I would even picture myself touching a feminine cheek with
the tip of my finger. Then my heart would sink in despair and I
would hurl curses at Satan
"Eighty black years on you, vile wretch you!" I would whisper,
gnashing my teeth, and fall to reading with ferocious zeal
In the relations between men and women it is largely case of
forbidden fruit and the mystery of distance. The great barrier that
religion, law, and convention have laced between the sexes adds
to the joys and poetry of love, but it is responsible also for much
of the suffering, degradation, and crime that spring from it. In my
case his barrier was of special magnitude.
Dancing with a girl, or even taking one out for a walk, was out of
the question. Nor was the injunction confined to men who devoted
themselves to the study of holy books. It was the rule of ordinary
decency for any Jew except one who lived "like a Gentile," that is,
like a person of modern culture. Indeed, there were scores of
towns in the vicinity of Antomir where one could not take a walk
even with one's own wife without incurring universal
condemnation.
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