The Magic Touch

The Magic Touch: A Jewish Approach to Relationships discusses one of the most controversial and hotly debated topics in Jewish law : the prohibition on all physical contact in premarital relationships (being "shomer negiah," observant of the laws of touch). "Yikes—you actually do that?" you may exclaim. Yes, we do. And this book explains why.

Touch is more powerful than most people realize—it could be called the Superglue of human relations. Touch creates a bond (especially if you're female), awakening within you warmth and receptivity, conscious or unconscious, toward the other person, leaving you feeling distinctly closer and more connected. Just as Superglue, however, can join two pieces of a broken plate or two of your fingers, touch likewise bonds indiscriminately. In marriage, it's great. Before marriage, it can wreak havoc. Refraining from touching, on the other hand, preserves your objectivity, allows you to develop genuine love, and maintains the specialness of your relationship.

The Magic Touch discusses all these issues and more. And it answers the most commonly asked questions about not touching, such as:

Isn't the pain of failed relationships essential to growth?

Doesn't not getting physical conflict with human nature?

Where's the romance?

And the big one:

How do we know we'll be physically compatible if we haven't tried
things out?

Get ready to have some of your most fundamental beliefs about relationships challenged.