>Reading that and other articles, it appears to me that each is an interpretation and a personal view depending on the Rabbi. There are others that disagree:
>
>Alliance for Authentic Judaism
>http://www.come-and-hear.com/editor/authentic-judaism-warning/index.html
>http://www.aajudaism.org/REiden_AskRabbiMain.htm#F4
>http://www.aajudaism.org/Kol-Kore_heb.htm
>http://www.aajudaism.org/Kol-kore_eng.htm
>

First, I've never heard of this group before. From a quick visit to their website, it appears they're pretty extremist Orthodox.

>So who to listen to and who has absolute authority on Jewish law in all countries?
>

Judaism has no one central authority, no analogue to the Pope. I would say that's why the Talmud is composed of "discussions" among rabbis with differing viewpoints.

What all this means, of course, is that you can find a variety of Jewish viewpoints on almost any issue. I would argue that "the" Jewish viewpoint is the one that's accepted by a majority of Jewish groups.

I have a pretty decent Jewish education (attended Hebrew School through High School and into college, and have kept reading through adulthood). As I said before, I've never heard this prohibition before. If it were something important and widely observed, I'd know it. For that matter, if it were widely observed, you wouldn't find lots of Jewish lawyers, even among the Orthodox.

Tamar