@InfraBlue,
My apologies, I read you wrong .
First, circumcision :
The origins of circumcision in the western world go back to Egypt as the sun god Ra was circumcised and it was performed when a boy entered puberty . This is a huge clue . It was unimportant just for hygiene, but was necessary prior to acceptance as a sexually active male . The Egyptians were very concerned with hygiene, shaving all hair to prevent parasites on even children, just allowing a top knot of hair, so if circumcision was done for hygiene it would have been done earlier in a boy's life .
The Jews picked up the habit when they were nomads living on the fringes of the Egyptian cities . When Moses left Egypt, the custom changed to circumcising a new born boy, which has been dramatised in the Bible by the story of Zipporah . This was probaly because of a belief that it was less painful to do it then, and this was justified as being a new covenant with God who was to give them the "land of milk and honey", which is actually a euphemism for sex and pregnancy . Fertility was important if you were to survive .
As I said before :
Quote:....for a polygamist society, where a foreskin can carry very nasty infections from one woman to another . When they do pornos they cut filming for the penis to be wiped down with swabs to prevent germs healthy to one woman but dangerous to another from spreading . Having penetration with a woman then taking that fluid and bacteria to another will cause very severe infections most times . This made circumcision necessary for the health of women in a desert .
Secondly, Kashrut rules :
These are not as clear cut but going by the Dead Sea scrolls they have their origins in banning animals that eat carrion . Others were found to have parasites .
Then other animals got thrown in for reasons unknown, perhaps to prevent Jews from dining with their unclean neighbours and being susceptible to ideas contrary to Judaism . The ban also involved blood which was believed to house the soul . Just so you couldn't cheat, the ban also applied to mixing banned foods with good foods .
All ancient religions have this banning of certain foods, so it seems to be an attempt at primitive medicine . What was Kashrut has changed to include more things as history progressed but seems to have followed fashion to a certain extent . Some foods were banned from their time in Egypt, such as shellfish...the Egyptians in general thought the higher rank you were the less you should eat from the Nile, so fish were acceptable to peasants but not for the Pharoah .
The exile in Babylon reinforced circumcision and Kashrut as the priests fought to maintain their identity as a people . Once restored to Judea, many locally produced products were re-emphasised (buy local) .
