Reply To: Shaking hands with the opposite gender, in Israel

DY: It actually once came up for me in a business setting. The woman asked why I shook her hand when other Orthodox Jews don’t. I said that some do and some don’t and it often depends on the situation, but many don’t shake at all. (I thought of saying that if there is a large age disparity it’s okay, as she appeared to be at least 40 years older than me, but I thought better of that.)