Before people keep on dogging on Yacov's posts I have a few things to say....
1) This is for Jews. No one is saying for it to be banned for Gentiles.So if you're a Gentile don't worry about it.
2) Jewish Men should not touch women and Jewish women should not touch men period!! No if or buts! That's the way things are! Only family can hug (mother-son, sister-brother) hug, shake hands etc... And only a husband and wife can touch when she is not niddah.
This post and the rest are according to RELIGIOUS Judaism!! That's the way things are. No interdancing and no touching. I'm sorry if it bothers people, but that's the way the religious Jewish lifestyle is.
Many MANY religious Jews are against touching the opposite gender (like...CHABAD, Breslov etc..) Opting to not even shake a hand. So this small thread is not the end of the world.
Look at religious Orthodox Jews...when do they touch people of the opposite gender? They don't and they are against it except to save a life.
And it's hypothetical! It's not going to be really be banned, he is just asking about what ethics we should use in our lives!!!! I am sick of every time a thread like this goes up everyone starts dogging on Yacov, acting like this is a serious thread, when it's an opinion poll.
And before people start saying "but it makes us look bad"...1. Since when do we care. 2. Again this is a HYPOTHETICAL post. 3. Not everyone agrees with everything individual JTFers think. Posts like these are to discuss personal opinions on religious Jewish ethics, so we can agree to disagree. I'm sorry but people act like just because Yacov puts a thread like this, it's going to be the end of the universe. A simple yes or no answer and a polite explanation will do.
1-No one is going to really make it a law
2- No one asked Chaim to make it a law on the forum. I don't know where people got the idea that "Chaim would not approve" NO ONE is asking him to ban "touching"
3-It's not a real thread, it's an OPINION poll.
NO WHERE does Yacov mention how it should become a law in Israel etc. Again it's just an opinion poll!
Please excuse my tone.
This is my final word on the matter. Again I apologize. In case anyone is upset about my response,I am sorry but I will not discuss it here further. Anyone feel free to contact an Admin or someone about it.
I just had to get it off my chest.
I would never join any movement that wanted to impose anything about my religion down my throat. If JTF suddenly turned around and did this, I would feel betrayed and withdraw myself from here.
Like I said, I love Judaism.. I love Torah..I love the infinte wisdom of the Rabbis...But I despise it when a religious Jew tells any less religious Jew that everything he/she does is a sin and that they will DIE or NEVER come back in the world to come if they don't become religious like them...
and I will repeat..I respect and look up to those who CHOOSE for themselves to be shomer negia..I really have to hand it to them for following the IDEAL thing...It is a beautiful thing.
And it's not just shomer negia..it's shomer shabbat, shomer kashrut, those who wish to make Aliya to Israel, wear certain clothes, etc..I have a lot of respect for anyone who does that..Please, yaacov, and whomever here is a firebrand Jew, WATCH IT with these banning posts! YOu are in a way saying that people like me will die, GD forbid, if I touch a girl lovingly even if it means kissing her on the cheek...man, if that's the case, I might as well have sex with her, Gd forbid, before I marry her!
Adam and Eve sinned because Gd only said, "Don't eat from that tree." and then the serpeant tempted them by saying, "Touch it, see? nothing happened." My point in this is that Judaism isn't a theology that assumes that kissing is equally as bad as sex...The Rabbis were much much smarter than that! That simply kissing or touching was a thing that can lead to sex in most human beings...but the magic word is "CAN" lead to such things...My respect to those who "CAN" pull that off.
Chaim would never allow this either...nor woudl any Israeli...any movement in ISrael who attempted to do this would be the laughing stock of the nation. I can assure you of that. but i have no problem with Chaim's view that he woudl want an ideal Torah abiding nation which might include citizens, themselves, making the choice of being shomer negia, rather than being forced to do so like Yaacov implies.