GEN138 The commentaries on the Talmudic passage Nedarim 51a say that by abandoning heterosexual relations, the person is straying from one of his prime goals in life – to procreate and populate the earth. This Talmudic explanation does not seem to reflect the “abhorrence” that the word “To’avia” implies in the simply meaning that is understood by most regarding the Jewish view of homosexuality.  Thus, the Talmudic explanation of why homosexuality is prohibited in the Torah is because of “straying,” i.e. failure to populate the earth.  Sefer HaChinuch, Mitzvah 209 explains that any “wasting of seed” on homosexual relations is preventing procreation and inhabiting the earth, the prime directive of man.  This “prime directive” is echoes by Isaiah in describing the purpose of creation – for the world “to be inhabited.” Isaiah 45:18.  If this explanation does not point to the “abhorrence” of the homosexual relationship, but rather to the violation of man’s purpose o earth and of core Torah values, then this new understanding is the true reason for the prohibition of homosexuality.  AMJV 139