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Shaking hands
You’ve just been introduced to someone in the workplace, and you stretch out your hand for a polite handshake. Well, if the person you’ve just held your hand out to is a religious Jew, you may have just presented them with an awkward dilemma.
You see, orthodox Jews don’t believe in physical contact with unrelated members of the opposite gender. There are some religious Jews who will be lenient when it comes to shaking hands because it is only considered a polite courtesy, but many religious Jews are strict even when it comes to hand shaking. This often puts them in the uncomfortable position of refusing to shake hands with people.
Because it can be rude and even insulting to refuse to shake someone’s hand, sometime religious Jews will try to create a situation where they will not be presented with an outstretched hand (one popular method is to enter an unfamiliar situation with both hands full). But these methods don’t always work. I myself have created a little one sentence speech that I have had to use on several embarrassing occasions. It goes like this: “I’m sorry, but for religious reasons, I don’t shake hands with men.” I make sure to mention men specifically so if the person sees me then shake hands with another woman, they’ll understand I am not trying to snub them.
Even though most people are understanding and apologize after the little speech, it still is not a great way to start a new working relationship. So, if you read this article, and you’re then introduced to a religious Jew of the opposite gender, you can emphasize how culturally knowledgeable you are by not proffering your hand.
(Note: In upcoming articles I will try to discuss what the religious attitude is about interactions between men and women and why physical contact is prohibited)
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