03-03-2004, 11:35 PM
That's an urban legend, this silly rumor got started in the ghettos of Europe, where some people saw the four-cornered garments with fringes (which do have a hole in the middle for the head) hanging on the wash line. They didn't know what they were for, so their imaginations took over...
Hasidism -- and Judaism in general -- regards sex as a natural and beautiful thing, so long as it remains between spouses in privacy. The fact that Hasidim tend to have a lot of children should tell you that they have nothing against sex! They do, however, object to seeing intimate moments and bare bodies in movies and billboards, because we feel it cheapens something that is sacred and private.
I suppose this is also the place to dispel the urban legend about how Hasidim supposedly display the bloody sheets on the morning after the wedding night to prove the bride was a virgin. No, they don't do that one, either. There was a scene spoofing this in the movie Yentl but, "Yentl" is a comedy, not a documentary -- and like most comedies, it's full of absurd cliches.
Hasidism -- and Judaism in general -- regards sex as a natural and beautiful thing, so long as it remains between spouses in privacy. The fact that Hasidim tend to have a lot of children should tell you that they have nothing against sex! They do, however, object to seeing intimate moments and bare bodies in movies and billboards, because we feel it cheapens something that is sacred and private.
I suppose this is also the place to dispel the urban legend about how Hasidim supposedly display the bloody sheets on the morning after the wedding night to prove the bride was a virgin. No, they don't do that one, either. There was a scene spoofing this in the movie Yentl but, "Yentl" is a comedy, not a documentary -- and like most comedies, it's full of absurd cliches.