Why does God prohibit random stuff?

[Kidlicious]

If you love me then why do you keep ****posting in spite of my requests that you stop?

I'm keeping it on the front page for you.

[Egbert]

Because he really loves you. It's like a schoolyard crush.

[OneFootInTheGrave]

[OneFootInTheGrave]

He could have warned his chosen people about the dangers of emigrating to Europe ... maybe instead of mixed fabrics?

Mixed fabrics was allegedly "do not dress up as your enemies", so could be put under "identity" umbrella which was likely important enough to get a mention at the time.

[Aeson]

I have trouble accepting that all the enemies always wore mixed fabrics.

(I always assumed it was to combat high fashion, which is without a doubt the greatest enemy of any patriarchal society.)

[The Mad Monk]

It was symbolic; as God's chosen people, they weren't supposed to "mix" with the other nations of the world. This symbolism was repeated in several other instances, but I don't remember the specifics.

[Proteus_MST]

It was symbolic; as God's chosen people, they weren't supposed to "mix" with the other nations of the world. This symbolism was repeated in several other instances, but I don't remember the specifics.

Jewish Shatnez Testers will strongly disagree

[The Mad Monk]

Even the most learned of rabbinical scholars are uncertain about the underlying reason for the laws. Some trace their history back to the biblical story of Cain and Abel -- saying that joining these two opposing forces allow powers to exert destructive forces on the world -- while others contend that the wearing of shatnez has a generally negative spiritual effect, a sort of Jewish version of bad karma.

In his 1988 pamphlet ''A Guide to Shatnez,'' Rabbi Dovid Loebenstein wrote: ''There is a body of laws whose rationale the human mind can appreciate. On the other end of the spectrum, there is a smaller body of statutes not given to rational explanation.''

While shatnez falls into the latter category, Rabbi Loebenstein emphasized that it was an important act of faith to observe the practice. That is where testers like Rabbi Aronovitch come in.

Uncertainty is not Strong Disagreement.

That said, I am repeating what I learned from a Christian perspective, which tends to find strong parallels between ancient Israel and the church.

[Proteus_MST]

Uncertainty is not Strong Disagreement.

...

But thats what Rabbinical scholars say ...
Shatnez Testers, which are actually people who travel around and earn a living by examining clothes in order to tell jews whether their clothes are made of mixed fabric or not, surely will have a stronger opinion in favor of god actually meaning it literally, when he talks about mixed fabrics

[The Mad Monk]

Of course it was meant literally, that doesn't mean there can't be a symbolic component to it.