12 Ernest I. Jacob a man wishes to do with his wife, he may legally do(Nid. 13a). This was balanced by statements that suggested that a man should not have too frequent intercourse with his wife and be“like a cock who is after the hens.” Numerous talmudic sayings also advise modesty and maintained that the purpose of intercourse is procreation, an idea that may have been strengthened in Judaism through Christian influences.

We cannot conclude this brief survey without stating that significant modifications were made by sects such as the Essenes and Jewish mystics. The religious order of the Essenes which may have originated as early as 200 B.C.E., claimed that its members lived in strictly male societies. They did not despise sex itself, but feared the religious“impurity” that is almost unavoidable in contact with women.” We should also note that the Hellenistic philosopher Philo introduced a feminine element stating that God as father united with his own wisdom(Sophia) as mother to beget the world. Sophia received the divine sperm and gave birth to the cosmos, this visible universe." Philo declared this act of procreation unlike any human sexual act.

THE KABBALAH

Rabbinic Judaism succeeded in keeping sex out of its theology and controlled sexual activity through religious law. Eroticism entered through a side door, however, as it became a major element in Jewish mysticism similar to the mystic movements in other religions, the mystical tradition known under the general heading of Kabbalah , whose very name claimed an ancient tradition handed down through a select few. It flourished particularly during and after periods of major persecution, such as the expulsion from Spain and the persecutions of eastern Europe in the sixteenth and seventh centuries. Its emotional and other-worldly appeal provided hope and comfort lacking in the rationalistic Judaism of the talmudists and philosophers. Its sexual concept and often strongly erotic language may have