The Zohar and Lurianic Kabbalah

The influence of the Zohar on the future attitude of Jewish religious thinking regarding masturbation would be impossible to overstate.  I struggled for a while trying to decide how to present this material in a blog post, as the Zohar devotes an immense amount of attention to this subject.  I decided to give brief summaries of the basic concepts found in the Zohar, and I quoted the sources for those who want to do more research on their own.  To translate and quote each idea would make this a very long post indeed.

The Zohar's teachings on the subject of spilling seed is to be understood as a direct result of how the Zohar understands procreation in general.  Most importantly, it is based on the way the Kabbalists explained the origins of semen, and the process of bringing a new soul from the spiritual world into the physical world. I recommend that you review my summary of the Sefer HaBahir in the last post.  Everything else flows from there.  

No Seed is ever a "Waste"

Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the approach of the Zohar is the Zohar's rejection of the idea that masturbation is prohibited because of "wasting seed". The Zohar attaches such an intense importance to the act of procreation, that it would be impossible to assume that when one ejaculates that nothing important is going on. since the seed is endowed with a soul, it can't be that it is just being wasted.  Instead, the Zohar introduces an entirely different concept. When one ejaculates in the context of normal vaginal intercourse with his spouse, the soul that his seed is endowed with is holy, and implants in his wife to develop into a holy child.  However, the Zohar teaches, that when one masturbates, or has any other sort of prohibited sexual intercourse, the "soul" endowed in his semen is an evil spirit.  Although these evil spirits may not be visible to the naked eye, they indeed are created and they accompany this person throughout his life and indeed even after his death.   This has many important ramifications that we shall discuss.

The Evil Spirits Haunt Their "Creator" 

The Zohar describes in several places the punishments in store for one who ejaculates in any context other than "normal" intercourse with his spouse (see Zohar 2:263b for example)  These evil angels have become his tormentors, and they will haunt him forever. So the act of ejaculation always creates a spiritual being, it just depends on the individual if that will be a holy being or an evil one.  

Note how different this is from the term Rashi used in the "Rashi on the Rif" that we quoted earlier.  There he wrote that "wasting seed" that could have potentially been a child is destructive because it is "wasted." This sounds like a potential human being has been lost, but nothing else was created in its' stead.  However, the Zohar is more concerned about the actual evil creations that the spilled seed is responsible for creating.

Masturbation Becomes One of the Arayot

Another result of the Zohar's conception of ejaculation, is the reclassification of masturbation in the category of one of the forbidden sexual relationships.  The Zohar spiritualizes the act of illicitly ejaculating semen that is not in the context of "normal" procreative intercourse with a spouse.  Since all such acts create evil spirits and demons, they are all similar sins.  For example, in Zohar 2:264a it is lumped together with bestiality, forbidden relationships, and more.

No Path for Repentance

In several locations, the Zohar makes an extraordinary and frightening claim, and unlike all other sins, masturbation is unique in that the perpetrator is denied the ability to repent.  This conclusion follows from the Zohar's understanding of this act.  Since each "seed" is a potential holy child, when has has the wrong intentions and spills the seed, that child is therefore "killed" and in its' stead an evil angel is born.  How could there ever be penance for such an act? In the Zohar 1:219b it is explicitly stated that for this sin alone, there is no repentance available.  Indeed, the violator is even worse than one who murders another person, for which there may be repentance available.  As he is killing his own children!  The Zohar uses this identical language in Zohar 2:3b to describe an abortion, indicated that the Zohar equated the two.  Interestingly, this is the only reference in the entire Zohar to abortions.  (See my previous posts regarding the comparison between "wasting seed" and abortions.)

If this idea sounds remarkable to you, let me emphasize that the Zohar asserts this claim in several places, including at length in Zohar 1:61b-62a.  However, in Zohar 2:214b, the Zohar seems to state that repentance is possible, though there the reference is to the sin of "Pegam HaBrit" (which we first saw introduced by Rabbi Joseph Gikatilla) which includes sexual sins other than masturbation as well.  Regardless, the fact remains that in several places the Zohar stated unequivocally that Teshuva - repentance is impossible.

Hotza'at Zera Becomes More Inclusive

Just as the idea of Pegam HaBrit found its' way into the Zohar, so did the idea expressed in the Igeret haKodesh that Hotza'at Zera Le'Vatalah could refer to any type of intercourse that isn't proper, even if it is normal vaginal intercourse. (see Zohar 3:90a).  If the intentions aren't proper, or the relationship is inappropriate, evil spirits are created instead of a child, and one is guilty of spilling seed.

Creating Holy Angels 

This idea of the Zohar does explain one conundrum that was a problem when we explained Rabbeinu Tam earlier on.  If "wasting seed" is a problem because a potential child is being "destroyed, then how can any intercourse be permitted when a child cannot result?  How could one have sexual relations with one's spouse if she is pregnant or postmenopausal for example? If you recall, Rabbeinu Tam explained this by differentiating between "normal intercourse" and "not normal intercourse", but this still left us wondering why that would be. 

However, the Zohar has a convenient explanation for this.  Just as when one "spills seed" he creates spiritual demons that he cannot see, so to when one has appropriate "normal" intercourse with one's spouse, they create holy angels that cannot be seen.  So any intercourse that is appropriate is never a "waste".  (See Zohar 3:167b - 168a).

There are many other ideas expressed by the Zohar on this topic, but I think we should move on to the next major step in the history of the influence of Kabbalah on the laws of spilling seed.  That step is the established of the next great Kabbalistic movement, that of Lurianic Kabbalah in Safed.  

The Mystics of Safed and the Canonization of the Zohar

Tragically, not long after the publication of the Zohar, the Jewish world was crushed by the horrific tragedy of the Spanish inquisition and the expulsion from Spain. Of the Spanish Jewish refugees, some eventually made their way to Safed in the Galilee region of Israel. Along with the refugees also went the wisdom of the Spanish kabbalists, especially the book of the Zohar. In Safed the school that became known as the Lurianic school was to become the dominant force in Jewish mysticism until the Hassidic movement in Eastern Europe in the 18th century.  Among the key figures in this school were none other than Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz (1500-1576, the author of the famous Lecha Dodi sung in synagogues on Friday night),  Rabbi Moshe Cordovero (1522-1570, the teacher of Rabbi Isaac Luria and considered the founder of the Lurianic school), Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534-1572, also known as the Arizal, perhaps the most famous of the Safed Kabbalists and after whom the Lurianic school was named), and  Rabbi Chaim Vital (1542-1620, the Arizal's most important disciple, and the one who recorded in writing the teachings of the Safed school).

It is not necessary for us to delve deeply at this time into the philosophy and teachings of the Lurianic school.  Regarding the issue of masturbation specifically the Lurianic school continued to develop the same basic themes that we mentioned in our discussion of the Zohar.  However, what the Lurianic school did accomplish was that the Zohar became established in the Jewish canon of standard rabbinic texts. The scholars of Safed were responsible for making the Zohar accepted almost universally in the rabbinic world as a work with origins as ancient as the Mishna and Talmud, rather than a product of medieval Spain.

Among all of the famous scholars of this period in Safed, the most important figure for the purposes of our investigation, is Rabbi Yosef Karo (RYK) (1488-1575), the author of the Beit Yosef and Shulchan Arukh. These Halachic works, perhaps with the exception of Maimonides Mishnah Torah, had more influence on the development of Halacha than any other work in Jewish history.  Rabbi Yosef Karo was also a Kabbalist of note, and absorbed the Lurianic system of Kabballah directly from its' masters in Safed.  

RYK brought the Zohar to bear directly on his Halachic treatment of the topic of spilling seed.  However, before we see how, we will need to leave the Kabbalistic universe and go back to the parallel Halachic universe that we left behind a few posts ago.  We have to follow the Halacha through the Rosh, the Tur and then we will see how the Beit Yosef took the Halachic world of the Tur, and the Kabbalistic world of the Zohar and brought them together. 

 

The Spanish Kabbalists, the Science of Semen, Pegam HaBrit and more Concepts are Born

While the Halachic world was evolving its definition of "Hashchatat Zera" and eventually  codifying it as law, the parrallel world of Kabballah was coming into its own as a major force in Jewish religious life.  We have already discussed the Chasidei Ashkenaz in France and Germany who were an important influence in the early "pre-Zohar" development of Jewish mysticism or Kabbalah. However, as great as the influence of the Chasidei Ashkenaz was, it is nothing compared to the influence of the Spanish Kabbalistic masters. This movement reached its apex with the publication of the Zohar by Rabbi Moshe de Leon in the late 13th century.  It would be impossible to overstate the sea change in Judaism that the Zohar was going to cause.

The subject of the true author and origins of the Zohar is not one I plan on dealing with here.  For our purposes, it is simply important to note that it was publicized in the late 13th century. For more on this subject, Rabbi Natan Slifkin has a few citations here that might help you begin to research the topic.  Today's post will be devoted to pre-Zohar Kabbalistic writings.  These were mostly works that began to appear in the 12th and 13th century Spain and were the milieu within which the Zohar appeared at the end of the 13th century.  The famous Kabbalistic scholars of this time in Spain that I will mention (or already have mentioned) in this blog include:

1. Rabbi Isaac the Blind (1160-1235) while he was a Rabbi in Provence, Southern France, he was very much in the Spanish "camp" being the son of the famous Ra'avad (yes, the same ra'avad who wrote the glosses on Maimonides' Mishna Torah), and Provence was close to Spain, geographically, culturally, and religiously
2. Rabbi Ezra ben Solomon of Gerona (mid-12^th century to 1245?) Student of Rabbi Isaac the Blind, possible author for many Kabbalistic texts of the period that are unattributed.
3. Rabbi Joseph ben Avraham Gikatilla (1248-1305?) (author of Sefer Ginat Egoz and others)
4. Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (1194-1270), also known as Nachmanides, or the "Ramban" who was clearly the most famous of all of the Spanish kabbalists. He was probably the most important scholar that legitimized the study of Kabballah and brought it into the mainstream.  He flourished during the years immediately prior to the publication of the Zohar.  There is no evidence that he ever saw the Zohar, though there are certainly parallels between his writings and the Zohar.  While various traditions and stories abound about his possible involvement with the Zohar, there is no way to prove any of them correct.
5. Rabbi Joseph of Shushan (1260's? - 1340's?) who was a Castilian Kabbalist who almost certainly did not come from Shushan (in Persia) at all, and generally assumed to be one of the scholars involved in writing of or editing of the Zohar along with Rabbi Moshe de Leon
6. Rabbi Moshe de Leon (RMDL) (1240-1305) Most famous as the one who publicized the Zohar.  Many scholars attribute the authorship of the Zohar to him, and to the group of kabbalists who gathered around him. However, it was presented by RMDL as an ancient work written in the Tannaitic period by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai.  

I am going to reference several Kabbalistic works of this period which have significant bearing on this subject.

Sefer HaBahir

This work is traditionally attributed to Rabbi Nehunia ben Hakaneh, a venerable sage from the Mishnaic period in the first century, hence it is also known as the Midrash Rabbi Nehunya ben Hakaneh. The Ramban accepted this identification of authorship of the Sefer Habahir. However, it first appeared in public in the Provence school of Kabbalists (remember how I told you before that the Provence school and the Spanish schools were closely related) sometime late in the 12 ^th century.  Some scholars have attributed its’ authorship to Rabbi Isaac the Blind, while others claim that it is based on pieces of earlier Kabbalistic works that go back at least to the time of the Geonim.

The Sefer Habahir does not discuss masturbation. However, it is nonetheless extremely important to understanding how the Kabbalah deals with the issue of ejaculation, insemination, and procreation.  The Sefer HaBahir, as you shall see, lays the foundation upon which almost all of “Zoharic” and “Lurianic” Kabbalah is built when it comes to the issue of the “male seed”.

In Kabbalistic thought, the acts of human beings reflect the spiritual realms above, and the most important manifestation of this is in the act of creation of a human being. When a man has intercourse with his wife, he is engaged in an act of creation.  While the soul comes from above, his acts are what brings that soul from God into this world.  The man is the giver, and the woman is the acceptor.  

The Sefer haBahir (In Piska 46, Abrams edition 1994) describes the semen as a product of the entire human body. This directly reflects the contemporaneous medical understandings of the origins of the sperm. His entire body produces seed, which is then coalesced in the brain, and then after it is all gathered into a seed and the soul is attached to the seed through his holy thoughts and intentions, it travels through the spinal cord, into the penis, and then into the receptacle, which is the woman’s vagina.  This is kabbalistic science of reproduction 101.

If he has holy and proper thoughts, than when the seed coalesces in his brain, it will be given a new holy soul by God, and that soul will be implanted into the woman to grow.  If he does not have holy thoughts that soul may be a reincarnation of someone who needs punishment, or an evil soul or something else.

This concept is very important to understand, as it is going to seriously affect how the “spilling of seed” is going to be dealt with in all subsequent Kabbalistic literature.  It is also fascinating how what as essentially a secular concept of understanding became a mystical concept with such power and influence over the Halacha.  The ideas expressed above have their origins in Hippocrates, Aristotle, Plato, Democritus, Galen, and other medieval scholars/philosophers/physicians who followed in their footsteps.

Iggeret HaKodesh

The Iggeret Hakodesh (IH) was an extremely important document that almost certainly arose sometime during this period in Spain, probably sometime during the 12 ^th century.  Its authorship has been variously attributed to the Ramban, Rabbi Joseph ben Avraham Gikatilla, Rabbi Ezra ben Solomon of Gerona, and others.  This letter was heavily influenced by the Kabbalistic beliefs about sexual relationships, and had a significant impact for many centuries to come.

Partly as a consequence of the understanding of sex that we described above from the Sefer HaBahir, the holiness of the sex act is obvious.  The author of the IH did not appreciate the austere and scientific attitude of the philosophers like Maimonides who felt that the act of sex was somehow a base and lowly act that may even have negative health impacts.  For a kabbalist, the act of intimate relations between husband and wife was purely holy and special, and should be treated as such.

However, as the seed coalesced in the brain, and was endowed with the soul from God Himself, it was considered crucial that only proper thoughts of holiness and love were present.  If one’s mind was full of bad thoughts and intentions, or if the relationship was improper, bad things would result.  The IH then makes a claim which doesn’t fit well with the Talmud, but fits very well with this understanding of the IH.

… (after explaining the holiness of a proper sexual act and the resulting seed with a holy soul) ... But when a person does not have proper heavenly intentions, that seed which is drawn from him is a putrid drop, and it is called destroying seed upon the land (as stated by the generation of the flood), and the entire resulting seed is for naught and it plants an asheira (an idol-tree) … because it is a deficient seed … and God has no part of this … (IH, in Kitvei HaRamban, Chavel edition page 326

This really changes the concept of “wasting seed’ as it understands that even in normal intercourse, with the wrong intentions, it would be considered “wasting seed” as well.  But more importantly, we can really start to understand why the later kabbalists were so against wasting seed.  If this seed was truly a product of the entire body endowed with a soul by God, it makes sense that they would consider “destroying” the seed to be a grave sin.  Furthermore, although most scholars don’t believe that the Ramban was the author of the IH, it is not surprising that both the IH and the Ramban understood that the was the sin of the generation of the flood.   If any improper sexual behavior is in the category of “wasting seed”, then when the Torah says that the generation of the flood was “hishchitu darkam” (corrupt ways) that this was in the Ramban’s Kabbalistic mind the same as saying that they wasted seed.

Furthermore, when the IH mentions the “putrid drop” he is clearly referring to the Mishna in Avot as follows:

Akavyah ben Mahalalel said: mark well three things and you will not come into the power of sin: Know from where you come, and where you are going, and before whom you are destined to give an account and reckoning. From where do you come? From a putrid drop … (Avot 3:1)

While this is a not specifically a halachic statement, it certainly does not sound like Akavyah ben Mahalalel had this lofty view of the holiness of semen like the Kabbalists were describing.  In order to answer this seeming contradiction, the IH tells us that it depends on your thoughts. If your thoughts are holy, the seed is holy, if your thoughts are impure, then it is a “putrid drop”  

Rabbi Joseph Gikatilla (RJG) and “Pegam HaBrit”

While RJG does not speak directly about the specific prohibition of “wasting seed”, he is the origin of another Kabbalistic concept which had much influence on the later Kabbalistic ideas regarding this subject.

In his work Sha’arei orah 24a-b, he introduces the Kabbalistic concept that eventually became called “Pogem Be’brit” or defiling the covenant.  This is the idea that when one commits a sexual sin, he is defiling the covenant which is represented by his circumcision. This idea had huge influence on later Chassidic thought, especially in that of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov. RJG applies this idea even to improperly touching oneself when urinating and more.

Rabbi Moshe de Leon (RMDL) and Rabbi Joseph of Shushan (RJS)

Both RJS and RMDL were involved in the group of Kabbalists from whom the Zohar emerged.  Obviously it was RMDL who ultimately brought the Zohar to the attention of the general public. In their own personal writings, both of them addressed the topic of wasting seed and RMDL devoted quite an extensive amount of writing to the subject. The take home message from their writings is that the topic of wasting seed in their writings went from being a side note regarding proper sexual behavior to being a full blown major subject whose importance and severity expanded into areas completely unimaginable in the corpus of Jewish literature in previous times.  RJS for examples lumped bestiality and masturbation in the same category of corruption, while RMDL devoted chapters of thought on all of the terrible consequences of the sin. 

Ultimately though, it was the book that these scholars revealed to the world that was going to change everything, the Zohar. We will deal with this in the upcoming post.

The Transition to one of the Ten Commandments - Rabbeinu Yona of Gerondi, the Semak, and more

The influence of the Chasidei Ashkenaz was not limited to French and German Jewry.  Their Sephardic brethren to the South were in close contact, and students would travel in both directions from Spain to France and Germany to study under the great masters of each of these schools.  The most famous, and arguably the most important Spanish scholar to attend a yeshiva among the Tosafists in France was Rabbi Jonah ben Abraham of Gerona (1200-1263), also known as "Rabbeinu Yonah" (RY).  RY, became a bridge between the more mystical, and less "rationalistic" thinkers of the Tosafists, and the more "rationalistic" and worldly Spanish scholars.  This impact was going to be profound and extremely important in understanding how Halacha in general developed over time. This impact was obviously much broader than just on the issue of masturbation, but we can almost use this topic as a case study for the development of Halacha in general.

In his early life as a young yeshiva student, the young RY was a member of one of the greatest rabbinic families in the history of Jewish Spain. His first cousin was none other than Nachmanides, Rabbi Moses ben Nachman, also known as "the Ramban", perhaps the greatest Spanish Rabbi of all time (Nachmanides' mother was the sister of Rabbi Abraham - Rabbi Jonah's father).  The young Jonah went to study in France at the Yeshiva of Evreux in Normandy, France.  The leaders of the yeshiva in Evreux were the two brothers Rabbi Samuel ben Shneur and Rabbi Moses ben Shneur of Evreux.  Both were well known Tosafists, and both were heavily influenced by the dominant social and religious force in Ashkenazic Jewry at the time, the movement of the Chasidei Ashkenaz.  It was here that Rabbeinu Yonah absorbed the spirit of the "Ashkenazim".  He later went south, closer to his native Spain, and studied under another Tosafist, Solomon ben Abraham of Montpellier, also known as "Rabbi Shlomo min Ha'har " (Rabbi Solomon "from the mountain"). The geography is very important here, because Montpellier is in southern France, much closer to Spain than Evreux, and was a point of frequent contact between the Tosafists and their Spanish brethren.  

The clash over the works of Maimonides is of course the most famous result, and one of the most catastrophic events in the history of Jewish scholarship in the middle ages.  RY's life and legacy is almost defined by this event.  Imbued with the mystical and more literalistic teachings of the Tosafists, it is not hard to understand how Rabbeinu Yonah initially reacted to the much more rationalistic and philosophical ideas of Maimonides.  This dispute spilled into the public arena, and tragically led to the involvement of the French Catholic authorities.  The French Church was quite happy to join in the condemnation of the philosophical works of Maimonides, considered to be the greatest Jewish scholar of the middle ages, perhaps the greatest of all time.  Largely due to the instigation of RY, the French authorities publicly burned the works of Maimonides in Paris in 1233.

The Jewish public was horrified by this defilement of one of the greatest Jewish leaders of all time.  Their anger was directed against RY for instigating this horrific desecration.  To his credit, RY took responsibility for the desecration, and he stood up publicly in front of the Synagogue in Montpellier and expressed remorse over his terrible mistake.  He spent the rest of his life studying and teaching the works of Maimonides and devoted himself to teaching repentance and fighting for social justice. He promised to travel to Israel to the grave of Maimonides to beg his forgiveness, but unfortunately died along the way.

Although he did not make it to Maimonides' grave, he did leave behind a great legacy for us all.  He taught us that even after doing a terrible deed, one can devote himself to good.  He left behind perhaps the most famous work in the Jewish literature on the subject of repentance, "Sha'arei Teshuvah", "the Gates of Repentance". His teachings on social justice have had a lasting impact.

In his work, Sha'arei Teshuva, he lists the sins for which one incurs the penalty of "Mitah Ba'Yedey Shamayim" or "death by heavenly decree" (MBS).  RY divides MBS into two categories, those sins that incur MBS which are listed as such by Chazal, and those which are not listed by Chazal but can be derived from other sources.  Among the sins which he derives from other sources, he lists masturbation as follows:

.... One who has sexual relations with a child, and one who has sex with his hand or foot (presumably by sexual contact with another but not actual intercourse), and our rabbis of Blessed memory stated that his punishment is like the punishment of the generation of the flood because they ruined their normal way (and had sex with children and sexual encounters with others by using their hands etc..) and similarly someone who does the actions of Er and Onan, where they withdraw and ejaculate in order to destroy the seed incurs the death penalty, as it states, "and it was bad in the eyes of God that which he did (Onan) and he killed him as well" and this refers also to those that emit semen for naught ...(Sha'arei Teshuva 3:112)

It is important to note that RY has divided this sin into two categories, the first is referring to sexual abuse of children, and promiscuous sex with others that involves ejaculation through using "hands and feet" or any sort of sexual activity other than vaginal intercourse.  This was how he understood the sin of the words "Hishchitu Darkam" or they "ruined their normal way" of the generation of the flood.  The second category was the emission of semen for naught, in which he included withdrawal prior to ejaculation, and anyone who "spills seed".  In the Sefer Hayirah, RY makes it clear that he understands that there is a separate sin of spilling seed even in the context of an appropriate relationship:

...(when one is having relations with his wife) he should not intend to do the act just for his pleasure (but rather with the intent of fulfilling the mitzvah) and he should be as cautious as he possibly can be not to emit his semen for naught... (Sefer hayirah p50)

We can derive several innovations from RY, which further advanced the prohibition of "spilling seed" in these very significant ways:

1. RY has now officially declared that there is a separate sin of "spilling seed" that is not related to the immorality issue or the issue of not fulfilling the mitzvah of procreation. In this he follows that lead of Rabbeinu Tam (RT), but takes it further than RT, as in the following item #2
2. Unlike RT who assumed that the sin of spilling seed was related to the mitzvah of procreation, RY now has stated that it has its' origins in the sin of Er and Onan.
3. Now that spilling seed is related to Er and Onan, he incurs the punishment of MBS, the heavenly death penalty.  RY is the first to directly relate the death penalty to spilling seed.
4. RY therefore also concludes that this sin of spilling seed applies even in a normal marital relationship

It is truly astonishing how an activity that was completely permitted by the Rambam, Tosafot Rid, Ri Hazaken, has now been declared an actual Torah prohibition with the death penalty.

The final step in the evolution of the prohition was to use the term first found in Rashi, "Hashchata" and to translate the two places in Genesis where this term is used as a reference to the sin of spilling seed. Those two places are:

When God saw how corrupt the earth was, for all flesh had corrupted its ways on earth (Genesis 6:12)

But Onan, knowing that the seed would not count as his, wasted to the ground whenever he joined with his brother’s wife, so as not to provide offspring for his brother. (Genesis 38:9)

Until now the term Hashchata when used in reference to the flood, was understood to mean a general immorality or "corruption".  The term as used in the story of Onan, clearly referred to the withdrawal method, and the problem was understood as a rejection of the purpose of a relationship, to procreate. Onan had made it into a purely sexual relationship, and he refused to have children with her.  However, now the term "Hashchata" means "spilling seed".  

The logical next step is to assume that even the generation of the flood was killed because of masturbation.  RY's first cousin, Nachmanides (Ramban) does exactly that in his commentary to the Talmudic passage in Yevamot, where Rabbeinu Tam first raised the idea that "spilling seed" in and of itself was a sin.  Ramban disagrees with RT's assertion that the source of the sin is from the mitzvah of procreation, from which he derived that only men are prohibited from destroying seed and not women. Rather, Ramban says that the prohibition derives from the generation of the flood, which included the entire generation, men and women.

The first strictly Halachic work that finally codified this new understanding was the "Sefer Mitzvot Katan, known as the "Semak" by R' Isaac ben Joseph of Corbeil (d.1280). He writes:

One may not destroy seed, as it says "One may not commit adultery - one should not give pleasure to the nose, like those who emit seed with their hands and feet, and regarding this the Rabbis taught, One may not commit adultery - this is a warning to someone who helps others commit adultery. and when one destroys seed, he is (violating) something for which he incurs the death penalty, as it says (by Onan) and God killed him as well... (Sefer Mitzvot Katan, Lo Ta'aseh 292)

The Semak is the final step in the process that begun with Rashi using the term "hashchata", destroying seed.  The main points we learn from the Semak's few words are as follows:

1. The sin referred to in the Gemara Nidah of Hotza'at Zera Le'Vatalah is synonymous with Hashchatat Zera - "destroying seed"
2. The origin is in two Rabbinic interpretations of one of the ten commandments, "Lo Tinaf" Thou shalt not commit adultery
3. Spilling seed and the death penalty has now been codified in a halachic work.

I cannot complete this post without commenting on the two sources that the Semak used to relate wasting seed to the commandment of adultery go without comment.

His first was from Pesikta Rabbati 24.  The Pesikta there presents a play on the words "Lo Tinaf" and derives from there the lesson, "Lo Teheneh L'af” which I translated as "don’t give pleasure to the nose". I know this sounds strange to those not familiar with rabbinic exegesis. What they meant to say was that "the nose" is a reference to God's anger.  The context of the Pesikta there to learn a lesson from the commandment not to do things that will make God angry.  Based on the context, it would mean not to engage in things which may not exactly be adultery but can lead to an atmosphere that would make God upset, presumably because it could lead to adultery occurring.  The Semak is deriving from here that wasting seed is a sin.

The second was from the Talmud Shevuot 47b.  Here again the Talmud was using classic Rabbinic exegesis to derive a lesson: 

Shimon ben Tarfon said, There is a warning (in the Torah) against one being an accomplice to an adulterer, as its states, Lo Tonaf (which can also be read as) Lo Tannif (one should not help others commit these sins) 

Neither of these quotes say anything about spilling or wasting seed, neither are even Halachic statements, and both are simply warning against being involved in creating a promiscuous and immoral environment.  But after the Semak, they have become new source texts in the Torah itself. Now masturbation has made it into the ten commandments!

We have thus seen how spilling seed has entered the world of the Halacha. In our next post, I will take a break from the Halachic process, and look a bit at how the mystical world of the Kabbalah influenced the development, and also take a look at the Christian influence, and the influence of the world of secular medical knowledge as well.  We will eventually get back to the Halachic process and trace the sin as it gets pushed forward into the major codifiers, the Tur, Shulchan Arukh, and beyond..

Tides of change - Piety, Mysticism, and Foreign Influences

Now we have seen how a few words in Rashi introduced a new concept of "destroying seed".  However, some Tosafists did not allow these new words to change what they understood was accepted Halacha, while Rabbeinu Tam took this new concept and made it into a new Halachic principle. However, it takes much more than that to create an entirely new structure of Halachic law regarding a topic this complicated and important.  So now we are going to track how this happened.

We should begin with the "Chassidei Ashkenaz “or the "German Pietists". The Chasidei Ashkenaz were part of an ascetic movement that was prominent in Germany during the 12th and 13th century.  The movement was concurrent with the time of the Tosafists, and many of the leaders of the Tosafists were both Talmudic/Halachic scholars and also involved in this movement.  

While this is clearly not the place for a complete history of the Chasidei Ashkenaz movement, we should mention a little bit about their beliefs and way of life. They were an ascetic movement, believing in living a life of holiness, and many of their practices were dedicated to this ideal. In many cases, the ideals they lived by were not Halachic requirements, though they were meant to elevate the spiritual level of the individual and the community. They were heavily influenced as well by early Kabbalah, even prior to the publication of the Zohar.  One quite common theme in their writings and lifestyle was the prescription of and practice of various forms of penitence.  Frequent fasting, deprivation of various pleasures, immersing in icy waters, and similar practices, are common prescriptions for those who felt they had not lived up to their ideals.

In general, the line between Halachic requirements and holy spiritual practices was understood, but the lines were often blurred.  It was in this milieu that the issue of masturbation and "spilling seed" began to cross the line between being a holy practice to being a Halachic sin.  Remember, that this was exactly the time period when Rabbeinu Tam and the other Tosafists were engaged in their disagreement over their interpretation of Rashi.

The most important source of information we have regarding the practices and beliefs of the Chasidei Ashkenaz is the book Sefer Hachasidim, by Rabbi Judah ben Samuel of Regensburg (1150-1217) also known as Rabbi Yehuda HaChasid.  From an interesting exchange between a concerned lay member of the Chasidei ashkenaz community and Rabbi Yehuda HaChasid, we can learn a lot about the subject of our concern. It confirms what we have written already that it was well understood that there was no specific prohibition against "spilling seed" during this time period, but it was considered a holy practice and that it was looked down upon by the community:

"It happened that someone asked (the writer) a question: Someone whose desires gets the better of him and he is afraid that he may (succumb to his urges) and sin by having sexual relations with a married woman or with his wife when she is menstruating or any other sexually prohibited woman, is it allowed for him to masturbate in order (to quell his urges so that he) does not sin? He (the writer) answered that he may at that time (when his urges are strong) masturbate, so that he can do the act of removing semen and therefore not sin with the (prohibited) woman. but he does require penance either by immersing in icy water during the wintertime, or to fast for 40 days during the summer (Sefer Hasidim, Wistinetsky edition s. 50, p44)"

We learn from his words several important points:

1.     We see that clearly there is no sin of "destroying seed" It is important to note that he does not use the term that Rashi used "hashchatah" from which Rabbeinu Tam inferred that the destruction of the seed itself is a prohibition.  Rather he used the term of the Talmud, "Hotza'ah" which means the act of emitting the seed.  Clearly, if that were a sin in and of itself, he could never have permitted it just because someone had an overwhelming urge. Obviously, the dominant Halachic view was that of the Rambam, Tosafot Rid, Ri Hazaken etc..., who all held that there was no such thing as a prohibition against "wasting" or "destroying" semen.

2.     It is also interesting that the practice of abstaining from masturbation was considered by the population to be something to strive for, in the pursuit of holiness.  This would be consistent with the ideals of the Chasidei Ashkenaz movement, and certainly has a basis in the Talmud and Rambam and more.

3.     The penitence prescribed is typical of this movement, and obviously is not something that gained general acceptance in mainstream Judaism.

The big question, which we cannot infer directly from the words of Rabbi Yehuda Hachasid, is how far does this permission to masturbate extend?  One can certainly argue that if one is overwhelmed with desire that is very bothersome to him, maybe even causing him significant distress, that masturbating might be permitted as well.  However, since Rabbi Yehuda HaChasid only says this when confronted with the alternative of a very grave sin such as actual adultery or forbidden sexual liaisons, I cannot legitimately draw this inference from his words.

Rabbi Yehuda HaChasid’s main disciple was another major figure in the Chasidei Ashkenaz movement.  Rabbi Elazar ben Yehuda of Worms (1176-1238), also known as the "Ba'al HaRokeach" after his primary work, the Sefer HaRokeach.  He discusses the practice of masturbation many times, and not surprisingly he strongly disapproves of the practice.  Most of his writings on the topic concentrate on how to do penance when one has engaged in masturbation.  However, it is clear from his writings that he did not consider a Halachic prohibition, but rather a bad practice that leads one in the direction of sexual immorality.  He viewed it of utmost importance to avoid sexual thoughts in order to live a holy lifestyle. 

In the following passage, it is clear that he understood the avoidance of the "spilling of seed" to be a holy and important practice, but not a Halachic law. He is discussing the penance advised for someone who has violated the sin of forbidden sexual intercourse.  In his usual way, he divides the penance into several categories.  One of the categories is "Teshuvat HaGeder" which are boundaries that the penitent should place upon himself in order to avoid stumbling again.  These are listed, by definition, as things which technically are not prohibited by the Halacha but should be enacted as safeguards to help a person who has sinned sexually prevent himself from falling into the trap again.

"For Repentance with safeguards (for one who has sinned sexually and desires to repent): He should safeguard himself by not looking at women or their jewelry whether or not they are wearing them, and he should not observe places where women are playing or gathering, and he should not listen to songs (that make one aroused) and he should not smell their perfumes ... (skipping here some similar ideas) ... and he should not lie down, even with his wife when she is pure (not menstruating) in the gardens or the fields, and he should not (engage in) intercourse whence he withdraws and ejaculates externally, and he should have no business with women at all and he should not engage in frivolity (in general)."

From his words it is clear that he lumps sexual activities with one's spouse where one does not ejaculate vaginally together with practices with which there is certainly no Halachic prohibitions at all!  Even lying with one's own wife, when she is not a niddah, in a field is prohibited in the same sentence.  Clearly there is no Halachic authority in the universe that would claim that there is some prohibition against having a picnic with one's own wife and lying next to her!  Obviously, this is typical though of the practices advocated by the Chasidei Ashkenaz.  On the same level, the Rokeach is recommending avoiding this sexual practice even though it is not technically a prohibition at all.

I have seen online quoted in the name of the Rokeach, Rabbi Elazar ben Yehuda of Worms, that in his commentary on the Torah, Genesis 2:25, that he even more explicitly states that any sexual activity in a relationship between husband and wife is Halachically permissible.  I have not been able to find this in print, but would appreciate it if someone could send me the quote.  Assuming he indeed does say this, it would further verify what we have just stated.

However, while the Chasidei Ashkenaz did not cross the line by taking their ascetic practices and turning them into law, their tremendous opposition to the practice of masturbation did have lasting effects very soon after. Due largely to their influence, "destroying seed" was about to become a Halachic prohibition. That is where we will pick up in our next post.