SELECTED REFORM RESPONSA

the sound interpretation given by R. Solomon Luria to some of these Talmudic passages:

(1) The Talmudic-rabbinic law does not consider the use of contraceptives as such immoral or against the law. It does not forbid birth control, but it forbids birth suppression.

(2) The Talmudic-rabbinic law requires that every Jew have at least two children in fulfillment of the Biblical command to propagate the race, which is incumbent upon every man.

(3) There are, however, conditions under which a man may be exempt from this prime duty:(a) when a man is engaged in religious work, such as the study of the Torah , and fears that he may be hindered in his work for taking on the responsibilities of a family;(b) when a man, because of love, or other considerations, marries a woman who is incapable of having children (i.e., an old or sterile woman);(c) when a man is married to a woman whose health is in such condition as to make it dangerous for her to bear children; for, considerations for the saving of human life- pikuah nefesh or even safeq pikuah nefesh- set aside the obligation to fulfill a religious duty. In this last case, then, the woman is allowed to use any contraceptives or even(0 permanently sterilize herself in order to escape the dangers that would threaten her at childbirth.

(4) In case a man has fulfilled the duty of propagation of the race (as when he has already two children), he is no longer obliged to beget children, and the law does not forbid him to have intercourse with his wife even in a manner which would not result in conception. In such a case the woman certainly is allowed to use any kind of contraceptive or preventive.

Of course, in any case, the use of contraceptives or of any device to prevent conception is allowed only when both parties, i.e., husband and wife consent.

Some rabbinic authorities of the 18th and 19th centuries would

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