As the High Holidays near, some religious Jews are considering an unusual question: Are swords like jewelry?
In the time of the Talmud, one stream of rabbinic thought considered swords to be an adornment — and thus permissible to carry in a synagogue on the Sabbath and holidays. After a year in which a dozen people were gunned down while davening in synagogues in Pittsburgh and Poway, Calif., some rabbis are now arguing that guns, like swords, should be allowed under the "adornment" argument, especially in shuls too small to afford security guards.
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