Chapter 1: What is the context of discussing yoga in this episode?
Most of these I've had the opportunity to go through the and to speak to about it and therefore come to what I think is a reasonable conclusion. This is going to be an exception. Today I'm doing a topic that when I try to speak to most of them aren't really familiar with what it is that I'm speaking about and therefore are not able to issue a psalm on it.
So what I'm presenting here is completely something that's a possibility. that I think requires further study, and I certainly invite anyone who has ideas or has thoughts about this to get back to me on this.
Chapter 2: Why is yoga becoming a common practice in exercise programs?
This is not related to camp per se, it's just related to what seems to be fairly common practice. In any serious exercise program that a person embarks on nowadays, there will almost always be a yoga component. It struck me to think about when I tried this, I was doing an exercise program, And I was trying to do the yoga components. Didn't last long.
Chapter 3: What is the connection between yoga and Avodah Zarah?
I almost killed myself. But aside from the fact that I almost landed on my head and killed myself. When they do yoga, it struck me as odd that they tell you, okay, now we are doing sun salutations. Now we are doing Ashtanga, Namaste. I don't know all these things.
Chapter 4: How does yoga relate to meditative and spiritual practices?
I don't know what the words mean. But if you do a little bit of research, not all that much research, you'll discover that that every single thing in yoga comes straight from Avodah Zarah. It's from Hinduism, from Buddhism, and from these types of religions.
There is some debate as to whether yoga preceded the religions or the religions preceded yoga, but there's definitely a very, very strong association between them.
Chapter 5: What are the halachic concerns surrounding yoga?
And therefore, yoga is understood in any place that does yoga in the world today, pretty much, It's understood to be a continuation of the Indian tradition, and it's more than physical exercises. It's a meditative and spiritual type of exercise where one connects the body, the soul, and yoga means unity, where they unify everything in the connection to something greater.
That is true of every yoga class. Now, there are some yoga classes that you'll find where in the yoga studio they'll have an actual statue that they bow to at the beginning and end of the class.
Chapter 6: How do different opinions on yoga among Rabbanim affect its practice?
Most of the time, I would guess, in Brooklyn, the five towns, Teaneck, those types of areas where it's mostly from people doing yoga. They don't actually have a little gechka in the room. But all of the moves are moves that originated in Avodah Zarah. And all the names that they call it are Avodah Zarah names. Now, it is certainly a very healthy thing to do.
Chapter 7: What are the implications of using names associated with Avodah Zarah in yoga?
It's certainly physically healthy, stretching, balance. There's a reason that people do it. You feel like you're not really moving all that much, but somehow you're sweating a lot. It's a very unique kind of exercise. Most people today practice it purely as part of a normal exercise routine, at least in America, and don't have deep kavanos for Avodah Zarah.
Chapter 8: What conclusions can be drawn about the practice of yoga in Jewish communities?
But again, almost all yoga classes include these, at the very least, some sort of chanting, something like that, where there's some sort of connection, some sort of meditative connection. And there are still people today who use it as a form of idolatrous worship.
And in fact, there have been churches and mosques that have banned yoga from their premises because they say that the churches say we're here for our religion, not for some other religion. That's not what these premises are for. There's even been some lawsuits in California when they wanted to introduce as part of the phys ed requirements in some of the public schools a yoga component
So there were lawsuits about separation of church and state, that you're bringing something religious into the schools and that they shouldn't do it. And they had to change all the names of all the moves in order to make it legal. Now, as with many spiritual experiences, Jews tend to gravitate toward these things.
And a little research online shows that there is even yoga minyanim out there, where yoga stretches and liturgy connect with each other as a way of meditating and connecting. to the Almighty. And again, it's very difficult to get a Pesach on this issue because most of the Rabbanim that you ask about yoga don't know what it is. They'll say, oh, it's just exercise. But what? They use those words?
They use those exact poses? People have no idea what it is. So I just want to suggest what the halachic issues might be. And again, it may be completely mutter. I just don't know. I just don't know why. The first issue and the most major issue is Chukas Hagayim. that there is an issue in the Torah, that we're not allowed to go, we're not allowed to follow the Chukos of the Goyim.
Now, what exactly does that include, to go on the Chukos of the Goyim? So it's a fundamental Machlokos Rishonim. It's also, that there are two categories of Chukos Akum. One category is things that Goyim do for the purpose of idolatry.
And the second category is customs that are nonsensical, even if the origins of the customs are not idolatrous, but they're just something that has no inherent meaning, so we're not supposed to do something that Goyim do, period, even if it has nothing to do with Avodah Zarah. That's the sheet of Tosos. The Ran and the Marik disagree.
The Ran, in his commentary to Avodah Zarah and in his commentary to Sanhedrin, and the Ma'arik, in Shuvus Ma'arik, both disagree with Tulsus and say that any custom that's rooted in idolatrous practice, that's certainly chukas ha-gayim, but something that's just stam, something that doesn't have any real meaning, are not included in the Yisr.
However, says the Iran, and this is what the Ma'arik, and this is what the Ramah quotes, the more lenient sheet of the Ma'arik, the Ramah quotes in Yardea, simen kuf ayin chasif alif, that anything that has no logical reason, there's no reasonable explanation as to why it is that people are doing this, we have to assume has its roots in Avodah Zarah unless we can prove otherwise.
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