Ask The Rabbi
March 4, 1995
Issue #58
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This edition contains:
1. I-DOLL-atry?
2. Answer to Last Week's Tricky Riddle
3. Earring Follow-up
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Margalit Bracha Ingall @phantom.com wrote:

>We were kidding around about the fact that the creator of the Barbie Doll
>is Jewish, so would that mean Barbie herself is Jewish? (that's not my
>question.) Then someone said dolls are forbidden according to Jewish law:
>That they are a representation of the human form, and therefore
>potentially worshipped as idols.  The rest of us were fascinated by this
>(luckily, I think none of us is still playing with dolls) and wondered if
>you could confirm this and tell us the halachic reasons. Please answer
>soon because we're all anxious to know. Thank you!!

******************************

Dear Margalit Bracha,

The Torah says, "Don't make a carved statue or the image of anything in th
heaven above or the earth below..."  This verse prohibits making a 3-
dimensional image.  The Shulchan Aruch codifies this prohibition, and adds
that even owning an idol is forbidden.  One may neither own, use, nor
derive any benefit from an idol whatsoever.  One is not even allowed to
throw it in the garbage;  Rather, one must "throw it into the Dead Sea" or
otherwise destroy it.

Now to your question about Barbie.  Presumably, Barbie -- even the "Barbie
Teen-Idol"  version -- is not made as an idol for anybody to worship.
Would this make it permissible to own?  The Talmud relates an incident than
seems to be parallel:  Rav Yehuda had a signet ring with a protruding human
form.  Shmuel said to him, "Sharp one [Rav Yehuda], poke out it's eye."

The Talmud records this incident to show that although Rav Yehuda's ring
was not made as an idol, it was nevertheless forbidden for him to wear it,
unless he disfigured the image somewhat.  Otherwise, people might suspect
him of maintaining it is an idol to be worshipped.  Based on this, if you
wanted to own a Barbie-doll you would have to poke out its eye, cut off its
ear, or otherwise disfigure it.  In many homes, this is the accepted
practice.

Most people, however, follow the ruling of the Chochmat Adam.  He says that
nowadays, it is permitted to own an image of a human being.  He explains a
follows:  The whole reason it was forbidden to own an image was so that
nobody would suspect the owner of being a "closet" idol worshipper.  But
since people generally do not worship idols today, there is no longer any
cause for suspicion.

According to this, it would be OK to own all types of dolls, etc., since it
is quite obvious that they are for playing, not for praying.  One may not
actually make any image, or even commission one to be made;  but once they
are made one may purchase and keep them.  Therefore, we need not ban
Barbie, nor any full-feature doll, from Jewish homes.

Whenever I think of graven images, I'm reminded of Hy Shprung who came to
the U.S. as a penniless immigrant and won the Lottery.  The first thing he
did was to commission a giant mansion... "and right in de front hall," he
said to the architects, "I wanna Halo Statue!"

When the mansion was finally finished, the architects invited Hy to come
and inspect their work.  He eyed the marble floors and vaulting ceilings.
Right in the center of the foyer was a stone sculpture of an angelic youth
with a halo floating over its head, but he looked right past it.

"There it is!  There it is!"  he exclaimed, his eyes resting upon the
telephone which sat upon a teak wood table.  "There's the Halo Statue!

The architects looked at each other in puzzlement.

Just then the phone rang.  Hy ran over to the phone, picked it up, and
said, "Halo!  Statue?"

Sources
o  Exodus 20:4.
o  Tractate Rosh HaShana 24b.
o  Tractate Avoda Zara 43.
o  Yoreh De'ah 141:4 and 141:7.
o  Chochmat Adam 85:6.
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Answer to Last Week's Tricky Riddle

Question:  What mitzvah applies only to someone who is sitting, reclining,
or lying down?

Answer:  Standing up in honor of a Torah Scholar or an elderly person
(Lifnei Seivah Takum V'hadarta P'nei Zakein...You shall rise before an
elderly person, and honor the presence of a sage.   Leviticus 19:32)

Explanation: If a person is already standing when a elderly person enters
the room he should remain standing, and not sit down in order to stand up.
The mitzvah of eating matzah on the first night(s) of Pesach, applies even
to one who is standing -- i.e., the person should sit, recline and then eat
the matzah.

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Earring Follow-up:

Last week we wrote that it would be permitted for a man to wear an earring
Since some men wear them, they are not considered exclusively "women's"
clothing.  It should be noted, however, that this is only if the earring
has no forbidden symbolism in the society in which the earring is worn.  If
the earring indicates that the wearer belongs to a group whose behavior is
forbidden by the Torah, then it would be forbidden to wear.
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