Krav Maga, Pikuach Nefesh & Tzinut
In Judaism, פיקוח נפש (Pikuach Nefesh) describes the principle in Jewish law that the preservation of human life overrides virtually any other religious consideration. When the life of a specific person is in danger, almost any mitzvah lo ta'aseh (command to not do an action) of the Torah becomes inapplicable.
So I always find this fascinating. I live in a Jewish settlement (yishuv) in Israel, and the majority of people in the part I live in are modern orthodox. For those of you who don’t know, modern orthodox are religious, but not black coats and top-hat religious. The men cover their heads with a kippa, but otherwise dress how anyone else would. The women tend to wear skirts or dresses, and if they’re married cover their head with a scarf of some sort, but overall dress in colorful and pretty clothes. But there are still the laws of modesty you’ll find in religious circles. A man will shake my fiancé’s hand, but not mine. Not because he thinks I’m second class or below a man, but because he respects me and my boundaries, and knows that my body is for me and my husband. I’m used to the laws of ‘tzinut’ (modesty). I worked in two ultra-orthodox special needs schools in England over a period of 4 years, and I knew the rules. Don’t shake hands, don’t touch a man in any way, don’t be in a room alone with a man unless the door is open, yada yada. For work we had to cover collar bones, elbows and knees, and I enjoyed it. Men spoke to me and looked at me differently. You commanded respect. Here it’s the same, I still go out in pants a couple of days a week, but due to 'social norms’ I usually end up putting on a dress and it’s a GREAT EXCUSE to look cute every day.
Now here’s where it gets funny. Pikuach nefesh. A law in Judaism that throws out all the others. Preserving a life. In Krav Maga, you are literally learning how to defend your life. The same men who will bump into me in the street and not shake my hand will show no qualms about wrestling me to the floor in Krav Maga. I literally kicked my Krav instructor in the balls last week (accidentally obviously) and I nearly died of embarrassment because he’s a religious guy, but he just laughed it off and proceeded to beating the crap out of me. There was another time with Moshe, the main instructor, where he used me as a guinea pig and did a move where we were literally so close it could have been a physical embrace. The instructors (3 of them) do not care about getting you in a choke hold, throwing you to the ground and then sitting on you to block your moves, and vice versa. Then, when we all say good night on Sunday and Wednesday’s, we step out of the door and resume tzinut. It’s such a funny little thing, but something I find really cute and wanted to share with all my Kravvies out there.
Also, I learnt how to do an awesome side kick and nearly knocked my friend Daniella to the floor with it. Yay!
