THE PATERNITY OF AN INFERTILE MALE
Moshe Zemer
One of the earliest studies of fertility in Jewish Law relates to the seris hamah, literally a"sun eunuch," one who was sterile from the first time he appeared in the sun, i.e., a congenital eunuch.! This phenomenon has been debated in the halakhic literature from the Mishnah through the responsa.
Sages of the Mishnaic period(Tannaim) state that a person of twenty years of age who has not produced two pubic hairs is a congenital eunuch. If he produces them after this age, he is still considered a saris. The Talmud gives a specific list of characteristics:"He has no beard, his hair is straight, and his skin is smooth. Rabbi Simion b. Gamliel said in the name of R. Judah b. Jair: Any person whose urine produces no froth; some say: He who urinates without producing an arch; some say: He whose semen is watery; others say: He whose urine does not ferment. Still others say: He whose body does not steam when bathing in the winter. R. Simeon b. Eleazar said: One whose voice is abnormal so that you cannot distinguish whether it is that of a man or of a woman." An Amoraic ® dispute ensues whether one or all of these characteristics must be present to establish his capability of procreation.’
Rashi in his commentary to this passage interprets the characteristics of this saris:"his hair is straight" means that it is lank and smooth; his skin is as smooth as a woman's in contrast with a man's hairy skin;"he does not urinate in an arch," namely, he does not form a long stream that reaches afar; "his semen is watery" rather than thick and is as clear as water;"his urine ferments" means that it smells when left in a container.’
We may note that the sages record only the secondary characteristics of the saris and the results of his infirmity. Nowhere do they present a specific definition of the congenital eunuch or an explicit description of the abnormality of his genitalia.