In Re: [Islam in Europe] London: MP walks out of segregated wedding

I commented on the blog entry entitled London: MP walks out of segregated wedding:

Comment 1

Gender segregation has certainly always been characteristic of Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox Jewish weddings that I have attended in NY City and in Spring Valley, and in my experience no distinction is made between Jewish and non-Jewish attendees.

Gender segregation is hardly unknown among Orthodox Christians whether Slavic, Greek or Arabic in the Balkans and the Middle East.

MP Jim Fitzpatrick is engaging in some sort of ridiculous scare-mongering against Islam, and one hopes that his consituents will punish him severely at the polls.

Comment 2

When I attended an orthodox Jewish wedding of a friend, who became a hozer bitshuvah via Ohr Somayach, I asked why gender separation was applied to everyone, and the Rabbi told me that one could never be certain a guest was not Jewish and that some Jews might want to sit at mixed tables if there were mixed tables for non-Jews. He pointed out that putting a stumbling block before the blind was one of the worst sins.