Why don Hasidic men shake hands with women?
The question should actually be, "Why don’t Hasidic Jews shake hands with the opposite sex," since the women don’t shake hands with the men, either. The rule is for modesty and privacy, and is not limited to Hasidim. The non-Hasidic Orthodox Jews have this same rule also. It is observed with varying degrees of strictness, depending on the location and circumstances. In New York City and in Israel, most Orthodox Jews will not shake hands with the opposite sex at all. However, when I was in Amsterdam, I was told by fellow observant Jews that it is such an insult there not to shake somebody’s hand, that they do shake in business situations, but not among themselves or at the synagogue. (The same is true in much of Europe.) In general, Orthodox Jewish men and women do not shake hands or touch each other unless they are married, and then only in private. It is not that women are considered dirty or unclean as some people — even some Jews — wrongly think. Quite the opposite. It i
