Mezuza Disease
When I first read this article, I thought to myself - "oh man, there goes the galut again." Then I looked up this Conservative Rabbi - he's from Herzliya. Ouch. And is also into ordaining Gay rabbis and performing "commitment" (marriage) ceremonies for them. Oof. And teaches a mishna study group in memory of Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin.
Well, it seems like the recently retired rabbi has a new (and ironic) halachic policy - look, but don't touch.
Rabbi rules against kissing mezuzot
Conservative rabbi issues ruling stating that kissing mezuzot must be avoided in order not to contract an infectious disease
Neta Sela - ynet
A Conservative rabbi has recently ruled that kissing mezuzot should be avoided, in order to avoid the risk of contracting an infectious disease.
Rabbi Simcha Roth issued the ruling after he was approached by members of his congregation who expressed concern over the possibility that kissing a mezuzah which has been kissed by other people may constitute a health hazard.
Roth stressed that kissing mezuzot should be particularly avoided in public places and hospitals, where the risk is even greater.
The mitzvah of affixing a mezuzah to the doorpost appears in the Bible, Deuteronomy 11:20: "And thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of thy house, and upon thy gates." The mitzvah aims at reminding the Jew of the mitzvot of the Torah upon entering his home. According to the Conservative Movement, the mezuzah also reminds the inhabitants of the house that God protects them at all times.
Rabbi Roth explained that in both cases, the mezuzah’s role is to be looked at, not touched or kissed. He said that the custom of kissing the mezuzah has developed in later years with the goal of giving the observant Jew a sense of intimacy with his God.
According to Rabbi Roth, "The only mitzvah related to the mezuzah is to affix it to the doorpost and to check it to make sure it is not damaged. The other customs, such as touching or kissing it, are merely traditions and not mitzvot from the Torah.
"Therefore, in such cases it is not only permitted, but even recommended, to avoid kissing the mezuzah."
Labels: Malkah
posted by Pinchas @ 12:30 AM
10 Comments:
At August 8, 2007 at 7:33 AM ,
Anonymous said...
Malkah-
Curious what your position is on mohels with herpes performing metzizah b'peh.
Is kissing the mezzuzah halachah or custom? If there is a legitimate public health concern the rabbi is correct that avoiding the spread of illness should trump a customary kiss. Seems like there are a lot of ifs. But I don't see how his position on commitment ceremonies of Rabin has anything to do with it.
At August 8, 2007 at 8:12 AM ,
Pinchas said...
Well is there a legitimate public health concern? How would it be any worse than, oh, holding on to a bar in a NYC Subway! Everything has germs. That's what soap and hot water are for. There are doctors that told me if you are too crazy about avioding germs it could actually be worse for your health as the body doesn't develop the proper resistance to germs. In any case, a word to the wise: Mysophobia.
At August 8, 2007 at 11:17 AM ,
Malkah said...
Dear anonymous (for the record, I wish people wouldn't post anonymously - kind of a cop out),
Are you REALLY asking me what my position is on mohels with herpes (which is particularly contractable from the mouth) potentially passing on their disease to newly circumcized babies? Gee, I'll have to think about it.
Is your concern mezuza herpes? Getting chlamydia from holding the yad during Torah reading?
But seriously, how are we kissing our mezuzas that this is such a concern? Do you frequently slap drool on the mezuza? Encounter wet mezuzas? I don't know, but I can't recall ever contracting an illness after a day in which I walked through an inordinate number of doors.
This rabbi is obviously into rocking the boat. Which is fine, I guess, but the point is - I think his "expertise" in issuing this psak (notice he said that people should be encouraged NOT to kiss mezuzas - he didn't say "you don't have to if you feel uncomfortable") comes more from his interest in shaking things up and conducting reforms than from his medical knowledge. I know some REAL medical experts from the Orthodox world, and I can't recall anyone making any claims about the cooty-filled nature of our doorposts.
If you want to avoid contracting illness, swab your coins and telephones with alcohol before each use, don't shake hands at business dealings, and don't let your kids play in sandboxes. Let's be realistic about the disease-potential of our beautiful mezuzas, and not run screaming from our traditions because of the suppositions of a lone Conservative rabbi.
At August 8, 2007 at 11:42 AM ,
Pinchas said...
The more I think about it... to further demonstrate the stupidity of this logic - why isn't the Rabbi concerned about touching the doorknob used to open the door that you are walking through while avoiding kissing the mezuzah? I guess it could be because the doorknob has nothing to do with G-d...
At August 8, 2007 at 11:18 PM ,
Anonymous said...
well you don't put your hand to your mouth after touching the doorknob.
At August 9, 2007 at 4:10 AM ,
Pinchas said...
anonymous,
I beg to differ. Over the course of a day a person's hand probably touches his lips, eyes, ears, and nose hundreds of time. No one is dying or getting sick from being polite when they yawn. This is a classic case of people thinking too hard.
At August 10, 2007 at 10:39 AM ,
Anonymous said...
I think you can just get rid of the option to leave anonymous comments.
Or you could just not post/delete them. That's what they do in the comments section on Arutz 7.
At August 10, 2007 at 10:44 AM ,
Anonymous said...
"Protections for anonymous speech are vital to democratic discourse. Allowing dissenters to shield their identities frees them to express critical, minority views . . . Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority. . . . It thus exemplifies the purpose behind the Bill of Rights, and of the First Amendment in particular: to protect unpopular individuals from retaliation . . . at the hand of an intolerant society."
McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission (1995)
Anonymous speech is a First Amendment freedom (in the goldene medina of the galut at least).
At August 14, 2007 at 1:17 PM ,
Malkah said...
How noble and legalistic. Before you begin arranging your pro-bono prosecutorial counsel, let's get one thing straight.
No one's going to trample your "inalienable" rights here. That doesn't mean I have to think that continually posting without committing to a name for yourself isn't lame. Do what you want - I'm entitled to my opinion as well - I'm pretty sure it's guaranteed in the Constitution. See, there's this thing called the First Amendment....
Signed,
MALKAH
At August 15, 2007 at 12:37 PM ,
Melissa said...
I'm one of the anonymous posters, but there's at least one other one on this comment thread alone (and possibly more).
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