In the Zohar
The Zohar takes this whole theme one step further, exacerbating the extent of the transgression. According to particular parts of the Zohar (the Zohar is not written as one unit, with research suggesting that different parts were written by different men and different times, without complete consistency), masturbation is worse than murder, for murderers “kill others, but this is killing your own children, and a massacre at that.” Therefore, “There is no sin in the world for which there is not repentance – except this.” (Targum 41, 219b).
One who wastes his seed is like a father who murders his own children, and this is the only sin in the world for which there is no repentance! In another section of the Zohar, we’ll see clearly an approach that treats semen itself as holy, leaving any misuse squandering of it into a sin – with the actual intent of the Jewish man involved fully irrelevant:
“Anyone who ejaculates in vain will not merit to see the face of the Shechina (Divine Presence) and is called evil . . .” – this refers to someone who ejaculates by use of his hand or some other way . . . Therefore, a man must petition God that He will prepare for him a “kosher vessel”, so that he will not cause injury to his descendants – for one who ejaculates with an “unkosher vessel” will injure his descendants. Woe to someone who injures his own descendants!
Now pay attention: According to this text, even those who ejaculate during intercourse with a woman still retain the stigma of “ejaculating in vain.” In other words, what is significant is the semen itself, and not the intent of the person, for we are not speaking here at all of actual masturbation.
But despite this citation, most statements in the Zohar do deal with the intent of the person. Thus, when the Zohar decides that a person who awakens out of a sexual desire for Naama (the name of a particular demoness – i.e. he wakes up from an erotic dream) and sleeps with his wife, the child thereby born will belong to the Impure Side. In other words, the impure desire is determinant, and not the action itself (for it was sex with his perfectly fine wife).
Unlike its treatment of other mitzvot, the Zohar does not engage with the question of how masturbation affects the Sefirot, leaving it unclear how the upper realms are affected by this sin. It is perhaps for this reason the status of this sin in the Zohar’s system remains unclear. It is only with the Arizal that a complete connection is made between semen itself and divinity.
Celebrating 10 Years & Marking the End of An Amazing Project
Celebrating 10 Years & Marking the End of An Amazing Project
I attended and participated in last month’s Jewrotica event. The engaging performers and Ayo, our inviting host, inspired the audience to feel like one big community. What a great way to inspire our community to embrace sex as a beautiful thing that can be fun, exciting, sacred, sensual, ridiculous, scary and everything in between!
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’.
Jewrotica is inspiring Jews and erotica with holiness and coolness, and is the pride of progressive Judaism. Jewrotica – awesome!
Jewrotica was everything I had dreamed of and more: sexy attendees, tantalizing confessions, and well-written literature to boot! More importantly, it empowers us Jews to reach inside and own our sexy selves and heritage!
I’m so glad that Jewrotica is represented here at Jewlicious! It’s bringing voices that need to be heard in the Jewish discussion and Jewish climate environment.
While many people fear the “sex talk,” Jewrotica offers an opportunity for writers and audiences to speak about sexuality in a open and safe space. When I attended a Jewrotica reading, I heard stories that reminded me that love takes many forms, and that expressing it is a vital part of who we are as a people.
Jewrotica rocks. It’s funny, it’s informative, it’s sexy, it’s interesting. Check it out!
I’m Heshy Fried from Frum Satire and I am very, very frum. And I completely support Jewrotica – it’s doing a service to the frum community. We need some sort of kosher sexual education. Jewrotica even has a system that allows frum filters to filter out certain things to make it PG for us. It’s mamish Torah. It’s like The Little Midrash Says for sex.
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
Jewrotica is something that the community has needed for a long time so that people can actually learn, express and share and have good relationships without having to stumble through life. Check out the site and learn something. Have fun!
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