re: #70 sagehen

This is where Jewish doctors first got their reputation, why even today people who wouldn’t want Jews at their club and wouldn’t want their daughter to marry one will still prefer to have a Jewish doctor.

Because part of our religious/cultural practice is LOTS of hand washing. (last thing before you go to bed, and first thing when you get up. Before and after cooking or eating, before and after touching bodily orifices or open wounds or anything that might have any bodily fluids on it. And just for the heck of it before most prayers.)

Kosher practices are also why we got accused of poisoning wells during the plague years — our part of town had less of it than the neighborhood down the road, because pre-Passover home preparation rituals results in a house than mice and rats will avoid.

I remember reading that Europeans (Christians, I assume) in the Middle Ages were mortally afraid of water, and as a result rarely bathed or washed their hands. They believe bathing could bring on disease — which considering the state of waterways and public hygiene then was not a bad guess. The 1800s were the first time when middle class people could have running water in their homes, and the Victorians became obsessed about cleanliness, but only as it pertained to fashion or social intercourse. Their doctors did not fully understand that washing hands and the body of the patient would also prevent disease and infection.

EDITED because I read your comment again.