Q&A: Pleasure
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Pleasure
Question
Hello,
If bathing for pleasure is forbidden during the Nine Days, why is marital relations, which is an even greater pleasure, permitted?
Thank you,
Answer
Good question. I don’t think they forbade all pleasures. Even on ordinary fast days, eating and drinking were forbidden, but marital relations were not. It seems that certain pleasures were forbidden in order to help us focus on the themes of the day.