Sanctified Sex: The Two-Thousand-Year Jewish Debate on Marital Intimacy

en Limba Engleză Paperback – 31 iul 2021

Sanctified Sex draws on two thousand years of rabbinic debates addressing competing aspirations for loving intimacy, passionate sexual union, and sanctity in marriage. What can Judaism contribute to our struggles to nurture love relationships? What halakhic precedents are relevant, and how are rulings changing?

The rabbis, of course, seldom agree. Underlying their arguments are perennial debates: What kind of marital sex qualifies as ideal—sacred self-control of sexual desire or the holiness found in emotional and erotic intimacy? Is intercourse degrading in its physicality or the highest act of spiritual/mystical union? And should women or men (or both) wield ultimate say about what transpires in bed?

Noam Sachs Zion guides us chronologically and steadily through fraught terrain: seminal biblical texts and their Talmudic interpretations; Talmud tales of three unusual rabbis and their marital bedrooms; medieval codifiers and mystical commentators; ultra-Orthodox rabbis clashing with one another over radically divergent ideals; and, finally, contemporary rabbis of varied denominations wrestling with modern transformations in erotic lifestyles and values.

Invited into these sanctified and often sexually explicit discussions with our ancestors and contemporaries, we encounter innovative Jewish teachings on marital intimacy, ardent lovemaking techniques, and the art of couple communication vital for matrimonial success.

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Specificații

ISBN-13: 9780827614666
ISBN-10: 0827614667
Pagini: 656
Ilustrații: index
Dimensiuni: 152 x 229 x 41 mm
Greutate: 0.82 kg
Editura: The Jewish Publication Society
Colecția The Jewish Publication Society
Locul publicării:United States

Notă biografică

Noam Sachs Zion has been a senior research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem since 1978 and taught on the faculty of the Rabbinic Enrichment Center. His popular publications include the best seller A Different Night: The Family Participation Haggadah.

Cuprins

Acknowledgments
Introduction

The Two-Thousand-Year Debate
Functions of Halakhah in Guiding Marital Relationships
This Volume: Inclusions and Exclusions

Part One. Marital Duties and Scheduled Sex: Torah and Mishnah
1. Legislating Marital Sexuality: Biblical and Rabbinic Mandates

Introduction
Torah’s Two Foundational Narratives of Human Sexuality
Talmudic Interpretations of Adam and Eve’s Relationship
Marital Duties in Torah, Mishnah, and Talmud
The Revolutionary Rabbinic Marriage Contract
Rules for Onah’s Frequency
Romantic and Liberal Critiques of the Mishnah’s Obligatory Sex
Two Ultra-Orthodox Rejoinders to the Romantic Critique of Onah
Modern Applications: Perel’s Scheduling of Intimacy and the Youngs’ Sexperiment
Conclusion

Part Two. Talmudic Disputes: Kama Sutra versus Ascetic Modesty in Three Rabbis’ Bedrooms
2. Talmudic Proprieties of Pillow Talk: Invading the Privacy of Rav’s Bedroom

Introduction
Kahana’s Espionage in Rav’s Bedroom
Rabbinic Views on Privacy
Akiba: Torah over Privacy
Kahana’s True Character?
Halakhic Debate on Pillow Talk
Rav’s Worldview: Love and Pleasure
Maimonides, Elazar Hasid, and Hirsch
Conclusion: Takeaways for a Modern Marriage

3. Modesty or License in the Marital Bed: Talmudic Debates about Imma Shalom and Rabbi Eliezer’s Midnight Sex

Introduction
Eliezer’s Bedroom Etiquette
The Angelic Code of Modesty
Contesting Ascetic Traditions
Birth Defects and Emotionally Defective Relationships
The Medieval Legal Debate
Modern Applications: Ben-Shimon, Soloveitchik, and Calderon

4. Talmudic Techniques of Arousal: Rav Hisda’s Sex Education Tutorial for His Daughters

Introduction
Hisda’s Erotic Pedagogy
Modern Applications for Orthodox Couples: Aviner and Shuchatowitz’s Marital Guidelines and Sigala’s Sensual Portraiture
Conclusion

Part Three. Medieval Mysticism and Law: Sacred Love and Legal Limits
5. A Mirror of the Divine Union: Kabbalists’ Sacred Eros of Marriage

Introduction
Midrash on the Cherubs’ Erotic Embrace
Ra’avad’s Kabbalist Manual for Sexual Union
Aristotelian Jewish Philosophers versus Kabbalist Platonists
Zohar: Reconceiving Erotic Pleasure
Marital Intimacy: Zohar versus Lurianic Kabbalah
Marital Intimacy: Talmud versus Zohar
New Age Applications: Kabbalah Centre, Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, and Dennis on Spiritualized Sexuality
Conclusion

6. Freestyle Eroticism? Permissive versus Ascetic Medieval Codes of Law

Introduction
Permissive School: Maimonides and Isaac the Tosafist
Ascetic School: Karo on Sanctity against Desire
Permissive School: Reply to Karo
Dissemination of Karo’s Ideology
Conclusion: Medieval Legacies and Modern Predicaments
Addendum: Maimonides’ Prescriptions for Medieval Viagra

Part Four. Contemporary Haredim: Hasidim versus Litvaks on Marital Intimacy
7. Ascetic Bedrooms: Hasidic Sects Set Stringent Boundaries on Marital Intimacy

Introduction
The Besht versus the Maggid on “Worship through Physicality”
Historic Origins: Sanctity through Stringency
Gur’s Ordinances Police the Bedroom
Slonimer Rebbe’s Pep Talk
Arranged Marriages and the Women of Gur
A Disenchanted Disciple of Skver Hasidism
Conclusion: Takeaways for a Modern Marriage

8. “Break Their Evil Nature”: Litvak Yeshivot and Salanter’s Mussar Suppress Desire and Familial Affection

Introduction
Litvak Beginnings and the First Modern Yeshiva
The Legacy of Premodern Ascetic Piety
Salanter’s Mussar Movement: Yeshiva Education Curbs Natural Inclinations
Salanter’s Legacy: The Kelm, Navaredok, and Slabodka Schools
Mussar’s Apathy to Wife and Family
Shifting Sands of Mussar: Wolbe’s Yoke of Marriage and North America’s Revival of Mussar
Conclusion: Paradigm Shift from Mussar’s Apathy to Litvak Intimacy

9. Devotion and Desire: Litvak Revolution Equates Marital Intimacy with True Piety

Introduction
Hazon Ish’s Holy Letter: Championing Marital Conversation
Kanievsky’s Holy Letter: Marital Passion and Compassion
Sher’s Letter, The Holiness of Israel: Reviving Haredi Desire
Conclusion

10. Higher Purposes of Marriage: Education for Love, Peace, and Sanctity

Introduction
Shuchatowitz: The Grave Sin of Rushed Sexual Performance
The Scholar’s Onah: Shuchatowitz versus Aviner
Marital Sexuality as the Synthesis of Nature and Spirituality
Covenantal Marriage
Loveless Sex Desecrates Sacred Matrimony
The Higher Purposes of Onah: Love and Unity, Humanity and Sanctity
Conclusion

11. Couple Communication as a Mitzvah: New Litvak Marriage Manuals Teach the Art of Loving Conversation

Introduction
Flashback to Talmudic Pillow Talk
Permitted Spousal Communication: Removing Acrimony and Arousing Desire
Aviner’s Advice: Making a Study of One’s New Spouse
Shuchatowitz’s Advice: Acknowledging Gender Differences in Marriage
Haredi Educators Combine Sanctity and Intimacy
Litvak Revolution or Haredi Crisis Management?
Conclusion

Part Five. Modern North American Rabbis: Confronting the Sexual Revolution
12. Redeeming Sexuality through Halakhah: Modern Orthodox Philosophers of Jewish Law Sanctify Pleasure within Marriage

Introduction: Comparing Haredim and North American Liberal Rabbis
Toward a Modern Orthodox Philosophy and Practice of Sanctified Sex
Greenberg’s Proposal to Modernize American Orthodoxy’s Sexual Ethics
Linzer and Marcus’s Podcast, The Joy of Text
Berkovits: Humanizing Sexual Relationships
Soloveitchik: Redeeming Natural Sexuality
Lamm’s The Jewish Way in Love and Marriage
Lichtenstein’s “Of Marriage” and Ostroff’s To Know How to Love
Orthodox Women’s Internet Responsa
Conclusion

13. Struggling with Sexual Liberation: Liberal Judaism’s Rabbis Tackle Ominous and Liberating Dimensions of the Sexual Revolution

Introduction
Problems Raised by Sexual Liberation
Formulating Liberal Rabbinic Responses
Borowitz: Covenantal Sexual Ethics
Green: New Halakhah and New Kabbalah
Strassfeld: Sexual Togetherness as Tikkun Olam
Waskow: A Life-Cycle Approach to Sex Ethics
Conclusion

14. Sliding-Scale Sex Ethics: Liberal Halakhah Balances Marital Sanctity and the Realities of Nonmarital Sex

Introduction
Sexual Ethics through Jewish Values Clarification
Conservative and Reform Responsa
Three Tiers of Liberal Sexual Ethics
Traditional Halakhah and Contemporary Conservative Jews
Realistic Halakhah Condones Lesser Sins to Avoid Greater Sins
Test Case 1: Adultery Revisited
Test Case 2: Open Marriage and Polyamory
Conclusion

15. Legalizing Living Together? Competing Rabbinic Policies

Introduction
Historical Background: The Pilegesh
Emden’s Pathbreaking Halakhah: Enhancing Marital Lovemaking and Legalizing a Paramour
On Living Together: Contemporary Halakhic Debate
Test Case 3: Caring for the Caretaker Whose Spouse Is Incapacitated
Conclusion

16. A Feminist Alternative to Halakhic Marriage: Jewish Theologians Rethink the Marriage Contract and Gender Biases

Introduction
Radical Jewish Feminism versus Liberal Judaism: Revolution or Reform?
Radical Jewish Feminism versus Secular Feminism: Sacred or Private Relationships?
Plaskow’s Approach: Women Returning to Sinai
Adler’s Approach: Redeeming Tradition for Egalitarian Holiness
A New and Renewed Aggadah for Covenantal Love
A New Halakhah: B’rit Ahuvim
Multiform Sexuality, Gender Fluidity, and Hybridity as Divinely Blessed
Conclusion

Conclusion: Aggadah and Halakhah of Marriage

Aggadah of Gender Justice versus Gender Equality
Aggadah of Sexual Playfulness versus Spiritualized Sanctity
Aggadah of Negative versus Positive Sanctity in the Institution of Marriage
Aggadah of Negative versus Positive Sanctity in Sexual Relations
Halakhah of Onah: Male Prerogative versus Female Right
Halakhah of Caring Communication
Halakhah’s Labors of Love

Notes
Bibliography
Index

Recenzii

"An encyclopedic review of Jewish attitudes toward marital intimacy . . . valuable as a reference work for anyone interested in the topic. . . . [and] an important reminder that even the most private and intimate of acts can become a cultural marker and the focus of leaders who wish to shape their communities."—CCAR Journal

"Few writers can command the vast array of genres of Jewish literature and synthesize them the way Zion does. Earlier works have addressed Jewish attitudes to sexuality . . . but . . . these are written for academic audiences. Zion has the gift of being able to popularize even when analyzing difficult texts, using a comprehensible and engaging style appropriate for a general audience."—Martin Lockshin, Jerusalem Post

"This book is highly recommended for any reader, novice and expert alike, wishing to familiarize themselves with the Jewish tradition's polyphonic views and positions on matters of sexuality and marital intimacy."—David Tesler, AJL News and Reviews

“Noam Zion has written another classic. This treasure trove of sources and insights from the full spectrum of a four-thousand-year-old tradition, uncensored, from the Bible and Talmud down to modern liberal rabbis and feminists, might be called The Art of Halachic Loving because it is not just a static anthology; it is shaped to guide and enhance the pleasure of sex and the depth of development of intimacy, communication and relationship. This is a book to be read, savored, reflected on, discussed, and applied to life.”—Blu Greenberg and Yitz Greenberg, authors, respectively, of On Women and Judaism and The Jewish Way

“Combining exacting, serious textual analysis with entertaining, often comical stories of rabbis and their sexual habits, Noam Zion takes us for a ride through the highways and byways of the Jewish erotic imagination. He deserves high praise for his erudition, creativity, and courage.”—Shaul Magid, professor of Jewish Studies, Dartmouth College, and author of American Post-Judaism: Identity and Renewal in a Postethnic Society

“Noam Zion masterfully illuminates how two thousand years of commentary and debate have amplified the subject of sex in Jewish tradition and enriched it with nuance. Engage your mind, open your heart, and take this book to your bed!”—Rachel Biale, author of Women and Jewish Law and Growing Up Below Sea Level: A Kibbutz Childhood

“Who knew that there was so much marital drama in rabbinic literature? Noam Zion has provided the definitive anthology and comparative commentary on this subject.”—David Biale, Emanuel Ringelblum Distinguished Professor of Jewish History, University of California, Davis, and author of Eros and the Jews and Hasidism: A New History

“Moving effortlessly between traditional Jewish sources produced throughout history, Noam Zion makes us reflect, as Jews and simply as humans, on what’s actually at stake in conjugal relationships. I strongly recommend this erudite, accessible, sensitive, and witty guide to all.”—Michael Satlow, professor, religious and Judaic studies, Brown University, and author of Tasting the Dish: Rabbinic Rhetorics of Sexuality

“Sanctified Sex is a learned, insightful, and engaging treatment of Jewish teachings concerning love and sex. For the rabbi who thinks s/he already knows it all or the graduate student who wants to know it all, there is no better resource. Noam Zion is a scholar who writes with a clear, accessible voice, and readers who are willing to dive deep into this subject will find themselves immensely rewarded by his masterful treatment.”—David Kraemer, professor of Talmud and Rabbinics, Jewish Theological Seminary, and author of A History of the Talmud

“Sanctified Sex is both timeless and timely. For the mainstream Jewish community, which tends to default to saying that Judaism is sex-positive (in contrast with Christianity), this deeper examination is warranted. For the academic community, the different eras the book encompasses guarantee a broad range of applicability. For the general community, Noam Zion is asking a key human question: what tools can I find to strengthen a long-term marriage?”—Rabbi Lisa Grushcow, senior rabbi, Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom, Montreal, and editor of The Sacred Encounter: Jewish Perspectives on Sexuality

Descriere

Sanctified Sex draws on two thousand years of rabbinic debates to address competing aspirations for loving intimacy, passionate sexual union, and sanctity in marriage.

Papetărie, jocuri, reviste