reasons for religious practices (was Re: penile cancer)

[Guest guest]

> > that once your house gets a little damp in it, you're

> > supposed to burn it down, for example. OK, I'm sure that's

> > not how it's done anymore, but it's in there somewhere.

>

> At the risk of opening my big mouth again, I think what you are

> referring to isn't damp, but leprosy.

Well, no, it was definitely mold and mildew. Apparently, the

scientists had narrowed down the passover part of it (ie killing the

first born son of the Egyptians) to a couple of things, one of which

was that Egyptian tradition was to feed the firstborn son as much as

he wanted and only then allow the other children to eat. So as the

other plagues has already happened and the crop had been mostly

destroyed by hail, then locusts, so it was probably brought in too

early and a bit damp, it would have started developing mold. Some

sorts of mold are toxic if consumed in large amounts, therefore the

Egyptian sons died, while the Jews were sharing their meagre portions

equally. Anyway, it was only a theory.

Phyllis