Written by Shayna Abramson. To read Shayna’s essay on the the practice of shomer negiah within the Orthodox Jewish community, check out her article in the Jewrotica Reflections section.
Shmuley had been training for this assignment for months. Every morning, he had listened to shiurim by the rebbe on his way to the school where the eighth-grade boys he taught Bible to had jerk-off contests in the bathroom. Every night, he had read from the Ten Commandments before going to sleep.
Only when he felt Esther’s palm at the nape of his neck would he close his book and turn off the light. The rabbis had decreed that a man should not see his woman naked – who knew what flaws he might find? Better to feel for each other’s flesh in the dark, like humans trying to find the Light of God in this world of darkness. That’s what it was all about anyway, divesting our world of its physical shell that blinded. He told this to Esther sometimes, while he was peeling potatoes and she was seasoning the chicken, but she just shook her head.
Once, she asked, “If you’re supposed to be getting rid of the physical, why do you like sex?” He hadn’t really had an answer, but he had trouble keeping it up for two weeks after that. By then, Esther had her period and they couldn’t touch each other anyway, so it was time for a little visit to sites like www.nu-bay.com and similar.
Of course, the main part had not been listening to the lectures, but rather getting permission from the rabbi.
“You are going there to enlighten these people?”
Shmuley nodded.
“And they’re all yids, the entire nudist colony?”
“I think they’re just seeking a connection.”
The rabbi stroked his beard. His chin was unfortunately shaped a bit like a penis, so to Shmuley it looked as if he were masturbating, and he kept on thinking about how anything would be better than to go back to those kids. Just yesterday, he had caught Jacob looking at porn on his iPad during class. He didn’t send him to the principal’s office though. What would happen to a kid like that, if he got expelled? He’d go off the derech for sure.
Celebrating 10 Years & Marking the End of An Amazing Project
Celebrating 10 Years & Marking the End of An Amazing Project
Learning about sex and what’s right and wrong when it comes to sex from a Biblical standpoint was an eye opening experience. I completely enjoyed it and think something like this could be a very cool thing to bring to even high school aged Jewish youth groups.
Jewrotica is a great way to ask interesting questions about the interplay between sensuality and Jewish wisdom. Check it out.
My opinion on Jewrotica is: It’s sexy. It’s awesome. It’s Judaism to the next level. It’s what we should all be getting into!
The people behind Jewrotica are quite quality! I have confidence that any project these folks take on will be equally quality.
At Jewrotica’s Evening of Bedside Readings, students declaimed monologues on sexual encounters that had a Jewish twist. At Columbia/Barnard Hillel, the speakers pushed their own boundaries by performing a range of explicit narratives that challenged how the audience thought of the relationship to Judaism and sex. During the speakers’ preparation, the arguments about which narratives would be appropriate forced students to take a stand and voice their opinion on their own beliefs about Judaism an… Read more
I stepped out of my comfort zone to be a part of this. I was glad to open up the topic of sexuality in my community. We are trying to build a safe space to talk about sex. The result I am most happy about coming from this event is that hopefully now my friends know they can come and talk to me, that I can be their ‘safe space’.
What an incredible night Jewrotica was!!!! There was this fantastic moment, in a sea of Jews of all sexualities, ages, backgrounds and denominations, that I realized we were all in this together! I hope that there are many more events coming to Austin soon!
Jewrotica is awesome. It expands the mind and for people who were raised with narrow views on sexuality. Whether you are Jewish or not, or in different sects of Judaism like Orthodox, Conservative or Reform, no matter what your background or where you’re from, Jewrotica gets you to see Judaism and how it relates to sexuality in new ways. I really appreciate Ayo being here and helping us learn different ways to connect with our sexuality.
I’m into Jewrotica. I went in for my second circumcision.
Jewrotica is inspiring Jews and erotica with holiness and coolness, and is the pride of progressive Judaism. Jewrotica – awesome!
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