Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every living thing that moves on the earth.
(Parshah Bereshit/Genesis 1:28)
Digital fabrication is a type of manufacturing process where the machine used is controlled by a computer.
Professor Giuseppe Amoruso
From Rapid Prototyping with 3D printers to Building Artificial Hearts with Focused Rotary Jet Spinning, the innovation of digital fabrication is recent and profound.
Largely beginning with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) patents related to computer-controlled milling in the 1950s, the last several decades have been bounding with developments in automated, computer-aided, manufacturing processes.
In fact, nearly every product in the consumer and industrial markets are in some way produced through the use of digital fabrication.
“Pervasive fabrication technologies—including 3D printing, computer-controlled milling, and robotic assembly—are increasingly accessible and broadly applied. The precision of computer control makes high upfront investments in tooling unnecessary. Human ingenuity harnessing pervasive fabrication technologies provides flexibility and enables shorter cycles of production runs. Accelerating advancements in digital fabrication are driving industry initiatives….”
F. Michahelles, N. Peek and S. Mayer
Traditional Judaism and its adherents have had a complicated, often adverse, relationship with embracing the zeitgeist for over 3000 years.
Like most topics in Judaism there is a great variety of opinion and very little consensus.
Acceptance of modern technology is no exception.
With digital fabrication having such a rapid and extensive impact on the world, how has Judaism – humanity’s oldest monotheistic legal tradition – reacted?
Meet the 3D Printed Kippah
Craig Kaplan is an associate professor in the Computer Graphics Lab at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.
In 2014, in the midst of the Consumer 3D printing Hype of the 2010s, he released the designs for his 3D printed kippah.
What is a Kippah?
“Kippah (literally: dome) is the Hebrew word for skullcap, also referred to in Yiddish as a yarmulke, or less frequently as a koppel. Jewish law requires men to cover their heads as a sign of respect and reverence for G‑d when praying, studying Torah, saying a blessing or entering a synagogue.”
Lorne Rozovsky, Expert in Medical Law and Inquisitive Jew
Professor Kaplan discusses the legality of his digitally fabricated plastic head coverings on his website:
“I was quite happy with the results. They fit well, were reasonably thin and pliable, and were visually interesting. But were they kosher? I had no idea if there were laws dictating the design of kippahs. I consulted two learned sources: The Beis, a Torah school in London, and Dr. Mordecai Zeitz, the Rabbi at the school and synagogue to which my family belonged when I was young. Luckily, the experts agree: a kippah is any kind of visible, deliberate head covering, with no restriction on materials or proportion of the head covered. In fact, Rabbi Zeitz even said “a removable hairpiece can serve as a head covering”. Of course, this last option raises a philosophical conundrum. The goal of a hairpiece is to be undetectable. So would only a bad hairpiece be a legal kippah? Conversely, if you see a man in synagogue not obviously wearing his kippah, can you conclude that he’s definitely wearing a toupée?”
What is Kosher?
“The Hebrew word “kosher” (כָּשֵׁר) literally means “fit.” It has come to refer more broadly to anything that is “above board” or “legit.” The laws of kosher define the foods that are fit for consumption for a Jew.”
Chabad.org
Using Digital Fabrication to Model Jewish Law
Judaism is often described as a religion and, especially in academic contexts, as a belief-system.
Those descriptors are true albeit grossly imprecise and usually misleading.
It is more instructive to understand Judaism as a comprehensive legal tradition constituted by the Torah.
What is the Torah?
Torah means Instruction.
“The word “Torah” is a tricky one, because it can mean different things in different contexts. In its most limited sense, “Torah” refers to the Five Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. But the word “Torah” can also be used to refer to the entire Jewish bible (the body of scripture known to non-Jews as the Old Testament and to Jews as the Tanakh or Written Torah), or in its broadest sense, to the whole body of Jewish law and teachings.” – Jewfaq.org
Rabbi Ari Kellerman is a teacher at the Robert M. Beren Academy, a Jewish High School in Houston, TX.
In 2015, he developed a class he calls 3D Halacha.
about his class in the Jewish Herald-Voice in 2015.
What is Halakha?
“The root of the Hebrew term used to refer to Jewish law, halakhah, means “go” or “walk.” Halakhah, then, is the “way” a Jew is directed to behave in every aspect of life, encompassing civil, criminal and religious law.”
Myjewishlearning.org
Rabbi Kellerman discussed the scope of 3D Halacha in course materials published online:
“3D design is a technology on the rise that has immense, untapped potential for bringing religious artifacts to life. Color illustrations were once our best teaching tool for these religious artifacts; we can now easily design them on computers and print them into models which students can hold in their hands and manipulate at a low cost to schools. In this high school Judaic elective course, 15 students studied various units of spatially-related Halacha and Mishnah while concurrently learning 3D design software. Students used the software to create models of the texts they studied and they manipulated halachic cases in 3 dimensions. This course has proven to effectively engage students in Jewish law in a brand new way, with the side benefit of teaching our 21st century students the marketable skill of 3D design.”
Sanctifying Digital Fabrication
While many Jews fear the temptations and dangers presented by modern technology, especially on the internet, this rational hesitation does not seem to apply to digital fabrication.
There is a widely accepted principal in Jewish Thought that everything in Creation was endowed with the potential to be used for a holy purpose, that all things have their proper use in the service of G-D.
References
J. H., By, -, & Headapohl, J. (2017, March 29). 3D printing: A new technological frontier.
The Detroit Jewish News. Retrieved February 22, 2023, from https://thejewishnews.com/2014/11/03/3d-printing-a-new-technological-frontier/
Amoruso, G. (1AD, January 1). Handbook of Research on Visual Computing and Emerging Geometrical Design Tools (2 volumes). IGI Global. Retrieved February 22, 2023, from https://www.igi-global.com/book/handbook-research-visual-computing-emerging/141947#table-of-contents
Gerstenfeld, M., & Wyler, A. (n.d.). Technology and Jewish life . Retrieved February 23, 2023, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/25834670.pdf
Katz, L. (2014, October 21). The yarmulke comes to 3-D printing. NPR. Retrieved February 22, 2023, from https://www.npr.org/sections/theprotojournalist/2014/10/21/356878602/the-yarmulke-comes-to-3-d-printing
The Maker Movement & Jewish EdTech. Jewish Funders Network. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22, 2023, from https://www.jfunders.org/the_maker_movement_jewish_edtech
Manning, R. (n.d.). Halachic and HASHKAFIC issues in contemporary society. Retrieved February 23, 2023, from https://www.ouisrael.org/content/uploads/2020/08/r-manning-aug-19-2020.pdf
Michahelles, F., Peek, N., & Mayer, S. (2021). Pervasive fabrication: Making anything, anywhere. IEEE Pervasive Computing, 20(1), 7–8. https://doi.org/10.1109/mprv.2021.3061864
Students using technology to model Jewish law. Jewish Herald-Voice. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22, 2023, from https://jhvonline.com/students-using-technology-to-model-jewish-law-p19896-96.htm
Torah. Torah – Judaism 101 (JewFAQ). (n.d.). Retrieved February 22, 2023, from https://www.jewfaq.org/torah
Tzvi. (2021, December 19). Judaism and Modern Technology. Aish.com. Retrieved February 22, 2023, from https://aish.com/48949821/
Weinglass, S. (2019, April 18). After Israeli breakthrough: The Ethics of a 3D-printed heart. The Times of Israel. Retrieved February 22, 2023, from https://www.timesofisrael.com/after-israeli-success-ethical-concerns-bleed-into-hopes-for-3d-printed-organs/
What is a kippah (yarmulke)? – chabad.org. (n.d.). Retrieved February 23, 2023, from https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/607780/jewish/What-Is-a-Kippah-Yarmulke.htm
What is kosher? – chabad.org. (n.d.). Retrieved February 23, 2023, from https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/113425/jewish/What-Is-Kosher.htm
www.ETHealthworld.com. (2022, July 18). Researchers find fabrication of artificial heart for transplant – et healthworld. ETHealthworld.com. Retrieved February 22, 2023, from https://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/medical-devices/researchers-find-fabrication-of-artificial-heart-for-transplant/92950960