Some people are going ballistic because there are signs up in religious neighborhoods banning men from walking together with their wives on the street. That sounds REALLY nuts.
Until you open up the gemara. Brachos 43. The halacha is stated there very clearly. אל יספר עם אשתו בשוק - One may not converse with his wife in the street. The Rambam paskens this [דעות ה ז] as binding [albeit for talmidei chachomim only].
We are not used to it. It seems so different and odd. But why is this different from any other of the myriad of halachos in Shas? I did extensive research in order to discover why almost nobody keeps this halacha but came up empty.
If anybody has any explanation I would be eager to hear it.
It is clearly not accepted practice in most communities - even very-very Charedi ones. The question is - Why not? And if some people insist that the words of the gemara and Rambam should be followed - they shouldn't be dismissed as looneys.
We all keep many other gemaras and Rambams. We won't drink a cup of wine if it was touched by a goy. Is that any less odd? We do it because the gemara and the Rambam say so. We wear black boxes on our heads and arms because the gemara and Rambam say to do so [the Torah doesn't tell us what "tefillin" are - for that we need the later sources]. We wear funny strings under our shirts. Why? Gemara-Rambam.
Why is this any different??
Just wondering....
I am going to retire for the night but hope to see an explanation in my email box tomorrow.....:-).
The only answer I can think of is that it is not paskened in the Tur or Shulchan Aruch. But why not?
[Full disclosure - I talk to my wife on the street if she happens to be walking next to me but I am not sure why....]
