Friday, August 19, 2022

Human Creation and Legacy of Purity – Part IV

 Purity of relations in the family and society

Todor A. Dimitrov

 

Abstract

The purity of relations is connected to the purity of mind and emotions. It also concerns the financial aspect of relations which is treated in details in ancient scripts. As we understand, purity comes only with a setup of rules. The history of humanity moves through a long list of rules and laws. Without them the humanity disappears. Without rules the human being turns into a wild uncontrollable animal. Even the animals are driven by the rules of their societies. A human being without our commonly accepted human laws has a big gap instead of self-control, has not a developed psychic mechanism and is much worse than a wild predator. It is alarming to see that many people today are tended to reject many rules and laws that are the foundation of every human society. Such people usually become criminals or sociopaths.

The purity of relations always starts in the family. Along with our genetical code, it is very important what the emotional and mind intelligences of our parents are, that conduct their behavior and their style of home education for us. It also includes the hygiene of body and home, as well as the food selection.  Depending on behavior that we see from our parents and the attitude of the society to their behavior, we form a relevant impression about this behavior considering the attitude of surrounding society which stamps a seal on our own behavior and our life further. It appears that our destiny has been sealed by our parents (genetically and psychologically) and in some cases it comes to be a subject of serious treatment.

 

Summary

Relations in the family

The family is the smallest social cell. Here starts the primary social life. That is why it is important for every human society to develop strong package of laws that protects all family members and the family as a unit.

We can classify the family relations in 4+ levels: relations between parents, relations between parents and children, relation between children, and relations between family members and other relatives which can be classified in much more levels of relations, depending on age, sex and relative line.

First let we analyze the purity that comes from the personal hygiene of every member.  It concerns body and food purity. In part II we understood that is necessary to keep the parts of our body cleansed and that is important to know which food must be thermally prepared. Not only meat and fish but some vegetables also need to be processed thermally like potato and eggplant. Also, the hygiene is different between the man and woman right because of the sex difference considering their genital function. The physiological processes between both sexes are different too, considering the hormone consistency. The hormones determine many processes in the body for which they also called mediators.

Because of the female ovulation cycle, the female body must endure blood streaming at every 28 days of its life (a day and half less than the moon cycle). During this period, hormones’ consistency changes which reflects to the emotions and mood in women, elevating their frustration [1]. This is a reason for which all other members of the family must be careful and tolerant to the woman. Normally, we must respect women for their main function – the birth of a new life. This should be enough for respect and tolerance.

Let us see what the medical thesis about this period is, also considering sexual activities. Many women endure headaches called menstrual migraine during the first 2 days, connected to a mechanism of estrogen withdrawal [2]. The menstrual blood plasma contains high concentrations of some cytokines (IL-6, IL-1β, and CXCL8), whereas other cytokines (IL-2, IL-12p70, XCL1) mark low levels [3]. After extensive analysis of these data, we can find that women are very fragile in this period and that it is possible for them to unlock some autoimmune diseases, disorders in CNS, colon disorder, asthma, along with symptoms of fever, high temperature and common inflammation. The analysis confirms the increased possibility of menstrual migraine. With the practicing of sexual intercourse during this period women increasingly develop endometriosis [4] and sexually transmitted diseases (STD) [5][6]. The reason for developing STD in wide range of variety is the temporary lack of protecting flora in female genitals. The normal genital flora has low-diversity content, dominated by bacteria from genus Lactobacillus [7]. According to research, published in 2021 [7], women with decreased risk of bacterial vaginosis (BV) and microbiota instability, have normal content of estrogen, use contraception, have circumcised male partner, do not change their partner, and use antibiotics.

Men do not have such problems with the hygiene but there is a difference considering the resident microbiome and susceptibility to STD between circumcised and non-circumcised men, as it is reported in the cited research, considering female health [7]. Inflammatory prostatitis is found to be caused by bacteria species (in cases with BV in the female partner) and may cause male infertility, as well as BV back to women [8].

As we see, in a family both parents must have certain culture in their intimate relation, to keep certain purity in their intimate behavior not only because of their physical and psychological health, but because it becomes a part of the home education for their children. The parents must have a separate room in their family lodging.

From the cited ancient sources in previous part of this research these kinds of relations are described only in Torah for which will be represented here by a few citations:

“…Do not commit adultery…” [Shemot (Exodus) 20:12];

“…Do not desire the woman of your fellowman (neighbor)…” [Shemot (Exodus) 20:13];

“If he (a man) takes another wife, he should not treat her (considering the first wife but also applies to the second) like a harlot and a sinner” [Shemot (Exodus) 21:10];

“And if a man opens a virgin who is not engaged, and he lie with her, he must immediately take her as his wife” [Shemot (Exodus) 22:15];

“And woman who lies with a man and they have an intercourse, both of them should bath in water and they will be unclean till the evening” [Vaykra (Leviticus) 15:18];

“And a woman who has blood streaming, will have streaming from her flesh seven days, should be separated, and everyone who touches her, will be unclean till the evening” [Vaykra (Leviticus) 15:19];

“And if a man lies with her, her impurity will be on him and he will be unclean seven days, and every bed that he lies on, will be unclean” [Vaykra (Leviticus) 15:24];

“And a man who lies with a woman with streaming and uncover her nakedness, … they should be cut off from between their people” [Vaykra (Leviticus) 20:18].

From these verses we understand that in the Hebrew ancient culture there is high morality and certain high purity.

Let us explore another aspects (like marriage and adultery) of relations between a man and a woman in the ancient sources. King Hammurabi had been Babylonian king, who had reigned in the years of 1795 – 1750 BCE and had become famous with his code of laws (citations are written in modern English) [12]:

“128. If a man takes a woman for a wife, but have no intercourse with her, this woman is no wife to him.

129. If a man’s wife be surprised (to have intercourse) with another man, both shall be tied and thrown into the water, but the husband may pardon his wife and the king his slaves.

130. If a man violates a wife (betrothed or a child-wife) of another man, who has never known a man, and still lives in her father’s house, and sleep with her and be surprised, this man shall be put to …, but the wife is blameless.

132. If the “finger is pointed” at a man’s wife about another man, but she is not caught sleeping with the other man, she shall jump into the river for her husband.

134. If anyone be captured in war and there is no sustenance in his house, if then his wife goes to another house, this woman shall be held blameless”.

In Torah there are written laws against the adultery with the same meaning. From the previous citations we saw that men should not desire married women and if a man wants to have intimate intercourse with a woman, he must take her as a wife, but there is more:

“And a man who commits adultery with a wife of another man, a man who commits adultery with the wife of his fellowman, should be put to …: the adulterer and the adulteress” [Vaykra (Leviticus) 20:10].

The same punishment is commanded in a case of adultery when the woman is engaged to another man, but is not married. Considering the adultery, the ancient laws in the Middle east and Egypt have no mercy for it is impure to desecrate the bound between husband and wife. According to the spiritual and physical definition of the bond of marriage, both man and woman are one flesh:

“Therefore, the man will leave his father and his mother, and will bind to his woman, and they will become one flesh” [Torah, In the Beginning (Genesis) 2:24].

In the first book “In the Beginning”, called “Genesis”, we can find description of a very difficult situation that happened with Joseph in the land of Egypt, that concerns the adultery:

“And Joseph went down to the land of Mitsraim, and was bought by Potiphar, an officer of Pharo, a captain of the guards, a man mitsri…” [In the Beginning (Genesis) 39:1];

“And after he (Potiphar) appointed him to be a steward of his house and over everything which was his property, and Lord blessed the mitsri’s home because of Joseph…” [In the Beginning (Genesis) 39:5];

“And it was so, that after these things the wife of his master glanced at Joseph (lit. “set her eye on him”) and said: ‘Lie with me!’

And he refused, and he told the wife of his master: ‘Behold, my master does not know what is going on with me at home and everything that he has, he gave in my hands

There is no bigger in this house than me and there is nothing that has been kept from me except you, being his wife. And how could I do such a big evil, and transgress toward God ?!” [In the Beginning (Genesis) 39:7-9].

There is simple physiological and emotional explanation for the adultery – if a man and a woman are married, they share their body fluids, their emotions, thoughts, bio-currents, i.e., their bodies and souls. That is why it is written “and they will become one flesh” [Torah, In the Beginning (Genesis) 2:24]. If a third person has an intercourse with one of them, it appears that each of the couple shares her/his soul and body with the third person which is equal to a triple intercourse, i.e., each person from the couple has an intercourse with the third person. Is it disgusting enough?

In the Hitties’ code we find next laws about the relations between men and women [11]:

“26a.  If a woman refuses (divorces) a man the man should give to her …, and the woman shall take a wage for her seed (the number of her children). But the man shall take the land and her children.

26b. But if a man divorces a woman … he shall sell her. Whoever buys her, shall pay him 12 shekels of silver.

29. If a daughter has been betrothed to a man, and he pays a bride price for her, but afterwards the father and mother contest the agreement, they may separate her from the man, but they shall restore the bride price double.

30. But if before the man has taken the daughter (sexually), he refuses her, he shall forfeit the bride price which he has paid”.

The relationship between parents and children also should be clean from improper emotions and wishes. Parents and children should feel love to each other on a certain level, preventing any kind of incest, as well as aggression and mental mocking. The incest between family members or close relatives is forbidden in Torah. According to many scientific investigations, the incest leads to reduced fitness (observed in some nations during inbreeding periods), unwanted mutations and diseases like schizophrenia [9, 10]. This could not bring us to any purity.

The attitude of children to parents should be marked with respect and humbleness, and the attitude of parents to children should be more precisely arranged with certain strictness and patient teaching that requires abilities from their children (like keeping proper language and behavior, self-control, responsibility for their personal things, home cleaning), avoiding improper humiliation. In Torah is forbidden for a child to smite its parent:

“And who smites his father or his mother, will be put to…” [Shemot /Exodus 21:15].

There is such a text in the Code of Hammurabi [12]:

“195. If a son strikes his father, his hands should be …”.

Parents should also teach their children of proper behavior to each other – respect, tolerance, sharing, communication, etc. Being a parent or a teacher is not easy at all and everyone who wants to be a parent should be prepared mentally and emotionally. Today, many young couples need special educational course for parents.

Relations in society

Today, young mothers meet a difficult situation considering the unescapable conflict between their professional jobs and motherhood. In some countries the children start their social life very early – in the children garden. The social order for rising a child should provide good upbringing and proper home education for children because they should build a basis for a psychological structure with self-control and sense for goodness, should start to develop intelligences of mind, emotions, and consciousness. Sometimes it is a long hard work. Today the presence of a well-educated psychologist (or more than one) in the school is a necessity. This person should help every pupil to develop a complete psychological structure but not just define difficult and dangerous parents or pupils for further judicial and medical treatment. Such a person should be provided with a certain level of protection by the country law. We should keep the human rights of children but also should keep the human rights of all society members, trying to prevent people from crimes that threaten lives physically or mentally, and every nation should have code of laws for it.

Societies’ relations are based on hierarchy. Every person who takes some level in the social hierarchy has the responsibility and obligation to keep the law and the human rights, according to the law, as well as morality, for keeping his purity and for giving an example to the others. Every person needs to know his rights and obligations in the way of studying the country law and the law of ethics.

The next division in societies is based on sex. We cannot want from women to be men, for it is ridiculous and catastrophic, considering their mentality and physiology. That is why women could take appropriate and comfortable positions in education, sciences, social administration, medicine, finances, office management, trade, textile industry, food processing industry, agriculture etc. There are plenty of professional positions for women, so there is no way for them to be insulted by any kind of discrimination. The modern extreme emancipation does not lead to any normality.

Despite of those so many levels of relations in the society, today there is something common between all members of a society – keeping of equal human rights. In Torah for first time in the history we see that all members in a society of a nation are called and treated like “brothers”, which we can define as a basis of the human rights, excluding the slavery, which in the Hebrew ancient society has the mildest possible form:

“Do not revenge and do not keep hatred toward the children of your nation; and love your fellowman like yourself!” [Vaykra (Leviticus) 19:18];

“Do not drop a gossip among your acquaintances; do not stand on the blood of your fellowman (in the meaning of “not require” or “insist”)!” [Vaykra (Leviticus) 19:16];

“And if your brother becomes poor and his hand is low before you, you shall uphold him: newcomer (foreign settler who has been accepted in this society) or native, and he shall live with you!

And do not take an interest from him and you shall be afraid from your God, and let your brother live with you!

And your money shall not give him with an interest and upon an interest shall not give him your food!” [Vaykra (Leviticus) 25:35-37];

“And Moses told the children of Gad and the children of Ruven: ‘Your brothers will go to a war, and will you sit here?” [Bamidbar (Numbers) 32:6];

“And I commanded your Judges, saying: ‘Listen among your brothers and judge fairly between the man, his brother, and the newcomer!’” [Dvarim (Deuteronomy) 1:16];

“Do not maltreat the hired worker – the poor and the needy, from your brothers or from your newcomers, who are on your land in your gates!” [Dvarim (Deuteronomy) 24:14].

The word in Hebrew for a fellowman has a wide range of meanings: a neighbor, friend, sibling, and everyone from our surrounding environment like our colleagues as well.

Let us explain with the words of the Bible the essence of the crime in the case of depriving someone of his own life, i.e., in the case of murder:

And surely your blood of your souls I will require. From the hand of every beast I will require it and from the hand of the man, from the hand of the brother of every man I will require the soul of Adam … who sheds human blood, by a man his blood to be shed, because by His own image God made the man!” [Genesis, 9:5,6].

It means that every human being has parts, given by Lord, our God, Himself, by His own image. The human soul is also given by Lord, which is different from the soul of the body, which is represented by the blood in the body of all blood-carrying types of animals, and in the human body too. The soul of body in Torah is called “Nefesh”, widely used in the text. The specific human soul, given by God, is called “Neshama” (represented by the word “nishmat” - breath) because, according to the text, it has been set in the first human being Adam by inbreathing:

“And the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living soul” [Torah, “In the Beginning” (Genesis), 2:7].

This way, it appears that the human being is granted with two gifts by God – body and Soul. The classification of the human being by the science does not contradict to this thesis: the contemporary human being is evolved more than any other creature on Earth – intellectually, emotionally, and biologically. It means that we are very precious for we are given with the best gifts, i.e., we are beloved favorite beings to God, to the power that creates everything. It means also that every crime against a human being is a crime against God, especially the murder. The murder is a crime against the evolution and against the existing of the human civilization.

The theme about the brotherhood in Torah continues with the special status of the family of Levi, that has been given with the responsibility of carrying the palace of meeting (and its supplements) with God, and with the responsibility of the service to God with all adjacent obligations:

“At that time Lord separated the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the Covenant of God, to stand before Lord, to serve Him, and to bless in His name till this day (considering the day of writing this text, but their service is ordered to continue for eternity: Dvarim (Deuteronomy) 18:5).

Therefore, Levi did not have any portion and inheritance with his brothers. Lord is his inheritance, as Lord your God talk to him” [Torah, Dvarim (Deuteronomy) 10:8,9];

“Because, him chose Lord, your God, from all tribes, to stay, to rule in the name of God – he and his sons for ever” [Dvarim (Deuteronomy) 18:5];

“And he should rule in the name of Lord, his God, as all his brothers from Levi, staying there before Lord” [Dvarim (Deuteronomy) 18:7];

“And wrote Moses this Torah, and he gave it to the priests – sons of Levi, bearing the ark of the Covenant of Lord – and to all the Elders of Israel” [Dvarim (Deuteronomy) 31:9].

The future king should be chosen among the “brothers” of all the twelve families:

“You should set upon you a king, who is chosen by Lord, your God; among your brothers you should set upon you a king, you should not bring to you a foreigner who is not your brother” [Dvarim (Deuteronomy) 17:15].

There are laws for theft and damages:

“You should not see your brother’s ox or his lamb, that is driven away, and pass by; for sure you should take them back to your brother!

And if your brother is not near you, or you do not know him, you should take it home to you, and it shall be with you until your brother seeks for it, and you should turn it back to him!

… And you shall do so with every loss of your brother, that is lost by him, that you found: you cannot pass it by!” [Dvarim (Deuteronomy) 17:1-3];

“If the theft be found in his hand (of the thief), whether it be ox, or ass, or sheep, he shall pay double;

If a man causes a field or vineyard to be consumed, and he sends his grazing animal to another field, of the best of his own field, and of the best of his own vineyard shall he pay;

If fire comes out and finds thorns, and consumes pile of grain, or non-harvested grain, or field, the kindler shall pay to the kindled (owner)” [Shemot (Exodus) 22: 3-5].

As we understand from these very few citations from Torah, in the ancient Israeli code of laws are examined all kinds of relations in the ancient society: moral, political, juridical, and financial. All those 613 commandments are gathered in one Code collection, called Torah, consisted of 5 books, written by Moses.

In the Code of Hammurabi we will find even laws for professionals: physicians, surgeons, barbers, builders, shepherds etc. This Code is also accessible publicly.

In the Hitties’ code there is also evidence for high level of judgement [11]:

“45. If anyone finds implements and gives them back to the owner, he (the owner) will reward him. But if (the finder) does not give them (back), he shall be considered a thief;

If anyone finds implements or an ox, a sheep, a horse, (or) an ass, he shall drive it back to its owner, and (the owner) will lead it away. But if he cannot find its owner, he shall secure witnesses. Afterwards (when) its owner finds it, he shall carry off in full what was lost. But if he does not secure witnesses, and afterwards its owner finds it (in his possession), he shall be considered a thief: he shall make threefold compensation;

105. If anyone sets fire to a field, and (the fire) catches a fruit-bearing vineyard, if a vine, an apple tree, a pear tree, or a plum tree burns, he shall pay 6 shekels of silver for each tree. He shall replant the planting. And he shall look to his house for it. If it is a slave, he shall pay 3 shekels of silver (for each tree)”.

Purity and speech

We must keep pure our language in the family and society from bad words and especially from curses – cynical or other. The bad language is just a big evil and can never fix up the problems in a society. We need to differentiate the bad language from the constructive critics. The constructive critics should be based on the truth and the hypocritical sophistry has nothing to do with it. The constructive critics is a thesis, based on a sequence of truly proven facts, situations, acts of behavior, speech, and documental submissions. There is no place for any fantasy. We can train our fantasy in the arts, creative design, dreams, fairytales etc., but never in the critics, judgement, or advocacy.

Purity and Love

Is there possible any co-existence between purity and love? Not everybody can love and even if somebody can, the human love very often disappears, especially when it has been mostly physical, empty, or unshared. On physical level the co-existence between purity and love is possible only in certain aspects, where any pervert habit or wish is absent. There is such a term like “sexual culture” and the purity is dependent on it. If the love concerns intimate relations, purity cannot exist on any other level, if the sexual culture is not suitable with the purity in physical aspect, further followed by the emotional, intellectual, and moral levels.

Love always bears transformation through the years, and the remnants after the hot steam of human love appeared to be only the real precious human values: trust, respect, understanding, appreciation, and dedication. The real love between two people, that endure even more than a lifetime, is based on these 5 values (qualities if you like). But to gain purity, we need another two qualities: physical purity and morality. Otherwise, those 5 qualities will have poor manifestation in both partners – they will be particular but still could persist.

There is also a noble kind of love, that does not need anything for its existing. The nature of such love is based on constant appreciation and admiration of valuable qualities, found in an existing living object. Such love (in persons with normally developed psychic structure) is not egocentric, she does not hurt anyone, she does not need even to be seen but everyone can see her. Such nobility forms another, higher layer of the human soul, that cannot bear any arrogance in the host.

 

Conclusion

In the family begins the primary social life. The relations in the family could be classified in 4 basic levels which could be multiplied with the number of sex, with age, and with a relative line. Family is the basic cell of the human society and it should be protected against any form of desecration.

The basic purity is represented by the hygiene and is connected to the body, food and to the habitation place.

The woman has a special place in the family and society, and it cannot be changed. Her anatomy, physiology and psychology must be protected by the law, science and medicine.

Young parents must be supported and educated because not everyone is ready to become a parent - emotionally and intellectually. This could be fixed by the law too.

The future of the human civilization depends on the morality and it cannot be avoided no matter what your wish is. Every level, relation, and quality of it should be reviewed, should be put into discussion, and examined with constructive scientific, historical, medical, and juridical critics, and should be defined officially before the society, and should be widely taught, including every level of the feeling of love too.

The purity in every society depends on 3 (three) factors:

-         Relevant jurisdiction for every kind of crime including the moral crime: the law should show no mercy to people who have no mercy, including psychopaths and radical fanatics;

-         Standard for individual behavior, based on official code in the society;

-         Purity of speech.

 

 

Reference

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