A Chabad rabbi, 31-year-old Shneur Zalman Odze told the members of the right wing populist anti-immigrant UK Independence Part (UKIP) that he will not shake women’s hands due to his religious beliefs, offending many party activists and prompting at least one regional party organizer to resign when Odze was subsequently included on the party’s candidate’s list for for European Parliament.
Rabbi Shneur Zalman Odze
Chabad Rabbi Running On Right Wing Anti-Immigration Slate Infuriates Some When He Refuses To Shake Women’s Hands
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Politicians shake hands and kiss babies – but not this one.
A Chabad rabbi, 31-year-old Shneur Zalman Odze told the members of the right wing populist anti-immigrant UK Independence Part (UKIP) that he will not shake women’s hands due to his religious beliefs, offending many party activists and prompting at least one regional party organizer to resign when Odze was subsequently included on the party’s candidate’s list for for European Parliament.
Ozde is fourth on that list in the northwest region of England. The Europe-wide election is scheduled for late May.
The immigration policy he supports (please see the brief UKIP video posted below) mirrors almost exactly the policies that banned many Jews fleeing Hitler in the years before World War Two started from finding refuge in Britain, in territories controlled by Britain, and in many other countries. It essentially can be boiled to the following points:
• Britain cannot afford to take in refugees and asylum seekers.
• It is not our responsibility to help or provide safe harbor for refugees who do not provide benefit to Britain.
• Only refugees and immigrants with skills and/or significant financial resources should be allowed to immigrate to Britain.
• Britain must withdraw from the European Union to avoid these unwanted refugees.
Meanwhile, senior UKIP officials called Odze’s opponents “rude” and “wrong” for failing to respect Odze’s religious beliefs.
“We have a policy of tolerance for and acceptance of people’s own religious observance. We do not consider it grounds for complaint. It harms no one,” UKIP chairman Steve Crowther reportedly told the Times of London.
Jewish law allows men to shake women’s hands have other incidental, commonplace, non-sexual physical contact with women who they are not married to if not doing so will embarrass the women, hurt them or anger them. Hasidim generally ignore this rule and refuse to have any incidental physical contact at all.
At least one Ukip branch previously banned Odze because of what a member described as his "difficult and aggressive behavior,” the International Business Times reported.