EXOD539 Sex … is not exclusively for procreation; it is also for the mutual bonding of the couple, emotionally as well as physically. The Rabbis derived this notion from [this verse], according to which a man owes his wife "her food, clothing, and her conjugal rights." [M. Ketubbot 5:6]. As they usually do with regard to any commandment, they then define exactly how this commandment may be fulfilled by determining how often a man must offer to engage in sexual relations with his wife. They maintained that it depends on the degree to which his job enables him to be home at night, and that consequently a man may not change his job to one that will bring him home at night less often without his wife's permission. Conversely, men also have rights to sex in marriage, but, remarkably, the Talmud already prohibits marital rape [B. Eruvin 100b; Leviticus Rabbah 9:6; Numbers Rabbah 13:2; M.T. Laws of Ethics 5:4; M.T. Laws of Marriage 14;15; M.T. Laws of Forbidden Intercourse 21:11; S.A. Orah Hayim 240:10; S.A. Even Ha-Ezer 25:2, gloss], which was not prohibited in any American state until 1975 and not in all American states until 1993. If his wife repeatedly refused to engage in conjugal relations, then, the Mishnah's remedy was that he could diminish what he owed her in divorce by a certain amount each week until he could divorce her without paying her anything and marry someone else [M. Ketubbot 5:7], for he too has a right to sexual satisfaction in marriage. This recognition of the role of sex in a couple's physical satisfaction and emotional bonding, together with their respect for medicine, has made Jews quite willing to use medical and psychological interventions to overcome sexual dysfunctions, and to use artificial reproductive techniques to overcome infertility. (By Elliot N. Dorff)