Researchers probe Jewish sexual behavior

A new survey is under way to gauge Jewish adherence to family purity laws that require couples to abstain from sex for roughly two weeks a month. The survey, separate versions of which are available for those who are married and single, asks about religious practice as well as sexual behavior, and can be completed anonymously at www.jewishsurveys.org. Mark Guterman, a doctoral student in clinical psychology at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey who is working on the study, conducted prior research revealing that modern Orthodox Jews were not observing family purity laws as extensively as was assumed. The new study could lead to “reinforcement or readdressing” of existing sexual standards in the Jewish community, Guterman said.