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 ...
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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. ...
- 16.8k
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 ...
- 39.6k
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 ...
- 4,307
13
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 ...
- 48.4k
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 ...
- 359
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 ...
- 57.8k
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 ...
- 96k
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 ...
- 23.8k
11
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 ...
- 4,663
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.
- 7,587
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:...
- 18.9k
10
votes
Getting back together with a girlfriend after she has dated other guys?
Both the first relationship and the second one would have to be formal marriages (the kind that requires a Get to dissolve) for the prohibition of remarrying your divorcée to come into effect. (ShA EH ...
- 96k
10
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 ...
- 3,829
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,...
- 46.5k
9
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 ...
- 9,978
9
votes
Convert in Ketubah
In general, only one status is needed to be listed.
For a Jewish born virgin, besulah is written because she is due 200 zuz upon divorce/death of husband.
For a Jewish born "widow" (I'm not sure why ...
- 5,952
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. ...
- 9,441
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).
...
- 42.5k
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 ...
- 42.5k
9
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 ...
- 6,394
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). ...
- 35.1k
9
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, ...
- 6,394
8
votes
What are "the tokens of virginity"?
I am nearly 60 years old at this time and began studying middle eastern customs and languages since the age of 17 with a well known Biblical translator from Assyria. As this is a very sensitive ...
- 121
8
votes
Accepted
Is wasting seed a sin for a gentile?
One is not judged by the 613 commandments unless one is born Jewish or formally converts. A non-Jew could feel they have a Jewish soul, but may eat pork aplenty until converting. (In fact, non-Jews ...
- 128k
8
votes
Accepted
Is the consequence for rape a small sum?
A biblical shekel is 768 p'ruta and fifty are thus 960 grams of silver. That's about US$459.27 today. As Double AA notes (in a comment on the question), though, that's just the fine: the rapist ...
- 73.5k
8
votes
Is the consequence for rape a small sum?
Fifty shekels was much more than it's silver content indicates - a worker's daily salary was somewhere between 1/2 and one dinar - fifty shekels was 200 dinars.
- 97
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
...
- 10.6k
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 ...
- 44.5k
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