H1N1 recommendation: Don’t kiss mezuzot

seen on ynet. This is classic

Ultra-Orthodox media concerned with spreading of swine flu epidemic asks the question: Can disease be contracted by kissing mezuzah? Seven doctors asked say all objects may be infectious, one doctor specifically recommends practice be avoided

Kobi Nahshoni

Wednesday morning, Assaf Harofeh Medical Center announced it would limit visits to maternity wards for fear of having patients and newborn babies infected with swine flu, and now, one of the hospital’s doctors has also recommended people refrain from kissing mezuzot in public places.

A mezuzah is piece of parchment inscribed with a Jewish prayer affixed on doorframes of Jewish homes as a mitzvah.

Israel’s Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar also addressed the issue, saying, “If a specific order is given in the matter, the mezuzah must be kissed from the air, to ensure that the custom is not forgotten.”

The doctors unanimously agreed that bacteria leave high levels of residue on such objects, but six of them refused to comment on mezuzot in particular, “so as not to get in trouble with the rabbis”.

Dr. Ilan Youngster, a pediatrician at Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, was the only doctor to link risks of infection with kissing the mezuzah, and he even took it one step further and recommended people refrain from doing so.

He based his recommendation on a study he presented about a year-and-a-half ago, in which 70 mezuzot from Assaf Harofeh were sampled and sent in for lab tests. The results were published on Ynet, and showed that all the mezuzot contained dangerous bacteria.

Youngster said then that the results of mezuzot in private homes were expected to be similar and explained, “Most of the bacterial colonies that were found were of bacteria that are found on the skin. Perhaps because of the fact that the mezuzah is a religious object, people are afraid to sterilize it.”

Most of the mezuzot tested in the study included colonies of Staphylococcus Coagulase Negative, that can cause serious infectious diseases. The study also revealed E. coli bacteria that cause infections in the reproductive system and urinary tract, Klebsiella, which can cause various infections including pneumonia, and more.