When I said that one of the main problems with religion is that they are killjoys who frown on anything that gives people joy and pleasure, I was too sweeping in my judgment.
It turns out that at least one religious group, the Rabbinical Council of California, is bucking that perception and has granted kosher certification to ‘personal lubricants’. Don’t know what they are or why it was felt that they needed to be kosherized? See the fascinating details here.
Let’s hear it for the Rabbinical Council of California for realizing that religion can be fun!
Update: Sad to say, the RCC has changed its mind and yanked the kosher certification. They explain that they had misunderstood the ‘intended uses’ of the product.
Thank you, from a collector of random trivia.
Which was even more pleasurable because of the lubrication.
Tee hee
It would probably be very disturbing to find out what they actually thought the ‘intended uses’ of the product were.
And I’m thinking that the Rabbinical Council of California lawyers should be contacting the Roman Catholic Church over misuse of their brand name.
You’d think god would have told them long ago of the true ‘intended use’ of the product, rather than waiting two years.
So this has me wondering. If someone trying to keep kosher used the product, is that person in trouble with god or does god give a pass for good faith reliance on rabbinical errors? Might there be any other products out there that are certified as kosher that god really isn’t happy about but were certified by mistake because of a misunderstanding about their intended use?
And why does the ‘intended use’ matter? What about the actual use? I mean, is vaseline or hand lotion kosher? Why or why not? Burning questions within the orthodox community, I’m sure.
As far as I know, everything that’s ingested by orthodox Jews has to be kosher, i.e. may not come from unclean animals. In the Oreo case, the problem was the lard in the cookies, and the ritual cleaning of the ovens.
The recreational substances mentioned here are not intended to be eaten. The majority opinion seems to be that lubes don’t have to be kosher. but some Haredi Rabbis insist that substances which may penetrate the outer layers of the skin must be kosher, too.
Regarding the Orthodox negative position towards oral sex (which might inadvertedly lead to ingestion of said lube), there is no reason to use a certified kosher product.
Religion and sex -- a permanent supply of laughing stock.