Fingernails
Rabbi Dude says:
There is a ridiculous obsession some people have with gathering up their finger- and toe-nails after trimming, wrapping them carefully, and depositing them into the bin. Either that or burning them. And why? Because "it says" (although the exact source I cannot say, as all I've ever heard is "it says," and no-one has ever been able to put a name to "it" for me... any of you know it, by chance?) that loose nails can cause miscarriages. Wherever "it says" that, the whole point is being missed: trimmed nails are not being singled out because they're particularly dangerous per se, but quite the opposite: because that little shard of keratin is about as harmless an object as one could imagine.
We are being taught a lesson as to just how careful we have to be: what’s the most harmless item you can think of? A fingernail. Given that most people dispose of their fingernails after trimming rather than just leaving them lying around, what’s the chance that a nail would accidentally get lost if one took no extraordinary care to prevent it? Not too great. And what’s the chance a fingernail, dropped randomly somewhere on the floor of a home, would wind up under someone’s foot? Small. Even then, what’s the chance the person would be walking around barefoot? Small. And what’s the chance that, even if a barefooted person were to happen to step on a stray fingernail, that he’d get the point of it rather than the smooth side? Very small. And what’s the chance that, even if one were to step on a fingernail, and were to get the sharp side, that it would even be noticeable? Small. And what’s the chance that, even if it were noticeable, it’d cause any pain? Very small. And what’s the chance that that pain would be severe? Minimal. And what’s the chance that the person stepping on it would be female? One in two. And what’s the chance that, even if she were female, she’d also be pregnant? Small. And what’s the chance that the severe pain caused by stepping barefoot on the sharp side of a stray fingernail at just the wrong angle could induce a miscarriage? Practically negligible.
So--after all that--what’s the chance that a fingernail could actually cause a miscarriage? The mathematical field of probability tells us that the answer is "not too great" times "small" times "small" times "very small" times "small" times "very small" times "minimal" times one-half times "small" times "practically negligible." In mathematical terms, that can be simplified to (G)(S^4)(V^2)(M)(N)/2. In plain English: it ain’t gonna happen.
The lesson we are being taught is that, no matter how unlikely a sitauation is, one has to be prepared. If one really cares about doing the right thing and is truly sincere about keeping his obligations properly, he will be prepared for any possibility that may conceivably arise, no matter how unlikely or obscure. Just how careful should we be about preventing harm to others? We should be meticulous to the point that we won’t even leave our fingernails lying around!
Now don’t get me wrong here: I’ve no objection to the custom of wrapping up fingernails and disposing of them carefully per se--after all, no matter how improbable it may be, it does ultimately prevent the possibility of harm--but it’s rather disturbing that so many people would go to such lengths to prevent such an unlikely cause of damage while simultaneously displaying such utter lack of concern for truly realistic situations.
Then again, I guess I shouldn’t cast people as callous in that respect. They probably aren’t wrapping up their fingernails because of concern for a remote likelihood of physical danger, but because they truly believe it is extraordinarily probable. After all, if "it says" that one should be careful about fingernails, it must be that they somehow pose a greater danger than one might normally expect. And that is what is so terribly distressing to me: believing that there’s something special about fingernails, that they’re singled out by the unnamed "it says" because they’re particularly and inexplicably dangerous, shows a certain degree of ignorance and a tendency we see far too often in today’s world to accept without questioning, to believe without thinking, and to do without knowing why.
Learning Tora--knowing the mind of God--means developing our logical skills, not merely learning lists of rules. Understanding, not just knowing, is the goal.
There is a ridiculous obsession some people have with gathering up their finger- and toe-nails after trimming, wrapping them carefully, and depositing them into the bin. Either that or burning them. And why? Because "it says" (although the exact source I cannot say, as all I've ever heard is "it says," and no-one has ever been able to put a name to "it" for me... any of you know it, by chance?) that loose nails can cause miscarriages. Wherever "it says" that, the whole point is being missed: trimmed nails are not being singled out because they're particularly dangerous per se, but quite the opposite: because that little shard of keratin is about as harmless an object as one could imagine.
We are being taught a lesson as to just how careful we have to be: what’s the most harmless item you can think of? A fingernail. Given that most people dispose of their fingernails after trimming rather than just leaving them lying around, what’s the chance that a nail would accidentally get lost if one took no extraordinary care to prevent it? Not too great. And what’s the chance a fingernail, dropped randomly somewhere on the floor of a home, would wind up under someone’s foot? Small. Even then, what’s the chance the person would be walking around barefoot? Small. And what’s the chance that, even if a barefooted person were to happen to step on a stray fingernail, that he’d get the point of it rather than the smooth side? Very small. And what’s the chance that, even if one were to step on a fingernail, and were to get the sharp side, that it would even be noticeable? Small. And what’s the chance that, even if it were noticeable, it’d cause any pain? Very small. And what’s the chance that that pain would be severe? Minimal. And what’s the chance that the person stepping on it would be female? One in two. And what’s the chance that, even if she were female, she’d also be pregnant? Small. And what’s the chance that the severe pain caused by stepping barefoot on the sharp side of a stray fingernail at just the wrong angle could induce a miscarriage? Practically negligible.
So--after all that--what’s the chance that a fingernail could actually cause a miscarriage? The mathematical field of probability tells us that the answer is "not too great" times "small" times "small" times "very small" times "small" times "very small" times "minimal" times one-half times "small" times "practically negligible." In mathematical terms, that can be simplified to (G)(S^4)(V^2)(M)(N)/2. In plain English: it ain’t gonna happen.
The lesson we are being taught is that, no matter how unlikely a sitauation is, one has to be prepared. If one really cares about doing the right thing and is truly sincere about keeping his obligations properly, he will be prepared for any possibility that may conceivably arise, no matter how unlikely or obscure. Just how careful should we be about preventing harm to others? We should be meticulous to the point that we won’t even leave our fingernails lying around!
Now don’t get me wrong here: I’ve no objection to the custom of wrapping up fingernails and disposing of them carefully per se--after all, no matter how improbable it may be, it does ultimately prevent the possibility of harm--but it’s rather disturbing that so many people would go to such lengths to prevent such an unlikely cause of damage while simultaneously displaying such utter lack of concern for truly realistic situations.
Then again, I guess I shouldn’t cast people as callous in that respect. They probably aren’t wrapping up their fingernails because of concern for a remote likelihood of physical danger, but because they truly believe it is extraordinarily probable. After all, if "it says" that one should be careful about fingernails, it must be that they somehow pose a greater danger than one might normally expect. And that is what is so terribly distressing to me: believing that there’s something special about fingernails, that they’re singled out by the unnamed "it says" because they’re particularly and inexplicably dangerous, shows a certain degree of ignorance and a tendency we see far too often in today’s world to accept without questioning, to believe without thinking, and to do without knowing why.
Learning Tora--knowing the mind of God--means developing our logical skills, not merely learning lists of rules. Understanding, not just knowing, is the goal.
posted by Rabbi Dude at 3/02/2009 12:08:00 pm
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