pilman said:
Damn so i'm violating torah by hunting?
Well, there's always Reform...
On Israel:
Yes, it is very hard to
own a gun in Israel. Carrying one is a different matter. I'm not sure how things are now, but there was a time when those who lived in "at risk" areas could be issued a state-owned weapon for defense. And if you are one of those folks who does get approval to have your own, you can open carry most anywhere.
On <insert religion here> being against firearms:
I bet if you go look at the official platforms of most major religions, they will come out in favor of gun control. Well, except for the Mormons I'd guess.
Something folks need to understand: most American Jews are "Reform" (please no Jewish in-fighting here). The official viewpoint of the
URJ is a combination of the commandment to "be a light to the nations" and classical progressive American socially liberal "do good". Some excellent ideas, IMHO -- feed the hungry, freedom for all -- mixed in with some insane feel good non-sense "ban guns to make the world a safer place" sort of thing. Reform is primarily an American and European phenomena, it's different in Israel. Most Israelis view firearms as mere tools, something to be used when needed. A friend of mine was relating a story of having worked on a kibbutz, and that none of the Israeli born folks had any interest in taking care of the weapons locker -- it was just a dirty chore.
Most Conservative and Orthodox Jews don't have the issues with firearms ownership that Reform (officially) do; however the Ultra-Orthodox are often disconnected from such discussions. If it ain't Torah, it don't matter to them.
Something I've noticed in Reform congregations: 1) Many of the older men own firearms, and 2) a lot of the younger people are interested in learning to shoot. Of course a lot of the younger people are interested in learning Hebrew and other traditional things that Reform pushed aside in the early years of its existence. The majority of our young people visit Israel; they come back full of repsect and admiration for the M4 carrying IDF men and women. The older gents, particularly here in the south, grew up shooting. There's a group of fellows here who go to the range every now and then and call themselves "Guns 'n' Moses".
Cosmoline said:
It seems to be difficult to divorce cultural traditions from religious edicts when it comes to hunting.
Yep, it's the connection of cultural norms and religious teachings, and with Judaism you've got centuries of tradition and interpretation. The problem is that
kashrut (the collection of kosher law/tradition) requires animals to be slaughtered in a certain way, and these traditions are based on the desire to slaughter as humanely as possible, and to remove all blood. Forget the ritual and technique involved; when hunting you can't guarantee a "humane" kill. Of course again you have a wide range of practice when dealing with Judaism, from those who don't care about being kosher, to people who say "it's a kosher animal, it's ok shechita or not", to those who will not touch meat unless a shochet, under the supervision of a rabbi, handled the slaughter. (Note: I'm not saying hunting is wrong or inhumane, just explaining the traditional Jewish viewpoint on hunting.)
Edited to add:
Cosmoline said:
How is it observant Jews make a living in the fur trade, then? Does survival include economic survival? Maybe you can specify what prohibition it violates.
An issue that has caused both internal and external tensions with regards to Judaism over the centuries. If someone else does the killing, is it ok for me to trade in such items? Torah/Talmud says I shouldn't hunt, but it doesn't say I can't buy and sell materials resulting from
Goyim who do. Some would claim hypocritical; others would use this as an example of how Jews realize that
the law applies to them only, and not others. It gets complicated, and downright silly sometimes. There's a story of a Jewish gangster who refused to kill somebody on Saturday because it was wrong for him to "work on Shabbat".