Physical necessities
Many years ago in high school I heard Judge Daniel Butler of Pittsburgh speak at an event about someone in his family who was an American soldier who liberated a Nazi concentration camp at the end of World War II. The concentration camp had many children who had survived but they were sick and hungry. The soldiers started giving out food to them and the children made a line to receive the food.
Judge Butler’s relative noticed a child lying on the ground too weak to stand up. The child was dying. The soldier did not know what to do so he bent down and held the child and rocked him.
One by one the other children left the food line and lined up in front of this soldier to get hugs instead.
I would never dare to compare my situation to the one of those children but I know that I would gladly give up food for a long time to have a kind, intelligent, handsome, religious man put his arms around me and stroke my hair and tell me that he loves me.
Judge Butler’s relative noticed a child lying on the ground too weak to stand up. The child was dying. The soldier did not know what to do so he bent down and held the child and rocked him.
One by one the other children left the food line and lined up in front of this soldier to get hugs instead.
I would never dare to compare my situation to the one of those children but I know that I would gladly give up food for a long time to have a kind, intelligent, handsome, religious man put his arms around me and stroke my hair and tell me that he loves me.
posted by Shomer Negiah at 3/30/2005 07:03:00 AM
9 Comments:
i know it sounds trite, but these are such powerful words you wrote down.
i'll just leave it with that.
b,h,&empathy.
I think it's all in the head. In like two montch you'll look at your own blog and you will laugh..
Good luck
2nd anon - your pithy attempts at lightheartedness just ruined this entry for me.
Kishmech . . . Thank you for sticking up for me. Perhaps when I can access Blogger I will delete that comment. Some people are invested in believing that everything is OK even when someone had created a whole blog to say that something is not OK.
Your words made me cry. I am married already, and trying to be ehrlich, but consider this a cyber-hug..
I feel the same way
don't know if it is even comparable situation, but i have attemped at times to do very near the same thing,(that is go with out things like food or sleep for days to weeks just to talk much less be hugged.) i think all our hearts go out to you.
hey i just came back from a shabbaton where judge dan butler spoke , his son danny butler who went through all that cancer died last year. judge butler also told me that story of his father, he also told of the time his father was on a boat with thousands of american soldiers and he was putting on his tefellin. the boat was attacked and the americans all felt that this man was somewhat holy so this same man that would be later hugged instead of food was touched like a tap on the shoulder as reassurance for the american soldiers
I am not Shomer Negiah, but I do remember from my college days going to Chabad that SN people tend to hug those of the same sex more. I think it is lovely. We all need to be touched, and not necessarily sexually.
Years ago, I had a very bad flu. I had many friends at the time, and was accustomed to seeing at least one a day and getting/giving a hug. This time I stayed away from everyone because I didn't want to get anyone else sick. After a week of not touching anyone, when I felt I was no longer contagious, I drove to a friend's house and just started crying. I needed a hug, and couldn't take it any more. Is it possible for you just to hug/cuddle with your female friends?
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