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LEVITICUS — 20:13 lies

LEV842 Our Rabbis taught: “If a man lies with a male …” (Leviticus 20:13): “A man” excludes a minor; “who lies with a male” denotes either an adult or a minor; “as a man lies with a woman” teaches that there are two modes of intimacy [anal and vaginal], both of which are punished when committed as an act of incest.... This [verse] teaches the punishment; from where do we learn the formal prohibition for him who lies [with a male]--that is, from where do we know a formal prohibition for the person who permits himself to be thus sexually involved? Scripture says, “There shall be no cult prostitute (kadesh) of the sons of Israel” (Deuteronomy 23:18) …; this is Rabbi Ishmael’s view. Rabbi Akiba said: [deriving the prohibition from that verse] is unnecessary, for one can read [the unvoweled Hebrew text of Leviticus 18:22, as it appears in the Torah as both] “Do not lie with a male as one lies with a woman” and “Do not be lain with.” Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 54a-54b

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LEVITICUS — 20:17 disgrace

LEV846 … while Abraham possessed kindness, Lot misused the quality of kindness and offered the people of Sodom the opportunity to rape his daughter (Gen. 19:8). Too much kindness can also result in an abomination, especially in the area of sexuality. Thus, one of the forbidden sexual relationships is called an abomination in the Torah, using the same word chesed, kindness, to express this abomination [this verse]. By using the same word for both kindness and abomination, the Torah is indicating that too much kindness, especially in the area of sexuality, can become an abomination.

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LEVITICUS — 20:18 bared

LEV847 Ulla said: Whence is it derived that peripheral [non-consummated] intercourse ["he'arah"] is forbidden by Scripture? It is written: "And a man who lies…he has bared her fountain." From here it is derived that peripheral intercourse is forbidden by the Torah [it being referred to as "lying," the convention term for intercourse] (Yevamoth 54a)

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LEVITICUS — 20:18 infirmity

LEV849 The Torah includes rules that forbid conjugal relations during a woman's menstrual period (Leviticus 15:19-24, 18:19, 20:18). The Torah gives no rationale for these rules apart from saying that they are part of the way in which the people Israel become holy--that is, separated from other peoples and in league with God. While the Torah requires sexual abstinence for seven days, the Rabbis added another five, and so couples who follow these laws do not have conjugal relations for twelve days out of every menstrual month. The woman must immerse herself naked in undrawn waters, which in practice has meant either in a natural body of water or, more commonly, in a mikveh--that is, a pool specially constructed to fulfill the legal requirements.

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