Shomer Negiah and Prosthetic Hand
Question
I am seeing a girl who follows shomer negiah very strictly. I follow it in the way of course prohibiting sexual or sensual contact, etc, but I’ll do handshakes and things like that. However, I have a prosthetic in place of my left hand and we were wondering how much this changes things following her stricter following of the rule.
I have 2 questions
Do things like handshakes and high fives violate shomer negiah? I don’t think that things like this feel very sensual and I don’t see anything Halachically banning simple handshakes I don’t think?
Can I high five this girl using my prosthetic hand
Answers
Whether touching someone of the opposite gender with a prosthetic limb is considered to be Negiah or not is a source of disagreement among the Poskim. Subsequently, I would recommend that you ask your local Rav for a ruling. However, please allow me to make a non-Halachic observation. If the young lady you are currently seeing is more stringent than you are, I would suggest that you follow her approach in this matter.
Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team