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So the youth group I work with wanna do a skit kinda deal about keeping Gods commandments/laws. They had the idea to look at some of the silly laws man has, like "Worrying squirrels will not be tolerated." I know there are some odd laws in the Bible, like "Thou shall not wear clothing of two different fabrics" (or something like that) Does anyone know any laws that would seem off by todays society/standards, and a reference to where they are at might be helpful.

Leviticus is where you find most of the OT laws, with others scattered throughout Numbers and Deuteronomy. Reading some of them in context of today's standards might cause you to scratch your head somewhat, but when you learn some of the reasons behind them that DO make sense in today's contexts (like "don't eat pork because it's unclean" today translates to "don't eat pork because it is really bad for you.") it's actually pretty cool.

Yeah, most levitical laws are hygenical.

False.  Most Levitical laws are object lessons to illustrate they vast difference between the monotheisti religion of Ancient israel and the host of polytheistic religions around them... The weaving cloth of two separate fabrics being one of the more obvious.  The Pig thing has to do with the fact that early israelites were herding nomadic people and the people they lived around who were polytheistic tended to raise swine, so swine became associated with the polytheistic religions Therefore it was "unclean"


plus pigs are dirty...

I would argue that they may have ALSO had a hygenical purpose, but that their primary purpose was to illustrate the type of beliefs they should have, Singular, monotheistic, non fertility based beliefs.

All the prohibitions against a woman being "unclean" during her period and being "unclean" after chihldbirth (especially a female child) are not hygenic in origin, they come from the fact that Israel was SURROUNDED by fertility cults (agrarian based societies worshiping the circle of life) who held these events in High regard, (especially a woman giving birth to a woman?!?  How much more circle of life can  you get?) and Yahweh wanted to put them into their proper persepctive and turn their attention to the one true God.

I believe that for every commandment God gives to us, he does so to optimize our mental and physical health, both of which I believe are connected. I believe the reason he ordered the Jews not to eat certain animals was because of health issues, in the case of pork being the undetectable disease-causing organisms which are found in pig muscles. God tells us not to murder because it is detrimental to someone's health (obviously a living person is healthier than a dead one ). The tenth commandment is important because coveting of all kinds is bad for us, as it distracts us from what's really important (God). God would never make a commandment if it didn't make a difference (or made a negative difference) in the overall health a person's relationship with God and others. The visible effect is that the nation who obeys God's commands is going to act differently than other pagan nations. Otherwise, what is the use of His commands?

Actually, El is short for Elohim (and the other forms of this word). Yahweh is the closest we know to the actual Name of God. I like that this discussion is going on, but don't see any answers to golgotha's question.

First (the discussion side of things) Ha Shem (The Name) gives His instruction for us in a physical sense. Everything that God teaches us is taught using physical representations of Spiritual things. I.E. You shall bind them on your forehead and on your right hand.
Exo 13:16  And it shall be for a sign on your hand, and frontlets between your eyes. For YHVH brought us out from Egypt by the might of His hand.
The Jewish people use T'fillin (small leather boxes) tied to thier hands and forehead to fulfil this commandment. However, they also represent that we should keep the word of God on our minds and work with our hands to do His commandments.
A physical command to tie them on representing a spiritual effect of God's word constantly in our lives.


Second, See above for a seemingly silly commandment (by today's standards) I will post more when I have more time.