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Contraception in Contemporary Orthodox Judaism

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In summation, Rabbenu Tam certa<strong>in</strong>ly held that there is no debate<br />

between Rabbi Meir and the Sages about whether or not a moch is<br />

permitted. The moch before <strong>in</strong>tercourse may be prohibited, though<br />

the problem may be related to spilled seed or it may be merely a delay<br />

of procreation. Then aga<strong>in</strong>, there may be no problem with a moch<br />

before <strong>in</strong>tercourse at all. After <strong>in</strong>tercourse, there is certa<strong>in</strong>ly no<br />

problem at all, for either the man or the woman, accord<strong>in</strong>g to both<br />

Rabbi Meir and the Sages.<br />

Rambam<br />

The most noticeable feature of the Rambam’s view of the moch issue<br />

is that he did not mention it at all <strong>in</strong> the entire Mishna Torah. He<br />

explicitly forbade spill<strong>in</strong>g seed, though it is not clear what the nature<br />

of the prohibition is 22 . One looks <strong>in</strong> va<strong>in</strong> for a problem associated<br />

with the moch. The simplest explanation for this glar<strong>in</strong>g omission is<br />

that Rambam agreed with Rabbenu Tam that there is no prohibition<br />

whatsoever, only a recommendation by Rabbi Meir to use the moch<br />

under certa<strong>in</strong> situations. The Sages disagreed, so there is noth<strong>in</strong>g to<br />

write.<br />

However, the situation is a little more complicated than that. First,<br />

Rambam does write that one of the implications of the prohibition of<br />

spilled seed is that a man should not marry a m<strong>in</strong>or who is not<br />

capable of bear<strong>in</strong>g children. In paragraph 26 of the same chapter, he<br />

wrote that a man should not marry any other <strong>in</strong>fertile woman.<br />

Complicat<strong>in</strong>g matters, he wrote elsewhere (Hilchos Ishus 15:7) that a<br />

man should not marry a woman <strong>in</strong>capable of bear<strong>in</strong>g children unless<br />

he has already fulfilled the mitzvah of procreation or has another wife<br />

through whom he could fulfill the mitzvah. At first glance, there<br />

seems to be a blatant contradiction – if marry<strong>in</strong>g an <strong>in</strong>fertile woman<br />

22Hilchos Issurei Biyah 21:18

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