Q&A: The Prohibition of Masturbation
The Prohibition of Masturbation
Question
Hello Rabbi,
What is the force and basis of the prohibition against masturbation? I do not mean intercourse by way of the limbs or intercourse with a barren woman, but rather self-masturbation. There are discussions in the Talmud that take for granted that this is forbidden. But where is the source of the prohibition from?
A follow-up question –
Today, it is accepted by professionals that prohibiting masturbation is impossible to uphold (at least for a large portion of young men) and harmful, in that it exacts a price of guilt feelings and futile inner struggle.
As a first-rate halakhic decisor, do you think there is any possibility of reopening this prohibition for renewed discussion from the sources?
And another follow-up: if the answer to the previous question is yes, then what do you think the Jewish law would be in such a discussion?
Answer
I don't think so. This is not a question for professionals. Even without them, everyone knows that it's difficult. So people cope. And even if one fails, the Holy One, blessed be He, does not deal harshly with His creatures.
For an overview, see for example here: https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%94%D7%95%D7%A6%D7%90%D7%AA_%D7%96%D7%A8%D7%A2_%D7%9C%D7%91%D7%98%D7%9C%D7%94
Discussion on Answer
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov got married at age 13. It's not such a great insight that he talked about guarding the covenant..
We learn from Jacob, who said, "the first of my strength"… meaning that in Jacob's case this was something special. For other human beings, it is not.
And it could also be said that "in vain" applies when he could father a child instead. But when he is unmarried there is no point to that.
There is not the slightest hint in the Torah that this is forbidden.
The Last Decisor, in the Torah there are many "hints" to the prohibition; even according to the views that the prohibition is rabbinic, its basis is in the Torah. Look at the strange words of the Ari in Sha'ar HaKavanot, manuscript version, in the Night Discourses, discourse 7.
P.S.: Nachman dealt compulsively with guarding the covenant as a result of OCD, among the various mental illnesses from which he suffered…
The Last Decisor and Binyamin,
All these are arguments that are not relevant to Jewish law, since these are explicit Talmudic passages, and I don't care what Rabbi Nachman was or when he got married.
Not speaking slander is also almost impossible.
What needs to be done in order to reduce the feelings of guilt and so on is to explain to people that the severity of the prohibition is not as terrible as it is presented (although according to most opinions it is Torah-level / of biblical origin), and to empty it of all the Kabbalistic baggage that is very oppressive and burdensome and leads to complications.,