SELECTED REFORM RESPONSA

wife in a manner not resulting in conception is in itself not against the law, there can be no difference between the failure to fulfill the commandment of propagation of the race by abstaining altogether from marriage and the failure to fulfill the commandment by practicing birth control. The considerations that permit the one permit also the other. It would even seem that the other- i.e. the practice of birth control- should be preferred to the one of total abstention. For. in granting permission to practice the latter, the Rabbis make the proviso that the man be so constituted, or so deeply engrossed in his work, as not to be troubled by his sexual desires or to be strong enough to withstand temptation (vehu shelo yehe yitsro mitgaber alav, Maimonides and Shulhan Arukh, l.c.). Now. if a man is so constituted that he is troubled by his desires and suffers from the lack of their gratification, and yet is engaged in some noble and moral pursuit(like the study of the Torah ) which hinders him from taking on the responsibilities of a family, he may marry and avoid having children. He may say with Ben Azzai ,"I am very much attached to my work and cannot afford to have a family to take care of. The propagation of the race can and will be carried on by others"(efshar laolam sheyitkayem al yedei acherim, Yevamol 36b; Tosefta, ibid., VIII, end). For the Rabbis also teach that"it is better to marry." even if not for the sake of having children, than"to burn" with passion and ungratified desires. And, as we have seen above, the rabbinic law permits marriage even when it must result in failure to fulfill the commandment"Be fruitful and multiply," as when a young man marries an old or sterile woman. The Rabbis did not teach total abstention. They did not agree with Paul that "It is good for a man not to touch a woman"(I Corinthians VII: 1). While the institution of marriage may have for its main purpose the propagation of the race. this is not its sole and exclusive purpose. And the Rabbis urge and recommend marriage as such without regard to this purpose, or even under conditions when this purpose cannot be achieved. The companionship or mutual helpfulness in leading a pure, good, and useful life, achieved by a truc marriage, is also a noble purpose worthy of this divine institution. In fact, according to the Biblical account, this was the first consideration in the Divine mind when creating woman for man. He said:"It is not good that the man should be alone, I will make him a helpmeet for him"(Genesis 2:18). He did not say,"I will make him a wife that he have children by her." The commandment to have children God gave to Adam later on. When husband

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