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<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>>>So the question then is, if she of her own free will decides to
hug<BR>him, is there a certain level of emotional need of his that
justifies<BR>this act, the same way, for example, a man can reciprocate a
woman's<BR>handshake (after she's already extended her hand) to avoid
shaming<BR>her?<BR><BR>If so, why is it not mitzvah ha-ba'ah ba'averah?
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<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2><BR>Mikha'el Makovi<BR></DIV></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV>>>>>><BR>It is not a mitzvah haba'ah be'aveirah because it
is not a mitzva at all. There is no conceivable scenario under which
giving this guy a hug to comfort him would be a mitzva. IF this
particular guy would benefit just as much from a hug from his grandmother -- or
from the handyman -- as from a hug from a pretty young girl, THEN
you might be able to say that he just really "needed" a hug. But the
scenario you describe -- there is just no mitzva at all.</DIV>
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<DIV>If physical contact were necessary for some other reason than emotional
comfort -- for example, if a Hatzala volunteer was loading a woman into an
ambulance, or a dentist was filling a tooth, or a nurse was taking a man's blood
pressure -- then there is still no "mitzva haba'ah be'aveira" because there is
absolutely no aveira in such cases.</DIV>
<DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"><B><BR></B><BR><B>--Toby
Katz<BR>=============<BR></B><BR></FONT></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. <A title="http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4&?NCID=aolfod00030000000002" href="http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4&?NCID=aolfod00030000000002" target="_blank">Watch "Cooking with Tyler Florence" on AOL Food</A>.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>