- Family and Society
- Negia
Shaking Hands
Question
I am Jewish, live in Israel, and will soon visit my non-Jewish family in Belgium for a secular family celebration.
Being a religious woman in Israel, I never shake hands with men. But in Belgium it is part of the "etiquette" to shake hands with men. If I won’t take the offered hand, it will for sure embarrass the uncles, brothers, old friends...
Of course I will not offer my hand, but may I shake hands with those non-Jewish men - if they offer theirs, in order not to embarrass them?
Answer
Shalom,
A woman should not touch any man other than her husband. Therefore you should make every effort not to shake hands with men, and this itself is an important educational statement about the sanctity of the Jewish people and the way that we view the relationship between men and women.
However, in a case where there is no choice and it will be damaging then you may weakly shake a man's hand if it is offered as this has no sexual overtones, but this should only be in cases where there is no choice.
Kol Tuv,
Shaking Hands with Women
Rabbi Gideon Weitzman | 8 Tevet 5765

Bal Tshuva without Negia
Rabbi Chaim Tabasky | 27 Iyyar 5767
Shaking Hands
Rabbi Gideon Weitzman | 19 Tevet 5764

Massage
Rabbi Elchanan Lewis | Cheshvan 12, 5769
Rabbi Gideon Weitzman
Works at the Puah Institution of Fertility and medicine according to halacha.
Yichud at work
11 Adar I 5763
Nidah 7 clean days.
8 Tammuz 5763
Head Covering for Unmarried Women
18 Sivan 5763
Status of IVF Child
25 Cheshvan 5764

Non jew touch a mezuzah entering jewish home?
Rabbi David Sperling | Nisan 13, 5781

Popcorn at the cinema
Rabbi David Sperling | Nisan 8, 5773

Hishtadlus and Bitachon- Human Efforts & God's Intervention
Rabbi Ari Shvat | Kislev 20, 5778

Hishtadlus and Bitachon- Human Efforts & God's Intervention
Rabbi Ari Shvat | Kislev 20, 5778

money issues
Rabbi Yoel Lieberman | Iyyar 24, 5783

Troubled by Basic Questions: God, Torah, Running the World..
Rabbi Ari Shvat | Iyyar 27, 5783

Tying knots on Shabbos
Rabbi Yoel Lieberman | Iyyar 24, 5783
