Oct 14, 2013
Kissing the mezuza is perfectly safe
In 2007 a Conservative rabbi tried to promote not kissing a mezuza in public places, as it can help spread viruses and the like.
A group of doctors has now looked into the issue. They have come to the conclusion that kissing the mezuza does NOT increase the risk of spreading germs..
from the Jewish Week:
A group of doctors has now looked into the issue. They have come to the conclusion that kissing the mezuza does NOT increase the risk of spreading germs..
from the Jewish Week:
If you're in the habit of kissing mezuzot in public places, you can ease up on the Purell.So, if you stopped out of concern, looks like you can feel comfortable kissing mezuzot again. And if not, good for you...
A group of doctors at Maimonodes Medical Center have found that the practice does not increase the risk of spreading germs.
Dr. Monica Ghitan and her colleagues tested over 100 mezuzot around their hospital, and other than a few benign microbes found that the ritual objects were not unsafe for those who touch them and then kiss their hands.
While not as controversial a practice as, say, metzitzah b'peh, the practice of kissing the mezuzah has been called into qusetion before. In 2007, Rabbi Simcha Ross even ruled that kissing the mezuzah should be avoided as a possible health hazard. And an earlier Israeli study in 2009 found that the practice did, in fact, spread germs. The newer study affirms that the key difference is that at their hospitals nurses cleaning the rooms also wipe down the mezuzot.
Not everyone is surprised by the study's results.
“They've been around for 4,000 years and we have yet to hear about someone getting sick,” Rabbi Nathan Friedman told the NY Daily News.
Doctors also recommend that the general rule of washing one's hands frequently applies here as well.
"You should always wash," Dr. Alexander Locke told the NY Daily News. "But at the end it's all in God's hands."
The doctors will publish their study in the Journal of Infection Control in the next few weeks.
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The most important point is "Doctors also recommend that the general rule of washing one's hands frequently applies here as well."You should always wash".
ReplyDeleteHow many times have I seen people go to the bathroom and not wash their hands afterwards? And even with religious people, a quick netilat yadayim is not enough. preferable to wash hands with SOAP and water, then netilat yadayim.
“They've been around for 4,000 years and we have yet to hear about someone getting sick,” Rabbi Nathan Friedman told the NY Daily News.
ReplyDeleteRabbi Friedman hasn't heard of anyone getting sick in the past 4000 years?
This study is of dubious value. Hospitals now have dispensers of hand sanitzer every 10-15 feet in the US, and infections rates are monitored very closely, prompting staff to use the sanitizer frequently. Thus, a hospital mezuzah is unlikely to have the same level of pathogens as a mezuzah in a non-medical environment. So, it's really meaningless.
ReplyDeleteThis study could be done properly by randomly swabbing mezuzot in businesses, homes, shuls, etc. Until that is done, you simply cannot draw any real scientific conclusions from this.
I'm not even going to get into how absurd Rabbi Friedman's comment is. How does he know??
He knows because, apparently, if someone got sick from a mezzuza, he would have been among the first to know. Of course, since germ theory has only been around since the mid 19th century, most data about where people picked up diseases was never even tracked.
DeleteI think the study done at Assaf Harofe was much worse. I think that in Israel, many religious and traditional people think that netilat yadiim is enough to wash hands, and while it might have saved us from the black plague, per legend, it really does not wash away fecal remnants that inevitably/occasionally get on your hand when wiping up.
ReplyDeleteKeep using the Purel.
I'm sorry, but what's a "Conservative Rabbi?" Is that anything like a Jewish Rabbi?
ReplyDeleteIMO, the whole concern is ludicrous. People are constantly touching their hands to their mouths throughout the day, after touching all kinds of things - door handles, railings, elevator buttons, faucets, not to mention shaking people's hands. The occasional mezuzah is probably one of the more low-traffic/innocuous items you're likely to touch.
ReplyDeleteLook, if you want to be "machmir" about it, just kiss the back of your fingers. (Or better yet - just think some happy thoughts.)
You bring up an important point. I would be very interested in learning the source for this custom or qabbalistic inyan or superstition or OCD symptom.
DeleteAnd, then I'd like to see how that source describes the behavior involved, and what (if anything) it means to be machmir on it.
BTW, I meant "machmir" in terms of one's health. If you want some background on the custom, here's a decent primer (from the looks of it - I just did a quick skim):
Deletehttp://www.ou.org/jewish_action/08/2012/whats-the-truth-about-kissing-the-mezuzah/
Got it. Thanks, and thanks for the link. Oh, the OU. How quaint.
ReplyDelete