Is it moral to masturbate?
Hello,
I wanted to ask whether, in the Rabbi’s opinion, there is a moral problem with masturbation. (Regardless of the halakhic prohibition)
thanks
I don’t think so. There was a place to see this as an accessory to murder (because it’s hard to draw the line at when a drop of sperm is considered a person), but it seems to me that before the drop fertilizes an egg, this is an excessive view. Although in high doses (and certainly addiction) it is an excessive preoccupation with self-pleasures, and in this one can see some moral flaw.
Why is it immoral (from the perspective of the rabbi, who says that aesthetic values are not morality) to engage excessively in self-indulgence or addiction (not in itself because it leads to immorality such as theft, etc.)? I agree with the feeling that the word immoral does fit this, but from my perspective it is because there is a continuum between what the rabbi calls aesthetic values and ethical values (between social aesthetics (convention) and morality (norm)). But according to the rabbi, there is a sharp distinction between them, why say so?
I think the moral flaw in excessive preoccupation with self-pleasure (or addiction) is that if all people in society engaged in it, society would collapse.
Maybe it's really an aesthetic or human value and not really a moral value.
It's a stretch to think that society will collapse from excessive masturbation.
I think telling a boy not to masturbate is like telling a homosexual to only have sex with women and not with men. These decrees are so illogical that they seem to me to have no validity.
Orit,
I'm not sure. There are halakhic and moral requirements that are intended to provide direction. If it is difficult to comply with, it can be taken into account in the considerations of punishment (whether it is coercive or almost coercive). But the very definition of something as a prohibition does not necessarily depend on the question of how feasible it is.
For example, according to some poskim, it is obligatory to know the entire Torah. This is an impractical requirement for almost all people (probably for everyone). Does this mean that it is wrong to set it as a requirement? At most, it should be taken into account in the considerations/arguments for punishment.
Rabbi Michael,
Is there a cheating side to masturbation for a married man or woman?
How can a person or a teenager from the village discern whether the Halacha is a call for direction or an absolute demand? I don't think this is practical for the average teenager. There is Halacha and the obligation the teenager feels towards it is absolute. When he fails to observe the Halacha in a structured manner, this can lead to abandoning the Halacha path or, worse, to psychological harm to the teenager who is in a storm of emotions and hormones at this age.
I don't think it's betrayal. Betrayal is a relationship with someone else.
A teenager can't always understand. It's the educator's job to make him realize this. Making it a taboo and a terrible act is indeed a serious educational failure in my opinion, and many have already pointed this out.
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