The other night, I was invited to a networking event in Manhattan. I only knew the person who invited me and I walked around the room introducing myself to a lot of new people. One of the people I bumped into had a long beard and wore a skull cap. I didn't think anything of it and went to shake his hand. He refused to shake my hand and I didn't understand why.
A day later, I received the following email:
"When we first met you stuck your hand out at me and I didn’t return your warm gesture, you looked a little taken aback.
I’m sorry this might have come across as being offensive, and I apologize for that.
In no way did I want to offend you nor did I want to make you feel inferior in any way.
Let me explain, religious Jewish women dress modestly, don’t sing in front of men or touch men, and men don’t look at immodestly dressed woman, listen to them singing or touch them.
The reason for this is for the respect of woman, so that the man shouldn’t be attracted to, or remember her because of her externalities, but for who she really is.
You see, the problem is in the man, men could be external they could be attracted to externalities.
Woman on the other hand are more sensitive naturally and don’t usually feel attraction to men through such externalities.
Shaking hands is touch.
As everyone knows that touch can sometimes blind people of the truth.
Before I married my wife we didn’t touch, not even a handshake, so we can both make sure we made a truly conscious decision.
I hope this answers any misunderstanding you might have had."
After reading this, I didn't know how to react. I guess some things are better off not said. Most people don't remember these little details in life and it's best to move on to another networking opportunity!
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