Torah Sources on the Challenges Facing Jewish Men with regard to Matters of Purity

 

 

The Prohibition Against Impure Thoughts:

“Scripture (Ecclesiastes 12,14) teaches us that God judges every action according to the person's hidden feelings. If a man inadvertently happens to see a beautiful woman and allows himself even a momentary impure thought while looking at her, he should not think that he did not commit a transgression because he had not gone out on purpose to be attracted by her charm. The statement that God judges man according to his hidden feelings applies in such cases also. Even pleasure at the sight of an unexpected sensual stimulus is a transgression. We should regard as a punishment the mere fact that we were given occasion for impurity without our having gone out to look for it. On the other hand, one who gets an unexpected opportunity to perform a mitzvah should rejoice and give thanks to God Who has given him this unsought opportunity to do good.” Sefer Chasidim, 177, (12th century) as translated in the monthly journal Jeshurun, 19^th century Frankfurt, Germany. Hirsch, Collected Writings, (Volume VIII), p. 190.

 

The Prohibition Against Spilling Seed:

“CHAPTER 151, The Sin of Discharging Semen in Vain

“1. It is forbidden to discharge semen in vain. This is a graver sin than any other mentioned in the Torah. Those who practice masturbation and cause the issue of semen in vain, not only do they commit a grave sin, but they are under a ban, concerning whom it is said (Isaiah 1 :15): "Your hands are full of blood;" and it is equivalent to killing a person. See what Rashi wrote concerning Er and Onan in the Sidrah of Vayeshev (Genesis 37), that both Er and Onan died for the commission of this sin. Occasionally, as a punishment for this sin, children die when young, God forbid, or grow up to be delinquent, while the sinner himself is reduced to poverty.

“2. One is forbidden to bring on erection or to think about women. If a lascivious thought comes to one spontaneously, he should divert his attention to a subject of the Torah, which is "A lovely hind and a graceful doe." Lewd thoughts prevail only in a mind devoid of wisdom. A man should be extremely careful to avoid an erection. Therefore, he should not sleep on his back with his face upward, or on his belly with his face downward, but sleep on his side, in order to avoid it. Two bachelors should not sleep together. One should not watch when animals, beasts or fowl copulate. It is also forbidden to ride on an animal without a saddle.

“3. It is forbidden to hold the membrum while urinating. If one is married and his wife is in town and she is clean, it does not matter, for since he has the possibility, he will not indulge in lustful thoughts or become stimulated; but it is, nevertheless, a matter of piety to avoid it. When not for the purpose of urinating, the above is forbidden by law.

“4. At supper, one should neither eat nor drink excessively, nor eat any food that tends to heat the body, such as fat meats, cheese, eggs, or garlic. Neither should one drink a beverage that tends to heat the body, for all these things cause the commission of this sin.

“5. Whoever has had a pollution at night, God forbid, shall, upon waking up in the morning, wash his hands, and say with a contrite heart: "Master of the universe: I have done this unwittingly, but it has been caused due to evil musings and reflections. May it be, therefore, Thy will, O my God, and the God of my fathers, that Thou, in Thy great mercy, erase this iniquity of mine, and save me from sinful thoughts, forever and ever. Amen! So may it be Thy will."

“6. One who desires to avoid this sin, should guard his mouth against obscene talk, lies, talebearing, slander, and mockery. He should likewise guard his ears against listening to such talks. One should also be careful to fulfill his vows, not worry too much, and guard himself against lewd thoughts. Before retiring, he should engage in the study of the Torah, or he should recite the first four chapters of the Psalms, and he should not sleep alone in a room.

“7. Means of salvation for one who has succumbed to this sin, are recorded in the book Yesod Yoseph, which the author culled from holy and ancient books. I will only cite some of them briefly: He should make an endeavor to be Sandek, that is, to have infants circumcised on his lap; especially should he try to be Sandek at poor families. He should increase his donations to charity, observe the Sabbath properly, honor it, and light many candles. He should honor and love students of the Torah, pray with fervor and tears, cultivate humility, and when insulted, he should be quiet and forgiving. When performing a precept, he should do it energetically and speedily, until it warms him, particularly when preparing the matzot for Passover. He should raise his children in the study of the Torah and train them to be God-fearing; raise an orphan in his house and treat him as he treats his own children, and engage himself in the noble act of dowering poor brides. He should be called up to the reading of the Torah at least once a month, pronounce the benedictions in an audible voice, look into the Torah and read silently with the reader. He should be one of the first ten men who come to the synagogue, and awake in the middle of the night to perform the midnight lament for the destruction of the Temple; and if he is unable to rise at midnight, he should perform this ritual thereafter, and he should love peace and pursue peace.” Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (Concise Code of Jewish Law), R’ Shlomo Ganzfried, 19^th century Hungary (now Ukraine), translated by Hyman Goldin.

 

Wikipedia: “Ganzfried realised that in order to remain committed to Orthodoxy, ‘the average Jew required an underpinning of a knowledge of practical halakha (Jewish law)’. It was to this end that Ganzfried composed the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch. This work became very popular, and was frequently reprinted in Hebrew and in Yiddish. This work often records more stringent positions.”

 

The Special Challenge for Unmarried Men:

“R’ Yehoshua ben Levi described the world to come: There are two gates made of rubles in Gan Eden, upon which there are six hundred thousand ministering angels whose faces shine like the brilliance of the firmament. When a tzaddik arrives, they remove the garments he wore in the grave and dress him in eight garments made from the Clouds of Glory. Then they place two crowns upon him, one of precious gems and pearls and the other of gold. Eight branches of myrtle are placed in his hands, while they all praise him and say, "Go eat your bread joyfully" (Koheles 9:7)….(The depiction continues for several paragraphs, then he says as follows:) “There are seven groups of tzaddikim: The first is comprised of the sainted martyrs, such as R. Akiva and his friends. The second is comprised of those drowned at sea [according to Zayis Ra'anan; this is a reference to the children who jumped into the sea, as recorded in the fifth chapter of Gittin]. R. Yochanan ben Zakkai and his disciples comprise the third group. What was his strength? He used to say: If the Heavens were parchment, all men scribes, and all the forests pens, it would still not be possible to record all that I have learned from my teachers. And even that which I did absorb is only like what a dog could lick from the sea." The fourth group is comprised of those for whom a Cloud descended and covered them [probably Moshe and Aharon - Zayis Ra' anan]. The fifth group is made up of ba’alei teshuva – in the place where ba' alei teshuva stand, tzaddikim cannot. The sixth group comprises the unmarried men who never sinned. And the seventh group consists of the poor who possess Mikra, Mishna, and Derech Eretz. Of them, it is written: "All those who put their trust in You will rejoice and sing joyously forever" (Tehillim 5:12). “Hashem sits amidst them all teaching them Torah, as it is written: "My eyes are upon the trustworthy of the Land, that they may dwell with Me" (ibid. 101:6). However, Hashem did not reveal the full extent of the honor He has set aside for tzaddikim: "No eye has ever seen what You will do for those who await You, besides You, Hashem" (Yeshayahu 64:3).” Yalkut Shimoni, Bereishis, 20 as translated in Longing For the Dawn, Rabbi Nachman Bulman, (Nanuet, NY: Feldheim, 1995), p. 222.

 

[Ed. Note: Unmarried men who never sinned earn a special group in heaven parallel to some of the greatest figures in our history, such as Moshe, Aharon, and R’ Akiva. This should give a sense of the challenge that they face.]