17
votes
Why does Tanac"h frequently use the term for "knowledge" when referring to sexual relations?
Ibn Ezra to Genesis (3:6) suggests that Adam had sex with Eve as a result of eating from the Tree of Knowledge. Therefore, sex is euphemistically referred to as knowledge. Additionally, he notes that ...
- 35.4k
16
votes
Does the talmud promote pedophilia?
TL;DR
It is a misquote. It is talking about the age at which the girl converted, not the age at the time of the marriage. Regarding these sorts of misquotes in general, see this related question. ...
- 16.9k
16
votes
Accepted
Is it considered a good thing that Lot's daughters slept with their father?
There is a certain amount of ambiguity here.
On the one hand, we see that our Sages praise the daughters of Lot, and especially the elder daughter who took the initiative.
Nazir 23a:
אלא משל ללוט ...
- 41.7k
14
votes
Not finding your bashert is a punishment for doing zera levatala?
The Kabalistic work "Tikunei Zohar" (30a) mentions this as a punishment for a person who has relations with women he should not be having relations with. It is stated there that is that this ...
- 4,892
14
votes
Sex in the world to come
The Talmud (Berachot 17a) states:
העולם הבא אין בו לא אכילה ולא שתיה ולא פריה ורביה ולא משא ומתן ולא קנאה ולא שנאה ולא תחרות אלא צדיקים יושבין ועטרותיהם בראשיהם ונהנים מזיו השכינה שנאמר ויחזו את ...
- 49.1k
12
votes
What are reasons of מצוות עונה marital sex?
A woman has a right to receive sexual pleasure from her husband, just as much as food and clothing. See below:
Ra’avad, Ba’alei Hanefesh, Gate of Holiness – selection 4:
:הארבע כוונות אשר המעשה ...
- 5,021
12
votes
Thinking of another woman during sex
The Talmud (Nedarim 20b) expresses this in a slight riddle.
Says Rebbi: Once should not drink from a cup whilst thinking about
another cup. Based on the verse (Num. 15:39) ‘do not stray after ...
- 479
11
votes
Kissing and Hugging one's wife
Pischei Teshuva Y.D. 184 #22 quotes the Even Shoham as saying that even though it is forbidden to cohabit with one's wife at the time of her expected menstruation (סמוך לוסתה),
מכל מקום מותרת לטבול ...
- 58.3k
11
votes
Which prohibition does one commit when viewing pornography?
You're looking for the verse (Devarim 23:10):
וְנִשְׁמַרְתָּ מִכֹּל דָּבָר רָע
then thou shalt keep thee from every evil thing.
The Talmud (AZ 20) interprets this (based on context from the ...
- 97.2k
11
votes
Accepted
Did the rights of a Jewish slave owner include having sex with his female slaves?
The master of a female Hebrew slave has the option to marry her either to himself or to his son (with her consent). If he (or his son) does marry her, it is not his right, but in fact his obligation ...
- 24k
11
votes
Accepted
Does the Torah forbid visiting/hiring a prostitute?
This is not allowed, as stated by the Rambam in Hilchos Ishus 1:4
קודם מתן תורה היה אדם פוגע אשה בשוק אם רצה הוא והיא נותן לה שכרה ובועל אותה על אם הדרך והולך. וזו היא הנקראת קדשה. משנתנה התורה נאסרה ...
- 3,849
11
votes
Is a Zav allowed to have relations with his wife?
Yep. See Tosefta Zavim 1:9, זב מותר בתשמיש המטה בימי גמרו, and Chasdei David there. Also Yerushalmi Shabbos 1:3, לא יאכל הזב עם הזבה הא זב עם מצורעת מותר, and Pnei Moshe there.
- 7,781
11
votes
Accepted
If your wife requests intimacy in a niddah state, may you refuse?
Pesachim 72b discusses a woman who desires intimacy from her husband, and it is approaching the expected time of her period.
והאמר רבא חייב אדם לשמח אשתו בדבר מצוה סמוך לווסתה
The Gemara asks further:...
- 19.6k
10
votes
What is the point of having a rapist marry the woman he raped?
From a historical perspective one has to understand a few things.
One: We live in a time of such safety and ease that our ancestors would not be able to fathom it. Cities used to have walls, because ...
- 10.5k
10
votes
Did Adam have intercourse with animals?
There is disagreement about this among the commentators. Here is a quote from the Artscroll Rashi Chumash Bereishis 2:23 footnote 4:
Divrei Dovid...says that this prohibition [to have relations ...
- 6,467
10
votes
Is it considered a good thing that Lot's daughters slept with their father?
There was an element of good in the naming as brought out in this story of Rav Moshe Feinstein zatzal.
I have edited the story which appears in full at the link. The original is in Igros Moshe vol. 8,...
- 47.2k
10
votes
Would marriage really not solve this man's problem?
This question is based on a misquote of the Talmud. Here is the actual text:
ולינסבה מינסב לא מייתבה דעתיה כדר' יצחק דא"ר יצחק מיום שחרב בית המקדש ניטלה טעם ביאה וניתנה לעוברי עבירה שנאמר (משלי ט, ...
- 6,467
9
votes
Is wasting seed a sin for a gentile?
The Tzitz Eliezer brings opposing sources in his responsa discussing whether Bnei Noach are 'neherag' for wasting seed. Either way it seems undesirable from the remaining sources that he brings i.e. ...
- 10.1k
9
votes
Accepted
Yosef sold into prostitution
The Jewish Virtual Library on Homosexuality states that
the Talmud records that the Egyptian Potiphar purchased Joseph "for
himself " (Sotah 13b), that is, for homosexual purposes (Rashi).
...
- 42.9k
9
votes
Accepted
Why did God created physical impulse towards the "wrong" women
UPDATE
The question was edited to add the reference to the fact that when the Yetzer Hara was totaly eliminated, chickens stopped laying eggs. This means that the general concept of "lust" means that ...
- 42.9k
9
votes
Not to learn parts of Torah until they become applicable
The idea behind not learning the laws of mourning, is a superstition that this could cause someone to die, and the laws to become applied (see Hattam Sofer YD 346, and a discussion of the idea here). ...
- 35.4k
9
votes
Did early biblical figures like Isaac abstain from intimate relations until marriage?
I don't know the source off the top of my head, but I recall seeing a source (maybe a midrash) that says that when Yaakov conceived Reuvain not only was that his first time ever having intercourse it ...
8
votes
What is an overview of Judaism's arguments against the "unconscious violinist" analogy used to support abortion in the case of rape?
Rabbi Yosef Karo (1488 - 1575)states in Shulchan Aruch, (The Code of Jewish Law) that if a physician is able to heal a patient and refrains from doing so, this is considered murder. Yoreh Deah, 336:1
...
- 10.7k
8
votes
"Gay" people in the Torah, Talmud, Kabbalah?
In general, the Torah is not so concerned and doesn't judge how people feel or what their desires are. It is mainly concerned in how we act. Nowhere does the Torah consider feelings for same-sex ...
- 47.7k
8
votes
Where in the Gemara does it say a woman never forgets her first
The Talmud, Pesachim 112a, says:
דאמר מר גרוש שנשא גרושה ארבע דעות במטה
When a divorcé marries a divorcée, there are four minds in the bed
Rashbam explains that each participant is thinking ...
- 43.9k
8
votes
Sudden Menstruation and Sex
Accidental violation of the prohibition of Niddah warrants a Korban Chattat like most Karet prohibitions (Kereitot 1:1-2). The same applies if after intercourse blood is discovered to have been ...
- 97.2k
8
votes
Talmud passage relevant to #metoo
The reference is to Sanhedrin 19a where it is recorded that R Yosi enacted in Tzippori that women speak to each other aloud when in the outhouses so men would hear them and know not to come in (which ...
- 97.2k
8
votes
Why aren't there any Gay people in the Bible?
In this week’s Torah portion parshat Vayeira Genesis 19,5 it says about the wicked people of Sedom who got destroyed because of their sins:
וַיִּקְרְא֤וּ אֶל־לוֹט֙ וַיֹּ֣אמְרוּ ל֔וֹ אַיֵּ֧ה ...
- 11.4k
8
votes
Halachic approaches to marital relations in a Succah
The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 135:2 writes that it is permissible.
אבל תשמיש המיטה מותר בסוכה, שהרי עיקר מצוותה איש ואשתו. (...)
But marital relations are permitted in the sukkah, for the underlying ...
- 41k
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