Question

In honor of Rabbi Michael, greetings,
 
I am undecided about whether to act toward publicizing the lenient position regarding immersion by unmarried women. My view is that from a halakhic standpoint it can be permitted and it can be forbidden. Right now what interests me is the moral-utilitarian question (maximizing happiness for the greatest number of people) regarding the act of publicizing the leniency.
 
I wanted to know the Rabbi’s opinion on the matter. (?)
 
I am asking as someone who sees himself as an activist for the world in accordance with the ethical command that God plants in his soul.
 
In my hesitation I am weighing reasons not to act to reveal it, and they are:
A. The possibility that women in the prostitution circle and their pimps will discover the trick, and thereby cause people to stumble whose barrier against going to prostitution is halakhic and not moral.
B. That married men whose barrier is halakhic and not moral will stumble into betraying their wives with unmarried women who immersed.
C. A delay in the age of marriage (why get married if you can have sexual relations without it?) and thereby a decline in the birthrate. This may be a problem from the perspective of someone seeking demographic competition with some other group.
 
And reasons to act toward revealing the lenient position:
A. The very possibility of living in a full relationship in more life situations will cause greater happiness. The assumption is that autonomy in choosing one’s life path benefits the individual.
B. If there are more couples having physical relations among young people in the Religious Zionist community (who will presumably be the first to be influenced by revealing the lenient position), there will be less need on their part to turn to prostitution (and that also includes less need to turn to masturbation and the pornography that accompanies it, which also encourages the prostitution industry).
C. As a further consequence, if physical relationships also become accepted in the Religious Zionist community, then Haredim too will at some point arrive at that through their integration processes that are already taking place now in Israeli society, and then they too—who are one of the publics that consumes the most prostitution today (and I assume it is clear why)—will consume much less prostitution. (If today they are major consumers of prostitution primarily because it is forbidden to them, then when it is permitted the consumption will decrease.)
D. If religion is perceived as permitting sexual relations without marriage, fewer tough street kids will drop out of the system. The macho kid who has sexual relations will not see himself as outside the religious story.
E. Religious education will be able to provide honest sex education that does not see sexuality as something bad. The educator will be able to look the student in the eye. The educator will be able truly to explain, and mean what he says, that Judaism unlike Christianity does not demand abstinence. The educator will be able to give advice for healthy relationships and healthy sexuality. What was repressed for lack of tools to deal with it will be able to receive deep expression. And of course it will also be possible to emphasize the aspects of giving and love of God that emerge from romantic love.
F. In the long term, a very broad young secular public will not see becoming closer to religion as a threat to its relationship habits, and a broad movement of repentance will take place.
G. There will be less resistance to mixed relationships between religious and secular people, which will make possible the healing of many rifts within the Jewish people (!) and also make it easier to find a match, which in turn will give demographic momentum.
H. Perhaps the demographic consideration should not trouble us at all, both because it is not clear there ought to be competition with anyone, and because perhaps the resources on planet Earth are limited.
 
All things considered, based on what is said here I tend to assign greater weight to the advantages of publicizing the lenient position as a moral act seeking the greatest benefit for the public as a whole (if we set aside the disputed halakhic question).
As can be seen, in my opinion the reasons not to publicize it from the angle of the prostitution world are, in the long run, offset by the reduction in prostitution.
As for infidelity with an unmarried woman—this is a serious question. But in a speculative analysis of the matter, it seems to me that the problem is marginal, since a moral restriction exists in any case and temptation exists in any case. And what difference does it make to temptation whether before it there stands both a moral consideration and a halakhic one, or only a moral one? If temptation blinds a person, it will blind him in any case.
 
Therefore it seems to me that morally, from the standpoint of benefit to most human beings, increasing happiness in the world, it is proper to publicize the lenient position.
 
I know there is a halakhic side to forbid it, but it seems to me that it is proper to give thought also to the moral-utilitarian consideration, both משום “and you shall do what is upright and good” and on the basis of the simple reasoning that God created morality, and therefore the directives of morality are the directives of God Himself and His voice as heard inwardly in our souls.
 
I would be glad for the Rabbi’s opinion and to hear additional considerations. For that purpose, here is my email.
 
With much thanks and appreciation, and with blessings,