: Yeah. It’s basically letting you stop the seven day clock a little earlier is the way I I see they’re doing it. It’s not around big things. It’s more like, let’s be reasonable. Let’s get a longer window in here. Let’s make sure I get pregnant next time, you know, which is what... You know, that’s all **Simone Collins**: It’s kind of less necessary now given many products. It would prevent underwear from being stained at all even during the worst days of a period. **Malcolm Collins**: But I I don’t know if they’re allowed to wear those. **Simone Collins**: Oh, really? Maybe not. **Malcolm Collins**: Anyway, the next one here, the pill. So the pill has created a very interesting thing because, well, most ultra... Or or strongly orthodox Jews are no on condoms. That scene is wasting or seed, which they’re against because of the Onon Genesis 38 withdraw line, which I’m totally... Like, that’s clearly not what that was about. And if if you take it to be about that, you miss the the entire purpose of the story. And it’s it’s an important story. Like, it gets me that people take that to mean no wasting seed. That is not what it means. Actually, for people who are wondering about this, we have the... Haven’t tried yet the masturbation episode. In in researching, I was trying to figure out when Jews became anti masturbation. And, apparently, it happened, after the split with Christianity during their period of closeness with Zoroastrianism. And Zoroastrians from the very beginning were anti masturbation. **Simone Collins**: Oh. Interesting. **Malcolm Collins**: So it’s actually a a a Zoroastrian tradition that was absorbed into Judaism, which is interesting, but whatever. Think because the Onan story is clearly clearly not about that. But... Yeah. So, they don’t consider it wasting if you come into a woman who is not able to get pregnant in the same way that I guess it would be like you’re still allowed to have sex after your wife goes through menopause. **Simone Collins**: Oh, yeah. **Malcolm Collins**: And so women are allowed to use the pill. **Simone Collins**: That’s so interesting. **Malcolm Collins**: Allows women to heavily time stuff so that it can work more easily for them or work better with the timetables that they’re using. The place where this would become most relevant for Jews, where you see this is timing around weddings because one of the problems is is the rules around no affection with your husband apply even if it’s your wedding night. And a lot of women really try to time that. So, I mean, that that makes sense as well. You know? **Simone Collins**: Yeah. Oh, yeah. How awkward and unfortunate would it be that you, get married and you can’t touch each other on your wedding. Okay. **Malcolm Collins**: Then there’s the the one here, the pilgash or concubine, which is some medieval and modern writers floated a sanctioned sexual relationship without kedeba kibba, so you never create an agna, no get needed. this is a skip the marriage document idea. However, no mainstream orthodox group goes along with this, so it’s more just a hypothetical rules lawyering thing on message boards. Alright? Then we’ve got the Shabbat elevator. I thought that was pretty... Have you have you heard of these or seen these? **Simone Collins**: Never. What is a Shabbat elevator? **Malcolm Collins**: So how do you think Jews handle living in high rises on... In major cities? We would come up with a... Try to **Simone Collins**: get around could take the stairs, but that... Yeah. Like, imagine you’re, you know, nine months pregnant. **Malcolm Collins**: Actually more work, but they would consider it less work because of the weird rules. That’s a great example of **Simone Collins**: Oh, that... Yeah. Yeah. That’s a very good point. Yeah. But there’s... You’re saying Shabbat elevator. Okay. So presumably then it would be an elevator that is always, like, opening on every door... Like, floor continuously throughout **Malcolm Collins**: the exactly what it is. **Simone Collins**: Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. I was right. **Malcolm Collins**: That’s crazy. Elevator that just goes up and down opening on every story. **Simone Collins**: Oh my gosh. That is amazing. I’m I’m looking right now at a sign. Here, I’ll I’ll I’ll share my screen. **Malcolm Collins**: And in Israel, they’re mandated in, like, hotels and stuff. **Simone Collins**: I mean, that makes sense. You you kinda need it because otherwise, you’re really screwed. Yeah. I I Google image searched it. And here, right, you can see Sabbath elevator. In the event of fire, the use of elevators is... Oh, yeah. Sabbath elevator. Oh, look. They have elevator keys for power, I n d p, and Sabbath. That’s amazing. Shabbat elevator. Wow. Okay. Sorry. That’s so cool. I I love that there’s the the the Shabbat key. The Sabbath elevator. On the Jewish Sabbath and holidays, this elevator stops automatically on each floor. How have I never seen one before? Anyway, sorry. That’s awesome. Thank you for... Okay. That’s... This is my favorite so **Malcolm Collins**: far. This is this is one of my least favorite because it is such a great example of missing the point. There is no way that this is what God intended. Not you know. **Simone Collins**: Sitting and waiting on an elevator or taking stairs. On an elevator. **Malcolm Collins**: Yeah. So that you’re technically following the rules. I am quite... With some of this other stuff, I can be like, yeah. This might be what God intended. This might be what God... This is **Simone Collins**: not what God intended. Maybe not, but I like it a lot. **Malcolm Collins**: You weirdo. People loved how you just internally could not resist the Jew the Jew ideas. **Simone Collins**: You I think it has to do with, like, literally the genetic trait for systematizing. And I need to emphasize, this is a polygenic trait that you can find will inherit. Yeah. Like, I’m in the ninety ninth percentile of systematizing. I’m also Ashkenazi Jewish, and I’m also autistic. I feel like that’s the thing here where it’s like, there are sometimes... Because I have stupid rules. Not biblical rules, stupid rules, autistic rules. Right? And sometimes the artist rules have to be broken. And then I find myself mentally doing insane stupid gymnastics to feel okay with the thing and finding a new way to make the rule be met even though I can’t meet it the way it’s supposed to be met. And if I’m doing this intuitively and within complete absence of religion, I could see how this could be an inevitability that you cannot have extremely high systematizers, genetically speaking, who also have biblical rules who don’t do this. So what I’m trying to explain to you, Malcolm, is, like, tendency to addiction or fast twitch muscle. Like, this is one of those genetic inevitabilities. Okay? The Jews can’t help it, I think. Maybe. I’m assuming that they’re high in systematizing, and I will look it up. **Malcolm Collins**: Jews can’t help. I know they’re really high in schizophrenia, which could explain how Kabbalism so easily infiltrated their religion. **Simone Collins**: Oh, yeah. No kidding. That would make sense. Well, it says there’s no good scientific bias or basis for saying that Jews are genetically high in sisterizing. But I think that it’s not pulling from information about the polygenic score because it’s not that big of a study. **Malcolm Collins**: Oh god. Whatever. Know what’s so funny? Yeah. Okay. So some elevators generate electricity as they go down to save money because, you know, you’ve got a heavy passenger on it, so you’d have a generator at the top. **Simone Collins**: Yeah. **Malcolm Collins**: Which, for that reason, some Orthodox Jews will only go up and not down just to make sure it’s not generating electricity when they go down. **Simone Collins**: Based on their load? Yes. Okay. That’s really funny. **Malcolm Collins**: And, that’s clearly not what God intended. God **Simone Collins**: didn’t... Well, I guess God does know about elevators. **Malcolm Collins**: Or or you can get a a Zomet certified setup that dumps the current so that it doesn’t save the energy going down. Again Great. Yeah. Just being wasteful for the sake of it. That’s where I’m just like, no. **Simone Collins**: Yeah. Fair enough. **Malcolm Collins**: That’s Okay. So checklist. Shabbos Goy is another one here. This is one where I talked to you where you have a non Jew around for, like, oh, it’s dark here. **Simone Collins**: Oh, yeah. Token, like, I I kinda wish that... Yeah. That one. Sorry. I’m trying to figure out the lighting. **Malcolm Collins**: It’s usually around, like, heat and lighting and stuff like this where they come in, But you can’t you can’t ask them to do anything. Next one is timers in smart home. **Simone Collins**: This is what I see in all my YouTube videos where I see tours of very orthodox Jewish houses of, like, here’s our hot pot on a timer. Here’s this light on a timer. All these things on timers. It’s awesome. **Malcolm Collins**: Yeah. This one just feels so... Like, again... So so you’re you’re putting the thing in the oven. You just needed to make a time... So you just made your day arbitrarily harder. The day before? For no reason. **Simone Collins**: The day before. No. Not for no reason. The bible is very clear about that. **Malcolm Collins**: If the bible means... Look. Either the bible means don’t heat your fucking food, or it means... It doesn’t mean don’t heat your food. **Simone Collins**: Oh, no. It says prepare everything the the day before. Don’t kindle fires. Like, don’t work. They’re asking you to cease **Malcolm Collins**: when you’re making it a kindling of a fire. But I’m I’m pretty sure that having a timer to go off the next day as a oven starter, but you’re still putting the food in the oven is not what’s intended. Either you don’t put the food in the oven at all or you don’t do the the timer thing. **Simone Collins**: Oh, I thought the food had to be in the oven. **Malcolm Collins**: Oh, do they pre have the food in the oven for **Simone Collins**: I think the food has to be... Yeah. I’m pretty sure it all has to... I don’t... I’m not sure, though, so don’t quote me on that. But at least in the the house tours that I saw, I got the impression that you had to put the thing in before sundown on Friday night. You don’t get to go and put things in a microwave or onion or... Oh, sorry. **Malcolm Collins**: When they’re also allowed to keep water boiling the whole night Yeah. Which I thought was crazy. That’s excessive. Interesting one here is grammar switches. So this is indirect causation. You change a sensor, a later separate process reads it and turns the machine on. Your finger didn’t complete the work. this is mostly in medical and security. Zomet Institute and similar labs build delayed switches for hospital call bells, incubators, and some door systems. A gramophone, a delayed transmitter, it’s used in limited emergency setups. But it’s not used in normal kitchens or anything like that. It’s more like a hospital thing, which is which is a problem if you’re not making somebody else work for you and you’re a Jew and you’re really sick. The the bletch is, I think, one of the most ridiculous, and it’s in almost every observant kitchen. This keeps water boiling overnight. **Simone Collins**: And it’s called a blech? **Malcolm Collins**: It’s called a blech. You can look it up. Blech. I found videos of it. Apparently, almost all the Jews use a blech. **Simone Collins**: And it’s like a little kettle? Hold on. I’m trying to look up. B l e c h. Yiddish word meaning tin or sheet metal alternatively from metal. **Malcolm Collins**: Say a a blench for keeping water boiling. **Simone Collins**: Okay. Okay. Yeah. Because they’re saying, like, it’s a metal thing for keeping water foiling. Let’s see if I can get some images of whatever this... A water blotch. This can’t this can’t be it. **Malcolm Collins**: They look fairly fancy, the ones that I saw videos of. **Simone Collins**: They just look like normal kettles? **Malcolm Collins**: They... No. They look like your KitchenAid things sort of. Like, they’re they’re fancy and expensive looking. **Simone Collins**: Like a... Yeah. I’m not getting... I must be spelling it wrong, b l e c h. **Malcolm Collins**: No. It’s... Yes. B l ECH. I I had b LECH. I had no trouble finding this when I googled it. Blutch, Jewish, keep water boiling. It’s literally the first thing that comes up. What what is confusing about this? It’s got a Wikipedia article just titled bleach. **Simone Collins**: I know. I... I’d clicked on that for a second, but then I I I... I’m not seeing a kettle on it. I’m seeing... There’s a **Malcolm Collins**: a big looks like a cylinder. **Simone Collins**: That covers your your stove. And then It looks like a cylinder. What happens is it looks like they they keep their stovetop lit the whole time. **Malcolm Collins**: That is wildly dangerous. **Simone Collins**: That is not safe. Yeah. What’s... Here. I will share my screen. I am deeply disturbed about the fire hazard right now. I have I have nightmares about stuff like this. This is not okay. I’m I’m sure it’s fine. I’m sure they’ve really thought through this. But look. It says a copper blotch covers the lit burners on a stovetop, keeping food warm on the Shabbos meal. That that thing right there that that... The... What what is happening? How is this safe? **Malcolm Collins**: I mean, it’s not... Is the answer. This is not safe. **Simone Collins**: Yeah. Nothing. **Malcolm Collins**: Boiling water is not safe. I I I would think in a house with a lot of kids and stuff. **Simone Collins**: yeah. Especially with... I guess, you know, you gotta learn fast. But, anyway, wow. That’s... I think you said this was your least favorite. I think this is my least favorite. I don’t like the hazard of it. I don’t think it’s okay to, like, risk it. I’m I’m really okay with there being a day of the week if you’re gonna be this strict about the rules to, like it’s not so difficult. Is, **Malcolm Collins**: like, why they’re allowed to make tea, which they are. **Simone Collins**: Well, because you have already boiling water. What do you mean? **Malcolm Collins**: If you put the bag in the water, you’re transforming the water, which they say is not working. But to me, that that seems like if I was gonna be, I’d say that’s that’s cooking. **Simone Collins**: It doesn’t seem problematic to me. It’s not cooking. You’re soaking water in another...... **Malcolm Collins**: Water and then putting a a bag in it isn’t cooking. **Simone Collins**: You’re allowed to eat on the Sabbath, and pouring liquids into a cup involves eating. Like, that’s super normal. It’s it’s like it’s like putting a condiment on your food. It doesn’t say, well, don’t ever put salt on your food. You know? It says, prepare your food ahead of time and then eat it. Okay? Be... **Malcolm Collins**: You know? There’s another interesting one. This is for, like, a a charity thing for the poor, but you would wave at life chicken over your head on Yom Kippur, recite a formula, and then give the bird to the poor. **Simone Collins**: So most Wait. That’s not breaking a rule. Is that just a **Malcolm Collins**: It’s just like a thing. I don’t know. It’s silly. Most people today apparently use just bills to do it. **Simone Collins**: Oh, that’s that’s a shame. **Malcolm Collins**: The chickens still haven’t been harassing neighborhoods like Brooklyn and stuff like that. Yeah. Look. Apparently, they get protests every year. **Simone Collins**: Oh, because people are holding a chicken over their heads? **Malcolm Collins**: They’re flapping about a a live chicken. **Simone Collins**: Well, if if you’re holding it properly, it’s not going to flap about, as you know. But, yeah, I guess they’d be kinda freaked out in the city or something. Interesting. The **Malcolm Collins**: machete chermes Do not own or see chermes on. This is Exodus twelve thirteen. Talmud already knows a real sale to a non Jew on a ship, then you buy it back. Mass communal sale with a token down payment in food. Interesting. So the week before Pash, you fill a form, a paper, a show website app, etcetera, address, which closets, freezers, estimate value. You appoint a rabbi as an agent, often lifting his handkerchief or adjusting. He bundles the whole congregation and sells to one non Jew with a contract that stacks every acquisition method, money, handshake, barter, rental, or room. Buyer pays a small deposit. You tape off the liquor cabinet, pasta shelf, or whiskey. After Pesh, the rabbi buys it back. Do not snack from the closet until the sale is reversed. Some wait an extra... What is this used to get around? **Simone Collins**: So it sounds like what you’re describing is a symbolic sale of, like, a certain part of your home, and then you sell it back. Oh, is this because someone else owns it, and then it’s... You’re not in trouble for having it during the Sabbath? **Malcolm Collins**: I don’t understand. **Simone Collins**: Going on? **Malcolm Collins**: I’m asking Anne. I’m gonna find out for my aunt. **Simone Collins**: Okay. The impression I’m getting here is, like, if there’s a thing in your home that is operating... Like, say, maybe having a deep freezer for some is, like, not okay because it’s running. If you sell it to another person... To non **Malcolm Collins**: So it’s used to get around the Torah ban on owning Shamet during Pesesh. **Simone Collins**: Okay. So That makes sense. Somewhat So if you need to not own it **Malcolm Collins**: forbid Shemet leaven products from the five grains from being seen or found in your possession for the seven or eight days of Passover. **Simone Collins**: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. **Malcolm Collins**: Are usually called, it shall not be seen, and it shall not be found. Destroying or giving away everything works for crumbs and cheap food. It is painful for whiskey, expensive liquor, large stuff off the **Simone Collins**: factory warehouses. Of the year where we were not allowed to have any alcohol or leavened bread in our house. Like, we have a deep freezer. I’m I’m not getting rid of the Hawaiian buns. **Malcolm Collins**: Yeah. And because it’s made from the... Yeah. This makes so very... **Simone Collins**: Like, we we have, like... We don’t use it, but we have all these, like, liquors in our house for guests who wanna get boozy. Like, I’m not pouring them all out once every year, you know, like, to lose what you have at that point in time. I really like this solution. Look. It’s not mine. It’s hidden, and it’s not mine. I sold it. It’s gone. **Malcolm Collins**: So they... They’re not allowed to charge other Jews interest. And so they came up with something called a, which basically provides interest. I I don’t need to go into the mechanism of it doing it. Muslims have a same issue, so whatever. **Simone Collins**: Interesting. Oh, I didn’t know, though, that it’s not okay for Jews to charge other Jews’ interest, but they can charge anyone else interest. Yeah. I thought, like, people liked banking with Jews because they were just okay with interest. But, no, that’s really interesting. **Malcolm Collins**: And and banks in Israel have specific packages for this type of interest. **Simone Collins**: Wow. Wow. Cool. Okay. I like that. I like that. **Malcolm Collins**: In terms of canceling debts every seven years, this basically doesn’t happen unless you’re in a Haredi document, but they’ll... They still use... Haredi loan documents still use a pushable because yearly court assignment. Most diaspora consumers of debt with non Jewish banks, so the Torah rule never attaches. Yeah. I can see wanting to get around this. That would be major problematic. Well, we’re nearing the end of the the time we have here. I thought that was pretty interesting stuff going over that. I mean, one of the ones that I thought was weirdest was the the firstborn animal. So the firstborn male of a kosher animal owned by a Jew is sanctified. Exodus 13 numbers 18, you cannot work it or eat it like a normal calf. You have to give it to a kohen or wait for a blemish on the farm, which is a logistics nightmare. So before birth, the farmer sells a tiny part part of the ear to a non Jew. How does that actually work, though? Right? So how has a non Jew **Simone Collins**: So, like, it’s already been... But so there... I don’t get it because... Wait. If it’s not allowed to be used for normal work, then you just used it for normal work by selling it to someone, didn’t you? **Malcolm Collins**: Well, because it it’s bad. But Jews really have to find a way around this because this rule becomes almost impossible to follow in a post temple period. Because, really, what you were supposed to do is give it to the temple. But now you can’t give it to the temple, so it just sits around on your farm as an animal you can’t do anything with. **Simone Collins**: Fair enough. **Malcolm Collins**: Which... You know? So... Okay. I can understand this workaround. I don’t have much of a problem. **Simone Collins**: It looks like the kids drive side, and my game was out of batteries. Oh, no. Okay. So I know what it’s doing, boss. **Malcolm Collins**: The non Jew is typically a, formal contemporary contract is written, so the Jewish ownership is incomplete for days. The incomplete is the owner of birth, the payment of the token, and the goods are what they are. Shemet, You sign power of attorney, appointing a rabbi as your agent, he bundles the congregation and sells the designated Shemet to a non Jew who rents that person, the closet or freezer of food sitting in the buyer’s space, contracted stacks, every classical transfer, cash document, etcetera. First burn calf, a male first burn. Why they would agree and whether they’re the prophet? The rabbi can use the same local person for years, someone who will sign and will not arrive with a truck. Compensation is for a small fee or a gift, nothing beyond the down payment, which is nominal. Okay. So it’s just, like, for a small thing. I was like, hey. Can I get can I get in on this? **Simone Collins**: How do you get in on this? Yeah. There needs to be some **Malcolm Collins**: website up here in Fiverr. The default that they use in in these communities. Right? Work work work to that. Like the default, not you. **Simone Collins**: I’m glad you you shared those additional ones with me. I I appreciate that you found one that you like, which is the the underwear one. I And guess, presumably, you also like the birth control one, which is like, let’s just be reasonable. So there are some versions of versions of these rules or, I I guess, ways around the original rules that are more... They’re better at following the spirit, sort of, I think, at least being reasonable. So I like it. Thank you, Malcolm. **Malcolm Collins**: Love you, Simone, and have a spectacular day. And what episode do you want me to put live tomorrow? I guess, are you... The second one you did yesterday on crime and punishment where I will mention that she didn’t die and she got away with it all. **Simone Collins**: Yeah. Yeah. Mad about that. **Malcolm Collins**: Though