THE PATERNITY OF AN INFERTILE MALE

modem scientific definition of the seris hamah, requires reference to present day hormonal and fertility research.

When I was on Sabbatical in Oxford, I met with Dr. Julian Barth, of the Department of Chemical Pathology at the University of Leeds Old Medical School. We collaborated on a halakhic-medical study of this phenomenon. On the basis of the halakhic sources, Dr. Barth defined a born eunuch as a child with indeterminate sex. He examined four syndromes of such disorders due to abnormal genitalia, which reflect the symptomology described by the sages.” We attempted to establish whether any of these categories of indeterminate sex may be attributed to the congenital eunuch.

It was determined that some of the characteristics of the seris hamah described in the Talmud (Yevamot 80b),"He has no beard,""His skin is smooth,""He urinates without producing an arch":(due to lack of developed male phallus or deformity): may be the result of hormonal malfunctioning known as receptor deficiency or 17 beta HSD or 5 Testosterone alpha-reductase deficiency:

POTENCY, FERTILITY AND HEALING

Abraham Nahum, the seris hamah, of Turkey may serve as a test case to determine whether the above mentioned infirmity may yield the scientific explanation of this phenomenon.

Can modern medical research shed new light on this case and answer the following four questions:

I. Does the fact that a village woman reported that Abraham Nahum's penis at the age of four was the size of a pine seed indicate that he was a congenital eunuch when he was married in his late adolescence?

2. Is it possible that such a person may have sufficient potency to have sexual intercourse as testified by Abraham's second wife?

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