When Abby visits the rabbi's apartment, she is scolded for touching him. Is it true that no woman but his wife can touch a rabbi? No jokes, please, unless they are genuinely funny.
shareYes it is true. Expecially for a pregnant woman, in fact they are considered impure.
shareAll rabbis are not the same, WarpedRecord. A Reform Rabbi is as liberal as an Episcopalian Priest and probably wouldn't mind being touched.
However, there are Orthodox rabbis who are conservative, but more conservative are Hassidic and Lubavitch sects of Judaism such as you may see in New York. In Hassidim there isn't really misogyny but rather an ideal of 'purity' which involved non-related men and women to have no physical proximity. The same is true in the conservative form of Islam.
Thanks for the context, vince-vollaju! It makes sense that rabbis representing more conservative branches of Judaism would frown on being touched by anyone who is not related, regardless of the gender.
shareIt's not only the thing with her being a woman, although according to judaism, women are considered generally less pure and worse then men (menstruation issues, all the" being made of Adam's rib, guilty of eating the forbidden fruit and thus condemned to being men's servants" hogwash). According to the old testament texts, Jews are the chosen nation (so apparently the other nations must be rejected) they and their customs are the only right ones, and it it stated clearly a few times, that Jews shouldn't mix up with others, make friends with them, accept them as equals, even if they would like to convert. There's none such option as conversion, because it's a matter of race and no one can change a race once he's born. Other nations are to become servants or be annihilated, because according to the Old Testament, chosen nation and Judaism clubs are closed to new members.
So either you're a man or a woman outside the race and religion (or both), you're apparently uncircumcised/probably menstruating and maybe a pork eater, and this means you're unclean and disgusting.
Oy vey! Well, I guess it's better for her sake not to have physical contact with a man with those attitudes then.
shareHaludek,
I don't know if you're misinformed, are trying to incite hatred, or just have a very vivid imagination, but you are completely incorrect. I consider myself an agnostic but I grew up in an orthodox Jewish household. For a man not to touch a woman is a custom, not a law from the old testament, and it refers to a man touching any woman including Jewish women. It has nothing to do with impurity and is simply meant to prevent promiscuity. Therefore a single or married man should also not be alone in a room with a member of the opposite sex. After a man is married he can touch only his wife or immediate family members.
These customs originated prior to the introduction of the handshake, which is formal and not at all intimate. But since the custom was already in place, many religious Jews preclude handshaking, but many realize they were trying to prevent intimacy and allow the handshake. Yet others find a middle ground; they will not offer their hand to a woman but if she offers her hand, rather than embarrass her, they will accept it.
Either way, the reaction in the film was completely over the top. A Rabbi who was accidentally touched by a woman would not freak out, crying and screaming. The actor was wearing a fake beard and was misinformed as to the customs.
Your statement about Jews and converts is also ridiculous. In the Book of Ruth, Ruth herself converts to Judaism and her grandson is King David, considered to be the greatest Jewish King – directly descended from converts. True; Jews do dissuade people from converting. Not because they don’t allow it, but because it is taken so seriously that once someone converts they are considered fully Jewish and even if they convert back they will forever still be considered Jewish.
There have been people as far back as the middle ages to as recently as the 20th century who claimed Jews used Christian blood in their Passover Matzah. Regardless of the fact that Jews are forbidden to ingest any kind of blood, people believed this tripe and thousands of Jews were killed in retaliatory pogroms. So do some research before making inane statements and when reading such, consider the source before taking this as fact.
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I'd wondered about that myself. How in the heck does he manage to get through life with only his wife touching him anyhow?! Surely he sees a doctor, a dentist, a barber? He surely walks down a street (people bump into us), buys things in stores (handing change, items etc.)
Does his wife cut his hair for him, sew him up if he needs stitches?!
"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."
It's quite bizarre, isn't it? Oh well, every faith has its unusual little beliefs and rituals, as do non-faiths.
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But what if the priest already touched me... :-)
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