(urth) Building up yang through 10 lifetimes (was Re: Urth & Earth (was "Travelling North aka miscellaneous thoughts on Wolfe"))

[Jerry Friedman]

As I said, I don't object to anything in that reply to me.  I don't think you have anything to apologize for.  I'm sorry to hear you're in pain, though, and I hope it goes away.

As far as I know, what we're talking about is whether Judaism has the idea that men who don't have orgasms attain spiritual capabilities unavailable to other men.



----- Original Message ----
From: "brunians at brunians.org" <brunians at brunians.org>

> In all of the following questions, the term 'a Jew' refers to a Jewish man
> who is conforming to halacha (ie, is orthoprax).

> With whom may a Jew have sex?

His wife.  Most men are obliged to marry by the age of 20, but I'll mention exceptions below.

> May a Jew have any kind of sex?

No.

> When may a Jew have sex?

Any time, as long as he doesn't do it in the street and frighten the horses.  (Apparently it's not allowed in the presence of any creature.)

> May a Jew masturbate?

No.

You left out: How often must a Jew have sex?

As often as his wife asks for her conjugal rights, up to a maximum that depends on his job, from every night for men who do not-too-demanding physical work in the city where they live, to once every six months for a sailor.

There are some interesting glimpses of Maimonides' statements on this subject on limited preview at

http://books.google.com/books?id=JFny1k_bv5cC&pg=PA163#v=onepage&q&f=false

It says he thought that a student may delay marriage--not for any stated spiritual reasons, but to avoid distractions.  He also seems to said the rabbi Ben Azzai (who said being childless was as evil as shedding blood) was permitted not to marry at because Ben Azzai was interested only in study, not in sex, though other authorities of the time thought Ben Azzai was sinning.  In general, Maimonides seems to have seen sexuality as a distraction, though a required one.

Jerry Friedman