Having read your comments we all know your'e a troll who delights in being a provacateur, but anyway, here's a rational response that probably won't penetrate your small brain. Orthodox Jews, like religious Muslims, also have the custom of performing ablutions and washing their hands prior to prayer. As many here have pointed out, however, certain segments of the ultra-Orthoodx Jewish population tend to be satisfied with a mere ritual dousing of their hands with a cup of cold water and saying a prayer afterwards, they have the belief that this removes "Spiritual" impurities but after performing this ritual many do not actually scrub their hands clean with soap after using the toilet. It's my understanding that religious Muslims have a similar ritual to the Jewish ritual, which you refer to. Religious Muslims also are not mandated by their religion to use soap to scrub their hands. Therefore, it's a high likelihood that Islamic prayer books at mosques also are similarly contaminated especially if it is highly trafficked. Since modern times and the discovery of the germ theory most Jews also wash suing soap and water, even most Orthodox Jews do (and hopefully most Muslims do too) but if there are even just a few who think it's good enough to perform the ritual of using cold water and just saying the blessing and avoid actual scrubbing, then those few will contaminate it for everyone else.

Many of the kids from there play the eRepublik game that I play. They play as eIsrael and as a result, eIsrael has some of the youngest (and dumbest) players. They usually quit when they join the IDF though. They're bloody annoying to be around.

cipher the underlying message in your posts... But as the guy says: "it's not you Babe, it's me":-) I did notice, that in general you seem to be of a very PC persuasion (and I mean it in a good way). I too have no idea what FXP stands for?! "Former Xenophobic Putzes" ????

Here some little details: ALL the religious people i know are very meticulous about cleanliness. Judaism is the religion with the most rules about purity. Matrimonial purity is one of them. I only trust insect free salads in a Kosher restaurant. Shabat Shalom ,Susya

The health ministry should also check for Tenea Pedis, then some other faction can be blamed! Tears????????????

has a certain charm,as long as nobody s feelings are hurt. Shabat Shalom,Tom.

One, that misogyny has really taken over in Israel (really, blaming women crying for fecal bacteria is so low Hitler would be proud) and two, that the educational system is shoddy, at best. This adult male thinks that tears contain fecal bacteria? Back to school with you, rabbi. Preferably a secular one where you will actually learn something.

What a ridiculous study. If you culture any public surface (subway handrails, doorknobs, bank counter tops, store counter tops , legal briefs and legal papers etc) you will find the same. People have to keep the basics of hygiene. Wash hands before eating. Keep hands away from mouth and nose unless they are washed. They have found that plain water does as well as soap and water. The study was done to ridicule and discourage people from coming and/or praying at the Kosel.

Tears don't contain fecal material. EVER. wow. WOW.

the very first thing I thought of was an act of desecration by others after the scrolls had been placed in the wall.

the very first thing I thought of was an act of desecration by others AFTER the prayer books had been placed in the wall. I mean, those e. coli counts are too high to indicate just dirty hands. It's high enough to be actual feces. Something like this would be standard procedure for certain people in the area who don't like Jews, don't you think?

Time now to call upon Yahweh. It would seem that it's time, Rabbis, to start teaching others to call upon Yahweh for what is going on in the world. Wouldn't you think that?

Looks to me as if the Arabs have been sneaking out to the Wailing Wall. It was their prophet Mohammed who commanded people to eat with their right hands and forbade them to eat with their left hands as that was reserved for their wiping necessities. Charmin isn't exactly an item of priority to these backward folks. Cleanliness for the Jews is not only a strict practice, but also part of the law passed down from Moses detailing many aspects of daily life. Now imagine what it's like for the one who got their right hand cut off from stealing. No one is going to let him eat from the same bowl as the others...

maybe you are not getting it most are commenting of the rabbi response

that plain water does as well as soap and water? Jews ,before purifying in the Mikwa are demanded to wash themselves with soap.

Going to the Mikva involves removing actual dirt and bodily secretions that are a "chatzizah" (interposition to the mikvah water). Going to the Mikvah is not a cleansing from bacteria issue. Washing hand to kill bacteria is a different story. Obviously if there is gross dirt on the hands soap and water will remove the dirt best.

Here's a question: Where are the books kept? If they're kept outside most of the time, fecal matter from pigeons and other birds might get on to them.

perhaps the same "public health association" would care to do a little MORE research, and figure out where the fecal bacteria are coming from? sampling the worshippers' hands might be a good place to start. and testing around the area where they are stored, as well as the hands of any employees at the kotel might also be useful. speculation, whether from the good rabbi or from the underinformed talkbackers here, isn't worth the paper it's printed on.