A clandestine undertaking on behalf of Israel, the Jets and the Jews.

 
AidelMaidel

AidelMaidel is currently the hot Orthodox Jewish blog. It's a good and worthwhile read. Since she is not currently providing an e-mail address and I disagree with two statements in her blog, I am commenting here:

First, her latest post, about the death of her uncle, states that her "husband told me that [when her uncle was near death] I could not touch him, as he was a "gosios" (sp?), someone who is near death and apparently touching them is a succanah [danger] for both him and myself."

I may be wrong, but believe this is inaccurate. My understanding has been that under Jewish Law a goses (someone who has less than three days to live) should not be touched because that would shorten the life of the goses, not unlike how touching a flickering flame would put it out. However, touching in a comforting manner would seem to be inapplicable. Also, I am not aware of the belief that touching a goses is a danger to oneself.

Second, in a post last week, AidelMaidel wrote about observant Jews who act in improper ways, and wondered how such behavior could be explained to non-Jews and non-observant Jews. Her rabbi, she said "always says that if you take the worst 5% of chasidim/frum jews and compare them to the best 5% of the rest of the world, the chasidim/frum jews are still coming out ahead. I know it sounds like grandstanding but it's the best answer I can come up with at the moment."

I don't think that's a healthy view, and I don't think many observant Jews believe it. To the extent that they do, they shouldn't. While generally following the Torah should make one a better person, being Orthodox is no guarantee of higher moral standards. And there is no reason to compare observant Jews to "the rest of the world." The better explanation of improper behavior is simply that people have free will to choose right or wrong, and that while a person who follows the Torah will act in an optimal manner, many people who identify as Orthodox do not always act in full accordance with their religion.
posted on 9/02/2003