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Sep. 11th, 2003 07:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mamadebLast night, I finally saw that episode of Queer Eye with Adam Zalta (aka "The Jewish Guy.")
And I had fun with it. I don't just mean the normal fun of a QEftSG episode (or even the extra fun of my husband wondering if we could get them to do us - I'm serious. He was.) There was also the fun of "where is Adam on the spectrum." See, people told me that Adam was Orthodox, since his kitchen was kosher.
He's not. I'd place him as observant Conservative. It wasn't that he never wore a yarmulke, although that's suspect. It certainly wasn't that his wife did not cover her hair and wore a rather cute pantsuit in the end. Those could easily place her as Modern Orthodox.
The kosher kitchen could place them anywhere on the spectrum - there are nonreligious and Reform Jews who keep kosher kitchens. The mezuzot on the interior doors put them on the observant side of things, I *think*.
The real clues were that Ted gave them a nonkosher brand of champagne. The Conservative movement, for good and sufficient reasons, has decided that, other than for kiddush and Passover, wine need not be kosher. Or, rather, that all wine is permissible. This is because wine is no longer manufactured for idolworship. The Orthodox movement does not agree, so all wine must be kosher.
But the real telling moment was when Adam shaved. Orthodox Jewish men do not shave with blades. They consider that to be forbidden from the Torah. In earlier days, those men who didn't want beards used depilatories. These days, they use electric razors that mimic the action of scissors, and are thus acceptable. Adam had no problems using a regular bladed safety razor. (Also, and just on a personal note, I think he looked better unshaven. He just would need to shave the cheeks so it looks on purpose, not accidental.)
This, however, is something rather obscure, and not generally known outside the Jewish community.
I'm remember a Starsky and Hutch fic I read where the author gave Starsky a straight-edge razor that had been passed down in his family from the old country, and that's extremely unlikely. Nothing is impossible, of course, but it is unlikely. And it's equally unlikely that the writer of the story would know that, or even think to ask - it's not a reasonble thing for someone to ask.
And I had fun with it. I don't just mean the normal fun of a QEftSG episode (or even the extra fun of my husband wondering if we could get them to do us - I'm serious. He was.) There was also the fun of "where is Adam on the spectrum." See, people told me that Adam was Orthodox, since his kitchen was kosher.
He's not. I'd place him as observant Conservative. It wasn't that he never wore a yarmulke, although that's suspect. It certainly wasn't that his wife did not cover her hair and wore a rather cute pantsuit in the end. Those could easily place her as Modern Orthodox.
The kosher kitchen could place them anywhere on the spectrum - there are nonreligious and Reform Jews who keep kosher kitchens. The mezuzot on the interior doors put them on the observant side of things, I *think*.
The real clues were that Ted gave them a nonkosher brand of champagne. The Conservative movement, for good and sufficient reasons, has decided that, other than for kiddush and Passover, wine need not be kosher. Or, rather, that all wine is permissible. This is because wine is no longer manufactured for idolworship. The Orthodox movement does not agree, so all wine must be kosher.
But the real telling moment was when Adam shaved. Orthodox Jewish men do not shave with blades. They consider that to be forbidden from the Torah. In earlier days, those men who didn't want beards used depilatories. These days, they use electric razors that mimic the action of scissors, and are thus acceptable. Adam had no problems using a regular bladed safety razor. (Also, and just on a personal note, I think he looked better unshaven. He just would need to shave the cheeks so it looks on purpose, not accidental.)
This, however, is something rather obscure, and not generally known outside the Jewish community.
I'm remember a Starsky and Hutch fic I read where the author gave Starsky a straight-edge razor that had been passed down in his family from the old country, and that's extremely unlikely. Nothing is impossible, of course, but it is unlikely. And it's equally unlikely that the writer of the story would know that, or even think to ask - it's not a reasonble thing for someone to ask.