Forbidden relationships in Judaism

{{Main|Thou shalt not commit adultery#In Judaism}}

Adultery is prohibited by the seventh of the Ten Commandments ({{bibleverse||Exodus|20:12|HE}}) which simply says:

:Thou shalt not commit adultery.

It is forbidden for a man to have sexual relations with a married woman not his wife. ({{bibleverse||Leviticus|18:20|HE}}, {{bibleverse-nb||Leviticus|20:10|HE}})

According to Jeffrey H. Tigay in Encyclopedia Judaica (2007), "ADULTERY (Heb. נִאוּף, ni'uf; sometimes, loosely, זְנוּת, zenut; זְנוּנִים, zenunim; lit. "fornication, whoredom"). Voluntary sexual intercourse between a married woman, or one engaged by payment of the brideprice, and a man other than her husband."{{cite web | last=Tigay | first=Jefrrey Howard | title=Adultery | website=Encyclopedia.com | date=23 May 2018 | url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/philosophy-and-religion/bible/bible-general/adultery | access-date=29 July 2024}}{{cite book | editor-last=Skolnik | editor-first=Fred | editor-last2=Berenbaum | editor-first2=Michael | last=Tigay | first=Jeffrery Howard | chapter=Adultery | chapter-url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/adultery-2 | title=Encyclopaedia Judaica | publisher=Macmillan Reference USA in association with the Keter Pub. House | publication-place=Detroit | year=2007 | isbn=978-0-02-865929-9 | oclc=70174939 | pages=424 | volume=1 | edition=2nd}} Tigay stated the same idea in the Jewish Study Bible (2014).{{cite book | last1=Tigay | first1=Jeffrey H. | editor-last1=Berlin | editor-first1=Adele | editor-last2=Brettler | editor-first2=Marc Zvi | title=The Jewish Study Bible: Second Edition | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=2014 | isbn=978-0-19-939387-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yErYBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT287 | access-date=29 July 2024 | page=142 | edition=2nd | quote=In the Bible, adultery means voluntary sexual relations between a married or engaged woman and a man other than her husband or fiancé. It did not refer to the extramarital relations of a married man (in polygynous societies a wife might share her husband with other wives and did not have an exclusive right to him).}}

Michael Coogan says that in the Hebrew Bible, there is no prohibition of premarital or extramarital sex for men, except for adultery, i.e. having sex with the wife of another man.[http://www.summitstonehill.com/opinion/5-questions-with-professor-michael-d-coogan-1.1716380 5 Questions with Professor Michael D. Coogan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110919213022/http://www.summitstonehill.com/opinion/5-questions-with-professor-michael-d-coogan-1.1716380 |date=2011-09-19 }} The Summit, {{#dateformat:19 October 19, 2010}}. New URL: http://admin2.collegepublisher.com/se/the-summit/opinion/5-questions-with-professor-michael-d-coogan-1.1716380 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110919213022/http://www.summitstonehill.com/opinion/5-questions-with-professor-michael-d-coogan-1.1716380 |date=2011-09-19 }} . Quote: "In ancient Israel, premarital sex by a woman was discouraged because in the patriarchal society of that time, a daughter was her father's property. If she was not a virgin her value--the bride price her father would get from a prospective husband--was diminished. Also, any child born to an unmarried woman would be fatherless--the Biblical term is "orphan"-- and so without either a male protector or any possibility of an inheritance, which was passed from father to son. There is no explicit prohibition in the Old Testament of premarital or extramarital sex by men except for adultery, which meant having sex with another man's wife." A man's sexual history was never an issue (thus no such thing as a virginity requirement for men);{{cite book|last=Coogan|first=Michael|title=God and Sex: What the Bible Really Says|url=https://archive.org/details/godsexwhatbi00coog|url-access=registration|accessdate=May 5, 2011|edition=1st|date=October 2010|publisher=Twelve. Hachette Book Group|location=New York, Boston|isbn=978-0-446-54525-9|oclc=505927356|page=33}} there was no ban on men having sex with unmarried women (including prostitutes).{{sfn|Coogan|2010|p=103}}

Danya Ruttenberg in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Ethics and Morality agrees with Tigay and Coogan.{{cite book | first1=Danya | last1=Ruttenberg | author-link=Danya Ruttenberg | editor-last1=Dorff | editor-first1=Elliot N. | editor-link=Elliot N. Dorff | editor-last2=Crane | editor-first2=Jonathan K. | chapter=Jewish Sexual Ethics | title=The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Ethics and Morality | publisher=Oxford University Press | series=Oxford Handbooks Series | year=2016 | isbn=978-0-19-060838-5 | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MHcRDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA384 | access-date=2024-07-26 | pages=384–385}} She states that although considered undesirable, the Jewish religious authorities admitted the reality of premarital sexual relationships, and were somewhat ambivalent about such relationships. Sara N.S. Meirowitz agrees will Ruttenberg, Tigay and Coogan.{{cite book | first= Sara N.S. | last=Meirowitz | editor-last=Ruttenberg | editor-first=Danya | title=The Passionate Torah: Sex and Judaism | publisher=NYU Press | year=2009 | isbn=978-0-8147-7605-6 | chapter=Not Like a Virgin: Talking about Nonmarital Sex | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bXgVCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA173 | access-date=29 July 2024 | page=173 | quote=Although women are encouraged to be monogamous, preserving their virginity and procreative years for marriage, the man’s concern is with his wife’s purity status, not his sexual behavior or monogamy. [...] The woman’s virginity status is permanent, marked on her ketubah, marriage contract; the man’s past history is entirely irrelevant.}}

Howard Tzvi Adelman recognizes there was a double standard in judging fornication in the works of Medieval rabbis: an unmarried woman who engaged in premarital sexual relationships was guilty of fornication, but an unmarried man was not.{{cite book | last1=Adelman | first1=Howard Tzvi | editor-last=Diemling | editor-first=Maria | editor-last2=Veltri | editor-first2=Giuseppe | title=The Jewish Body: Corporeality, Society, and Identity in the Renaissance and Early Modern Period | publisher=Brill | series=Studies in Jewish history and culture / Studies in Jewish history and culture | year=2009 | isbn=978-90-04-16718-6 | chapter=Virginity: Women's Body as a State of Mind: Destiny Becomes Biology | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m1Lh-FwFrXIC&pg=PA182 | access-date=29 July 2024 | page=182}}

According to the Queer Bible Commentary (2015), the Hebrew Bible does not say that lesbianism would amount to zenut/adultery.{{cite book | last1=Guest | first1=Deryn | last2=Goss | first2=Robert E. | last3=West | first3=Mona | title=The Queer Bible Commentary | publisher=SCM Press | year=2015 | isbn=978-0-334-05442-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ijE9CQAAQBAJ&pg=PA89 | access-date=29 July 2024 | page=89}} Statements by other scholars make such claim plausible.{{Bulleted list|{{harvnb|Coogan|2010|p=135|ps=: "Finally, the Hebrew Bible is silent about lesbian relationships, probably because they did not relate to patriarchy—or, for that matter, to paternity."}}|{{cite book | last=Massey | first=Lesly F. | title=Daughters of God, Subordinates of Men: Women and the Roots of Patriarchy in the New Testament | publisher=McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers | year=2015 | isbn=978-1-4766-2143-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HxHNCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA100 | access-date=29 July 2024 | page=100 | quote=Lesbianism (called mesolelot) was known in ancient Judaism and was frowned upon. Homosexuality is among numerous sexual transgressions discussed in Leviticus 18 and 20 and described as an abhorrence (to'evah). Yet, it was thought by most rabbis that this was not the same degree of impropriety as intercourse with a male, because, so they assumed, there was no penetration in lesbian lovemaking.}}|{{cite book | first=Rebecca T. | last=Alpert | editor-last=Ruttenberg | editor-first=Danya | title=The Passionate Torah: Sex and Judaism | publisher=NYU Press | year=2009 | isbn=978-0-8147-7605-6 | chapter=Reconsidering Solitary Sex from a Jewish Perspective | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bXgVCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA185 | access-date=29 July 2024 | page=185 | quote=In the Hebrew Bible there is no same-gender sexuality for women and no allusion to female masturbation, whereas lying with a man as with a woman is famously prohibited twice in the Torah. Although later rabbinic texts pay little attention to the possibility that women indulge in solitary sex, they do approach lesbianism negatively. The transgression is still minor, however, compared to male homosexuality, and is not taken seriously.}}|{{cite book | last=Velasco | first=Sherry | title=Lesbians in Early Modern Spain | publisher=Vanderbilt University Press | series=UPCC book collections on Project MUSE | year=2011 | isbn=978-0-8265-1752-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ouHqtw239HwC&pg=PA19 | access-date=2024-07-25 | page=19}}|{{cite book | editor-last=Skolnik | editor-first=Fred | editor-last2=Berenbaum | editor-first2=Michael | last=Alpert | first=Rebecca | author-link=Rebecca Alpert | chapter=Lesbianism| chapter-url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/lesbianism | title=Encyclopaedia Judaica | publisher=Macmillan Reference USA in association with the Keter Pub. House | publication-place=Detroit | year=2007 | isbn=978-0-02-865940-4 | oclc=70174939 | pages=660–661 | volume=12}}|{{cite book|first=Tikva|last=Frymer-Kensky|author-link=Tikva Frymer-Kensky|editor-first=Alice|editor-last=Bach|editor-link=Alice Bach|title=Women in the Hebrew Bible: A Reader|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YQrfAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA299|date=31 October 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-23868-1|page=299}}}}

{{Main|Niddah}}

A man is not allowed to have sexual relations with a woman—including his wife—during and shortly after her menstrual period ({{bibleverse||Leviticus|18:19|HE}}), until after she immerses in a mikveh. A woman who has experienced her menstrual period and has not gone to a proper mikveh is referred to as a niddah.

{{Main|Interfaith marriage in Judaism}}

Religious intermarriage is forbidden in Judaism. There are differing opinions among the rabbis as to when the prohibition on sexual relations with non-Jews is from the Torah, and when it is rabbinic.Shulchan Aruch, III:16:1–2 and commentaries

{{Main|Jewish views on incest|Incest in the Bible}}

Sexual relations with certain close relatives are forbidden in the Hebrew Bible. Though they are generally called incestuous relations, the biblical list does not necessarily correspond to those prohibited under state laws. In the Hebrew Bible, sexual relationships between siblings are forbidden to Jews but permissible to Gentiles (non-Jews).{{cite book |last=Kiel |first=Yishai |year=2015 |chapter=Noahide Law and the Inclusiveness of Sexual Ethics: Between Roman Palestine and Sasanian Babylonia |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9pc0CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA64 |editor-last=Porat |editor-first=Benjamin |title=Jewish Law Annual |location=Abingdon, Oxfordshire |publisher=Routledge |volume=21 |pages=64–65 |isbn=978-0-415-74269-6}}

The relationships forbidden by Leviticus 18 are:

• One's genetic relative ({{bibleverse||Leviticus|18:6|HE}}){{Cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Avodah_Zarah.17a.5?ven=Daf_Shevui&lang=bi|title = Avodah Zarah 17a:5}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Yoma.69b.12?ven=William_Davidson_Edition_-_English&lang=bi|title = Yoma 69b:12}}{{cite web| url = https://www.sefaria.org/Mishneh_Torah%2C_Negative_Mitzvot.353?ven=The_Mishneh_Torah_by_Maimonides._trans._by_Moses_Hyamson,_1937-1949&lang=bi| title = Mishneh Torah, Negative Mitzvot 353}}{{cite web| url = https://www.sefaria.org/Mishneh_Torah%2C_Foreign_Worship_and_Customs_of_the_Nations.10?ven=Mishnah_Torah,_Yod_ha-hazakah,_trans._by_Simon_Glazer,_1927&lang=bi| title = Mishneh Torah, Foreign Worship and Customs of the Nations 10}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Mishnah_Makkot.3.15?ven=Sefaria_Community_Translation&lang=bi|title = Mishnah Makkot 3:15}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Sanhedrin.64a.9?ven=William_Davidson_Edition_-_English&lang=bi|title = Sanhedrin 64a:9}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Ibn_Ezra_on_Leviticus.18.6.3?ven=Ibn_Ezra_on_the_Pentateuch_-_trans._by_Jay_F._Shachter&lang=bi|title=Ibn Ezra on Leviticus 18:6:3|website=www.sefaria.org|accessdate=23 April 2023}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Sforno_on_Leviticus.18.6.1?ven=Eliyahu_Munk,_HaChut_Hameshulash&lang=bi|title=Sforno on Leviticus 18:6:1|website=www.sefaria.org|accessdate=23 April 2023}}{{cite web| url = https://www.sefaria.org/Rabbeinu_Bahya%2C_Vayikra.18.6.1?ven=Torah_Commentary_by_Rabbi_Bachya_ben_Asher,_trans._Eliyahu_Munk,_1998.&lang=bi| title = Rabbeinu Bahya, Vayikra 18:6:1}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Bamidbar_Rabbah.20.23?ven=Townsend_1989_translation_of_Midrash_Tanhuma,_S._Buber_Recension,_edited_and_supplemented_by_R._Francis_Nataf&lang=bi|title = Bamidbar Rabbah 20:23}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Sanhedrin.53b.1?ven=William_Davidson_Edition_-_English&lang=bi|title = Sanhedrin 53b:1}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Makkot.13b.3?ven=William_Davidson_Edition_-_English&lang=bi|title = Makkot 13b:3}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Keritot.2b.27?ven=William_Davidson_Edition_-_English&lang=bi|title=Keritot 2b:27|website=www.sefaria.org|accessdate=23 April 2023}}{{cite web| url = https://www.sefaria.org/Mishneh_Torah%2C_Negative_Mitzvot.336?ven=The_Mishneh_Torah_by_Maimonides._trans._by_Moses_Hyamson,_1937-1949&lang=bi| title = Mishneh Torah, Negative Mitzvot 336}}{{cite web| url = https://www.sefaria.org/Rashi_on_Deuteronomy.23.1.2?ven=Pentateuch_with_Rashi%27s_commentary_by_M._Rosenbaum_and_A.M._Silbermann,_1929-1934&lang=bi| title = Rashi on Deuteronomy 23:1:2}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Mishnah_Yevamot.9.3?ven=Mishnah_Yomit_by_Dr._Joshua_Kulp&lang=bi|title = Mishnah Yevamot 9:3}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Mishnah_Keritot.3.5?ven=Mishnah_Yomit_by_Dr._Joshua_Kulp&lang=bi|title = Mishnah Keritot 3:5}}{{cite web| url = https://www.sefaria.org/Mishneh_Torah%2C_Negative_Mitzvot.335?ven=The_Mishneh_Torah_by_Maimonides._trans._by_Moses_Hyamson,_1937-1949&lang=bi| title = Mishneh Torah, Negative Mitzvot 335}}{{Excessive citations inline|date=January 2025}}
• One's mother ({{bibleverse||Leviticus|18:7|HE}})
• One's father ({{bibleverse||Leviticus|18:7|HE}})
• One's stepmother ({{bibleverse||Leviticus|18:8|HE}})
• One's paternal or maternal sister ({{bibleverse||Leviticus|18:9|HE}})
• One's paternal sister through one's father's wife ({{bibleverse||Leviticus|18:11|HE}})
• One's daughter (inferred from {{bibleverse||Leviticus|18:10|HE}}. Talmud Gittin 83a also implies that the prohibition on marrying one's daughter is a matter of Torah law {{Cite web|url= https://www.sefaria.org/Gittin.83a.15?lang=bi| title = Talmud Bavli, Gittin 83a, 15}})
• One's granddaughter ({{bibleverse||Leviticus|18:10|HE}})
• A woman and her daughter ({{bibleverse||Leviticus|18:17|HE}})
• A woman and her granddaughter ({{bibleverse||Leviticus|18:17|HE}})
• One's aunt by blood ({{bibleverse||Leviticus|18:12–13|HE}})
• One's father's brother (uncle) ({{bibleverse||Leviticus|18:14|HE}})
• One's father's brother's wife (aunt) ({{bibleverse||Leviticus|18:14|HE}})
• One's daughter-in-law ({{bibleverse||Leviticus|18:15|HE}})
• One's brother's wife (sister-in-law) ({{bibleverse||Leviticus|18:16|HE}}), with the exception of Yibum
• One's wife's sister (sister-in-law) during one's wife's lifetime, even if since divorced ({{bibleverse||Leviticus|18:18|HE}})

In addition to the relationships biblically prohibited to Jews, rabbis have gone further to prohibit additional relationships with various blood relatives or in-laws. These are called "Shni'ot" (secondary prohibitions or seconds). Some of these are:

• One's grandmother
• One's brother
• One's great-grandmother
• One's grandfather's wife
• One's great-grandfather's wife
• One's grandson's wife

Adopted children who are raised together are not permitted to marry because of appearances, even if they are not biologically related.{{cite web |url=http://www.koltorah.org/ravj/The%20Yichud%20Prohibition%20-%20Part%201.htm |title=The Yichud Prohibition- Part One: To Whom Does It Apply? |publisher=Koltorah.org |date=2002-11-16 |access-date=2013-09-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130702194150/http://koltorah.org/ravj/The%20Yichud%20Prohibition%20-%20Part%201.htm |archive-date=2 July 2013 |url-status=dead}}

The Bible excludes certain categories of people from taking part in the qahal (assembly) of HaShem. Jewish tradition considers this to be solely a limitation on marriage.

A Jew is prohibited from marrying a male Moabite and Ammonite convert ({{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|23:4|HE}}); or an Egyptian or Edomite convert up to the third generation from conversion ({{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|23:8–9|HE}}).

Nethinim/Gibeonites are prohibited by rabbinic injunction.Yevamot 8:2

As the people currently living in those areas may not be descended from the original peoples, these prohibitions may not apply today.Mishnah Yadayim 4:4; Rabbi Joseph Karo, Shulchan Aruch, Even HaEzer 4:10 and commentaries

{{Main|Mamzer}}

A mamzer in Jewish law is a child resulting from an incestuous liaison or an adulterous liaison by a married woman. (This is not necessarily the same definition as a bastard by other societies, as it does not include a child of an unmarried woman.) As a mamzer is excluded from the assembly ({{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|23:3|HE}}), the Talmud forbids a marriage by an ordinary Jew to a mamzer.Yebamot, 4:13 However, a mamzer may marry a convert or another mamzer, though their child would also be considered a mamzer.Maimonidies, Mishneh Torah, Sanctity, Laws of Sexual Prohibitions, 15:7–8

Jewish tradition also forbids marriage to a man who has been forcibly emasculated; the Greek term spadon ({{lang|grc|σπάδων}}; Latin: spado) which is used to refer to such people, is used in the Septuagint to denote certain foreign political officials (resembling the meaning of eunuch). The Jewish prohibition does not include men who were born without visible testicles (conditions including cryptorchidism), or without a visible penis (intersex conditions can affect genital appearance). There is dispute, even in traditional Judaism, about whether this prohibited group of men should include those who have become, at some point since their birth, emasculated as the result of a disease.Jacob ben Asher, Eben ha-'Ezer, 5

Israelite priests (kohanim) are not allowed to marry:

• divorcees
• converts
• a woman who has had certain forbidden sexual relationships (such as the zonah in the Torah) ({{Bibleverse|Leviticus|21:7|HE}})
• a woman who was born of the prohibited relations of a kohen (called a chalalah) ({{Bibleverse|Leviticus|21:7|HE}})
• women captured during warfareKetubot 22a; Ketubot 27a
• a widow whose brother-in-law refused to perform a levirate marriage, and she consequently performs the Halitzah ceremonyYebamot 24a

Some of these prohibitions are biblical, and some are rabbinical.

The Kohen Gadol (high priest) must also not marry a widow ({{Bibleverse|Leviticus|21:14|HE}}). He is required to marry a virgin maiden ({{Bibleverse|Leviticus|21:13|HE}}). However, if he was married to a woman otherwise permitted to a kohen, and was then elevated to the high priesthood, he may remain married to her.

{{Main|Homosexuality and Judaism}}

Orthodox Judaism interprets ({{bibleverse||Leviticus|18:22|HE}}) as forbidding homosexual acts between two men, and calls it an abomination. ({{bibleverse||Leviticus|18:14|HE}} specifically prohibits such relationships with one's father or uncle.){{Harvnb|Eisenberg|2005|p=327.}}

There is no punishment prescribed in the Torah for sex acts between two women (lesbianism), but rabbinic law has prohibited it as an extension of the "activities of (ancient) Egypt" (see {{bibleverse||Leviticus|18:3|HE}}).Rabbi Joseph Karo, Shulchan Aruch, Even Ha-'Ezer 20:2 Although the practice is not considered adultery in the formal sense, the Talmud (Yevamot 76a), in the name of Rav Huna, suggests that women engaged in such practices are forbidden to marry a priest of Aaron's lineage. Others posit that such relationships do not prohibit the woman unto a kohen, since it is merely an act of lewdness.Beit Sh'muel, Shulchan Aruch (Even Ha-'Ezer 20:12, based on Maimonides) However, such practices are still censured and are said to be an infringement of the prohibition, "You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt" (Leviticus 18:3).Maimonides, Mishne Torah (Hil. Isurei Bi'ah 21:8)

Conservative Judaism's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards has validated different approaches to homosexual acts, with one opinion being like the Orthodox position in many respects, and another opinion permitting many forms of homosexual sex, while continuing to regard anal intercourse between men as prohibited.{{Citation needed|reason=Reliable source needed for the whole sentence|date=July 2021}}

According to Conservative rabbi and Bible scholar Jacob Milgrom, the Torah prohibits men lying with men in illicit ways, that are incestuous or adulterous, but otherwise homosexual relations are allowed."Since illicit carnal relations are implied by the term miškĕbê ʾiššâ, it may be plausibly suggested that homosexuality is herewith forbidden for only the equivalent degree of forbidden heterosexual relations, namely, those enumerated in the preceding verses (D. Stewart). However, sexual liaisons occurring with males outside these relations would not be forbidden. And since the same term miškĕbê ʾiššâ is used in the list containing sanctions (20:13), it would mean that sexual liaisons with males, falling outside the control of the paterfamilias, would be neither condemnable nor punishable. Thus miskĕbê ʾiššâ, referring to illicit male—female relations, is applied to illicit male—male relations, and the literal meaning of our verse is: do not have sex with a male with whose widow sex is forbidden. In effect, this means that the homosexual prohibition applies to Ego with father, son, and brother (subsumed in v. 6) and to grandfather—grandson, uncle—nephew, and stepfather—stepson, but not to any other male." - Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 17-22: A New Translation With Introduction and Commentary, Anchor Yale Bible vol. 3, Yale University Press, 2007, page 1569

In 2012, the American branch of Conservative Judaism represented by the Rabbinical Assembly, devised a commitment ceremony for same-sex couples, though not defined as kiddushin.{{Cite news|last=Sales|first=Ben|date=4 June 2012|title=Conservative rabbinic group issues guidelines for same-sex wedding rituals|work=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|url=https://www.jta.org/2012/06/04/lifestyle/conservative-rabbinic-group-issues-guidelines-for-same-sex-wedding-rituals|access-date=26 November 2021}}{{Cite news|date=2 June 2012|title=US Conservative Jews approve gay weddings|work=Ynet|publisher=The Associated Press|url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4237159,00.html|access-date=26 November 2021}} In 2014, the British group Masorti Judaism said it would support shutafut ceremonies for same-sex unions.{{Cite news|last=Hoare|first=Liam|date=1 May 2015|title=British Rabbis Play Matchmaker for LGBTQ Jews|work=Slate|url=https://slate.com/human-interest/2015/05/british-rabbis-play-matchmaker-for-lgbtq-jews.html|access-date=26 November 2021}}{{Cite web|date=22 October 2014|title=Masorti Judaism says yes to same-sex ceremonies|url=https://masorti.org.uk/articles/masorti-judaism-says-yes-to-same-sex-ceremonies/|access-date=26 November 2021|website=Masorti Judaism (UK)}} In 2016, the Rabbinical Assembly passed a resolution supporting transgender rights.{{Cite news|title=The rabbis of Conservative Judaism pass a resolution supporting transgender rights|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/06/01/the-rabbis-of-conservative-judaism-pass-a-resolution-supporting-transgender-rights/|access-date=2021-11-26|issn=0190-8286}}{{Cite web|date=6 April 2016|title=Resolution Affirming the Rights of Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming People|url=https://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/story/resolution-affirming-rights-transgender-and-gender-non-conforming-people|access-date=26 November 2021|website=Rabbinical Assembly}}

In 2004, the Society for Humanistic Judaism issued a resolution supporting "the legal recognition of marriage and divorce between adults of the same sex", and affirming "the value of marriage between any two committed adults with the sense of obligations, responsibilities, and consequences thereof".{{cite web|date=April 2004|title=Society for Humanistic Judaism Supports Marriage Rights of Same-Sex Couples|url=http://www.shj.org/MarriageEquality.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131010054121/http://www.shj.org/MarriageEquality.htm|archive-date=10 October 2013|access-date=19 November 2013}}

Reform Judaism interprets Leviticus 18:22 as forbidding men from using sex as a form of ownership over men. Reform Jewish authors have revisited the Leviticus text, and ask why the text mentions that one should not lie with a man "as with a woman". If it is to be assumed that the Torah does not waste words, the authors ask why the Torah includes this extra clause. Most Reform Jews suggest that since intercourse involved possession (one of the ways in which a man "acquired" a wife was to have intercourse with her), similar to the Christian theology of using sex to "consummate" a marriage, it was abhorrent that a man might acquire another man—it is not the act of homosexual intercourse itself which is abhorrent, but using this act to acquire another man and therefore confuse the gender boundary.{{cite web |url=http://www.reformjudaism.org.uk/a-to-z-of-reform-judaism/contemporary-issues/homosexuality.html |title=homosexuality | contemporary-issues | a-to-z-of-reform-judaism- The Movement for Reform Judaism |publisher=Reformjudaism.org.uk |access-date=2013-09-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130403014330/http://www.reformjudaism.org.uk/a-to-z-of-reform-judaism/contemporary-issues/homosexuality.html |archive-date=3 April 2013 |url-status=dead }}

Men and women are forbidden from engaging in bestiality. ({{bibleverse||Leviticus|18:23|HE}}) It is considered an abomination according to the Torah.

The Sages taught that 18 is the ideal age to become married, and that before this age one should spend time studying scripture and getting their life in order.{{cite web|url=https://ph.yhb.org.il/en/14-05-07/|title=The Age of Marriage for Men – Peninei Halakha|access-date=2024-01-24}}{{cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Sotah.44a.6?lang=en|title=Sotah 44a.6 – sefaria.org|access-date=2024-01-24}}{{cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Pirkei_Avot.5.21?lang=en|title=Pirkei Avot 5.21 – sefaria.org|access-date=2024-01-24}}{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10435-marriage-laws|title=MARRIAGE LAWS – jewishencyclopedia.com|author=Solomon Schechter|access-date=2024-01-24}} The Talmud prohibits for a person to betroth his daughter to a man when she is still a minor, until she is matured and can say "I want to marry so-and-so", because a minor is "incapable of forming an opinion".{{cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org.il/Kiddushin.41a.8?lang=en|title=Kiddushin 41a.8 – sefaria.org|access-date=2024-01-24}}

However, in Shulchan Aruch it is explained that an exception is added when girls ages 3 through 12 might be given to betrothal by their fathers under distressing situations of exile and persecution, but should be avoided when possible.{{cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Shulchan_Arukh%2C_Even_HaEzer.37.8?lang=en|title=Shulchan Aruch, Even HaEzer 37:8 – sefaria.org|access-date=2024-01-24}} Nevertheless, it prohibited betrothal by intercourse, with the punishment being rabbinically decreed whiplashes,{{cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Shulchan_Arukh%2C_Even_HaEzer.26.4?lang=en|title=Shulchan Aruch, Even HaEzer 26:4 – sefaria.org|access-date=2024-01-24}} and emphasizes that both betrothal and marriage to minors is forbidden by rabbinic decree.{{cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Shulchan_Arukh%2C_Even_HaEzer.43.1?lang=en|title=Shulchan Aruch, Even HaEzer 43.1-2 – sefaria.org|access-date=2024-01-24}} Shulchan Aruch also states that the "deaf-mute", "insane", and "minors" are not fit agents for betrothal "because they are lacking in mental capacity", as such they cannot meaningfully consent.{{cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Shulchan_Arukh%2C_Even_HaEzer.35.6?lang=en|title=Shulchan Aruch, Even HaEzer 35.6 – sefaria.org|access-date=2024-01-24}}

Moreover, The Sages in the Talmud strongly opposed a wide age gap between spouses in either direction (e.g., between a young man and an old woman, and vice versa),{{cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Yevamot.44a.4?lang=en|title=Yevamot 44a – sefaria.org|access-date=2024-01-24}}{{cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org.il/Yevamot.101b.7?lang=en

|title=Yevamot 101b – sefaria.org|access-date=2024-01-24}}{{cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org.il/Avot_D'Rabbi_Natan.23.4?lang=en|title=Avot D'Rabbi Natan 23:4 – sefaria.org|access-date=2024-01-24}} especially in the case of marrying off one's young daughter to an old man, which they declared as reprehensible as forcing her into prostitution.{{cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Sanhedrin.76a.23-25?lang=en

|title=Sanhedrin 76a 23-25 – sefaria.org|access-date=2024-01-24}} Sanhedrin interpreted that Leviticus 19:29 forbids marrying off one's daughter to an old man because it might lead her to engage in adultery, and the father is fully responsible for causing that situation.{{cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Sanhedrin.76b.2?lang=en

|title=Sanhedrin 76b 2 – sefaria.org|access-date=2024-01-24}}

The Talmud also teaches that "those who marry minor girls who are not yet capable of bearing children" will "delay the coming of the messiah."{{cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Niddah.13b.5-7?lang=en|title=Niddah 13b.5-7 – sefaria.org|access-date=2024-01-24}}{{cite web|url=https://ph.yhb.org.il/en/14-05-10/|title=The Age of Marriage for Women – Peninei Halakha|access-date=2024-01-25}} In Avot de-Rabbi Nathan, Rashbi equates child marriage to murder.Avot de-Rabbi Natan, Version B, 48:66 Also noteworthy is the teaching of the Talmud and Rambam that if a woman refuses intimacy because she is repulsed by her husband then "her husband should be compelled to divorce her immediately. For she is not like a captive, [to be forced] to engage in relations with one she loathes."{{cite web|url=https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/952888/jewish/Ishut-Chapter-Fourteen|title=Ishut 14:8 – Chabad.org|access-date=2024-01-24}}{{cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Ketubot.63b.7-8?lang=en|title=Ketubot 63b.7-8 – sefaria.com|access-date=2024-01-24}}

• Judaism and sexuality

{{Reflist}}

• {{Citation|last=Lamm|first=Maurice|date=1991|title=The Jewish Way in Love and Marriage|publisher=Jonathan David Publishers, Inc.|isbn=0-8246-0353-2}}
• {{Citation|last=Eisenberg|first=Ronald|year= 2005|title=The 613 Mitzvot: A Contemporary Guide to the Commandments of Judaism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=maeV2EG_eZMC|publisher=Schreiber Publishing|isbn=0-88400-303-5}}

{{Halakha}}

{{Marital life in Judaism}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:List of Forbidden Relationships in Judaism}}

Category:Jewish marital law

Category:Judaism and sexuality