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

[brunians at brunians.org]

So basically, this guy spends half his time not having sex and not
masturbating.

He goes for one good week without having sex every month.

He's still wrapping phylacteries every day isn't he?

Still saying the normal prayers?

.


> 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
>
>
>
>
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