Traditional Orthodox Jews usually avoid shaking hands with women (or any touching of women who aren’t family).
Not only the traditional Jew and Muslim are worthy of respect, but so are the norms of the nations, which insist on such hand shaking. If you won’t shake hands with your teacher, perhaps you shouldn’t live in Switzerland? Or perhaps you shouldn’t go to public school? You should go to your own kind of school. That way these questions won’t come up so much.
Awake Goy says: “It does seem like getting Israel established sorta changed the game. For some reason, I’d feel much more inclined to sympathize with Jews if they were truly wandering and homeless upon the earth. But it’s not that way now. I guess it’s still a silly question though to say, to you or to other Jews, why do you remain in Babylon?–why not go to the holy land?”
WP: Switzerland shocked by Muslim teens who refused to shake hands with female teachers
It’s widespread practice for schoolchildren in Switzerland to shake the hands of their teacher at the beginning and end of each day. Now, one school’s decision to exempt two children from this tradition – because the children are Muslim and their teacher is a woman – has caused a storm of controversy across the European state.
The two pupils at the school in the town of Therwil, near Basel, had requested an exemption from shaking a female teacher’s hand, citing their belief that it would go against Islamic teachings. The local school district later came up with what they felt was an acceptable compromise that could avoid discrimination: The pupils, who are age 14 and 15, would not be required to shake any teachers’ hands, whether they were male or female.
However, the plan hit a hitch when the Schweiz am Sonntag newspaper reported on it, sparking a public debate about the compromise. “We cannot accept this in the name of religious freedom,” Swiss Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga said in an interview with Swiss-German broadcaster SRF. “The handshake is part of our culture.”
Others agreed. “Today’s it’s the handshake, and what will it be tomorrow?” Felix Mueri, a member of the anti-immigration Swiss People’s Party and head of the Swiss parliament’s education commission, said in an interview with the 20 Minuten news site.
Both the Swiss Teacher’s Union and the local Therwil council have also come out against the plan. However, the school itself has defended the decision, despite the controversy. “They are no longer allowed to shake the hand of any teacher, male or female,” headmaster Jurg Lauener told SRF. “For us, that addresses the question of discrimination.”
