1) A male may not extend his hand to shake the hand of a female, even though this is commonly done in the non-Jewish world as a courteous way of greeting and not for purposes of love, pleasure or closeness.
If the female sticks out her hand first, it is incumbent on the male to do everything in his power, in a tactful way, to avoid shaking her hand in return. (See Igros Moshe Even HaEzer Vol. 1 end of Siman 56 where Rav Moshe Feinstein Zatzal bemoans the fact that many people are misguidedly not stringent with this. See Midrash Rabbah Parshas Bo Parsha 16:2 that a male should never touch a female that isn't his for any reason, and one who does so brings death upon himself R"L. )
2) Just as it's prohibited to touch a female directly on her skin, so too it's prohibited to touch her through her clothing.
Thus, shaking her gloved hand, placing your arm around her clothed shoulder or similar is prohibited. (See Sefer Chasidim Siman 1090)
Moreover, standing very close to a female on a crowded bus or in a crowd to the point that he senses her touching him or distinctly feels himself touching her is prohibited. (See Shu"t Chelkas Yaakov Vol. 2 Siman 14)
If there is no other option available and one finds himself on a crowded bus or in another similar situation, if it isn't inevitable that he will feel her touching him or vice versa, he can remain there. (See Igros Moshe Even HaEzer Vol. 2 Siman 14)
However, if a person knows himself and his nature, and he knows that being in such a situation will lead him to have impure thoughts, he must avoid going on such a bus unless absolutely necessary. (ibid.)
If a person knows that being in the aforementioned situation will inevitably lead him beyond impure thoughts (physical arousal etc.) he is prohibited from riding that bus, even if that's the only way he has to get to work or to another necessary destination. (ibid. Rav Moshe Zatzal adds that if someone's nature is Chas V'shalom like this it is due to emptiness, and he is required to work on himself, to add more Torah study to his day to change his nature.)
QUESTION & ANSWER CORNER
Reader Submitted Questions of interest on topics related to Halachos we covered, as well as other interesting topic and Answers.
These Q&A are taken from the Q & A pages on the Halacha For Today website.
Although the answers I give to questions are taken directly from the Sifrei HaPoskim, and aren't my own, they are still for study purposes only, NOT for Psak Halacha.
Questions can be emailed to HalachaForToday@Gmail.com
Reader's Question:
Is there a halacha to make a sedua when one reaches the age of 60? If yes is it considered a seduas mitzvah? What are the minhagim regarding this?
Answer:
The Talmud (Moed Katan 28a) relates that Rav Yosef made a feast when he reached the age of 60, as he was spared from Kares, which takes place usually before one reaches 60.
The Pri Megadim, Mishbetzos Zahav, Siman 444:9 cites a Chavos Yair that one should make a feast (and say SheHechiyanu) upon reaching the age of 70, which is a complete lifetime, and considers this a Seudas Mitzvah.
Many people do indeed mark these milestones with Seudos.
CHIZUK CORNER
This section is dedicated L'Ilui Nishmas the late Telzer Rosh Yeshiva , HaRav Chaim Yaakov ben Rav Binyomin Moshe Stein Zatzal.
We will B'Ezras Hashem post here each day a short inspirational thought to help us all improve our lives and grow in our service of our Father in heaven, HaKadosh Baruch Hu.
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THANK YOU AND תזכו למצות!
זכר צדיק וקדוש לברכה
Question:
Why did Hashem create bacteria which cause disease to man? Which means, why did Hashem create disease?
Answer by Harav Avigdor Miller Zatzal:
Rashi explains in one place, disease comes for a very important purpose. There's a bigger sickness that disease can overcome; that sickness is arrogance. Hagaavo Rosh Kol Chatos, the worst of all disease is arrogance, when people are conceited. But when a person comes down with a heavy cold, he's not arrogant anymore. His chest is heavy, he's coughing, he can't sleep at night, his mucous passages are irritated, it feels terrible, he's not arrogant anymore.
A sick man is not a Baal Gavaah, Rashi says that, and the purpose of illness is to tame your arrogance. That's a very important lesson. So therefore when a man is lying sick in bed, it states that the Shechina comes down and rests on him. Why does the Shechina rest on a sick man's head? Because Hakadosh Baruch Hu likes humble people. At that time you're humble, you're broken. Oh, Hashem says, Ani Es Dakoh, I am with the broken man. But when you're healthy and everything is going well, you're cocky, you're arrogant, you have to know that's a bigger illness. And now come along the nice bacteria, and they help you out to take away your arrogance.
By the way, bacteria makes all the good things in life. Without bacteria you couldn't eat, in our stomachs we have bacteria to help us digest the food. Bacteria makes cream, otherwise it would never turn into cream. Bacteria causes everything to happen in this world. You'd be surprised, bacteria causes food to grow out of the ground. Bacteria are one of the most important functions in all the physical things that take place in the world.
But those bacteria that cause us to be deprived of arrogance are among the most beneficial of all of them.
Important Numbers
