In last week’s article about birth control and Jewish law (“Birth Control, Jewish Law Collide at Stern”), Stern College undergraduate Rachel Robinson was quoted as saying that “the idea that sex is not just for procreation is inherently a feminist idea.”
Perhaps Robinson should take some halacha classes at the university she attends. According to Jewish law, a husband is required to satisfy his wife’s sexual needs … even if the couple cannot conceive a child, or if the wife is pregnant or menopausal.
In fact, the commandment of procreation is totally separate from the husband’s requirement to please his wife sexually.
As to the question of whether non-procreative sex is a feminist idea, perhaps in this case it’s that the halacha itself that sides with a more feminist perspective, not that the source for the idea is feminism.
Stamford, Conn.
