Sexuality and Holiness

On six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a sabbath of complete rest, holy to the LORD; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.

(10) and the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and warn them to remain holy (sometimes translated as pure) today and tomorrow. Let them wash their clothes. (11) Let them be ready for the third day; for on the third day the LORD will come down, in the sight of all the people, on Mount Sinai.

(14) Moses came down from the mountain to the people and warned the people to stay pure, and they washed their clothes. (15) And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day: do not go near a woman.”

(10) whoever desecrates that day, whoever lies with a woman .. shall surely die.

§ The Sages taught that Ezra the Scribe instituted ten ordinances.... and one eats garlic on Shabbat eve. .. And that one should eat garlic Shabbat eve. This is due to the fact that garlic enhances sexual potency, and Friday night is an appropriate time for conjugal relations. As it is written concerning the righteous: “And he shall be like a tree planted by streams of water, who brings forth his fruit in his season” (Psalms 1:3); and Rabbi Yehuda says, and some say it was Rav Naḥman, and some say it was Rav Kahana, and some say it was Rabbi Yoḥanan who said: This is referring to one who engages in sexual intercourse every Shabbat eve. The Sages taught in a baraita that five matters were stated with regard to garlic: It satisfies; it warms the body; it causes one’s countenance to shine; it increases one’s sperm, and it kills lice that are in the intestines. And some say that it also instills love into those who eat it and removes jealousy from them.

§ The mishna teaches that she eats with him from one Shabbat evening to the next. The Gemara asks: What is the meaning of the phrase: She eats, in this context? Rav Naḥman said: It means literally that she eats with him once a week. Rav Ashi said: This is referring to sexual relations.

(1) (Bamidbar 12:1) "And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses" How did Miriam know that Moses had ceased from marital relations (with his wife Tzipporah)? Seeing that Tzipporah did not adorn herself as other (married) women did, she asked her for the cause and was told: "Your brother is not 'particular' about this thing" (intercourse, [being constantly "on call" for the word of G-d]). Thus Miriam learned of the matter. She apprised Aaron of it and they both spoke of it.

Rabbi Nathan says Miriam was beside Zipporah at the moment that it was said, “And the youth ran [and told to Moses and said that Eldad and Medad were prophesying in the camp (Num 11.27)]” because she [Miriam] heard Zipporah say, “Oy for the wives of those men!” And thus Miriam knew.

This is one of the things that Moses did on his own and his opinion matched the opinion of God ... He separated from his wife, and his opinion agreed with the opinion of God. How so? [Moses] said, "What if Israel, who are not נתקדשו [nitqadshu] except for the hour שעה לפי [lefi sha’ah], and are not called but in order to receive upon themselves the ten commandments from Sinai (for the Holy Blessed One, said to me, 'go to the people and sanctify them (וקדשתם) today and tomorrow’; and I, who am called to this every day at every hour and I do not know when God will speak with me -- in the morning or in the night -- isn't it more important for me to separate from my wife?" And his opinion agreed with the opinion of God.

R. Yehudah ben Batera said: Moses did not separate from his wife until he was told so by the Almight, as it says, "I will speak with him mouth to mouth." Mouth to mout I said to him "Separate from your wife" and he separated.

There are those who say that Moses did not separate from his wife until it was told to him from the mouth of the Almighty as it is said, “Go tell them: ‘Return to your tents,’” and it is written afterwards, “And you stand here by me.” (Deut V, 27-28). He returned back and separated from his wife. And his opinion agreed with the opinion of God.

(12) Zavim, Zavot, Niddot, and women who gave birth are permitted to read the Torah and to learn Mishna, Midrash, laws, and Aggadot. But men who had a seminal emission (Baalei Keraim) are forbidden in all of them.

(4) A Ba'al Keri [someone subject to a certain form of ritual impurity] should recite Shema in his mind and should not bless [its blessings whatsoever], not before and not after it. And on food he should bless after it and not bless before it. Rabbi Yehudah says: He should bless before and after them [Shema and food].

It was taught that Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira would say: Matters of Torah do not become ritually impure and therefore one who is impure is permitted to engage in Torah study. It happened with a student who was reciting mishnayot and baraitot hesitantly before the study hall of Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira. The student experienced a seminal emission, and when he was asked to recite he did so in a rushed, uneven manner, as he did not want to utter the words of Torah explicitly. Rabbi Yehuda said to him: My son, open your mouth and let your words illuminate, as matters of Torah do not become ritually impure, as it is stated: “Is not my word like fire, says the Lord” (Jeremiah 23:29). Just as fire does not become ritually impure, so too matters of Torah do not become ritually impure.

The Sages taught: One who experienced a seminal emission who had nine kav of drawn water poured over him, that is sufficient to render him ritually pure and he need not immerse himself in a ritual bath. Naḥum of Gam Zo whispered this halakha to Rabbi Akiva, and Rabbi Akiva whispered it to his student ben Azzai, and ben Azzai went out and taught it to his students publicly in the marketplace. Two amora’im in Eretz Yisrael, Rabbi Yosei bar Avin and Rabbi Yosei bar Zevida, disagreed: One taught: Ben Azzai taught it to his students in the market. And the other taught: Ben Azzai also whispered it. The Sage who taught that ben Azzai taught the law openly in the market held that the leniency was due to concern that the halakhot requiring ritual immersion would promote dereliction in the study of Torah and derliction in the commandment to procreate, as one might abstain from marital relations to avoid the immersion required thereafter. And the Sage, who taught that ben Azzai only whispered this halakha to his students, held that he did so in order that Torah scholars would not be with their wives like roosters.