With a history of three thousand years, Judaism has produced formative experts on love, such as King Solomon and Sigmund Freud. However, the exhibition with the ambiguous title “Sex. Jewish Positions” at the Jewish Museum in Berlin is more than just a record of Jewish peculiarities in the world of sexuality.

How irreconcilables meet

Two paintings hung next to each other form a kind of visual statement of intent in the exhibition, which includes over a hundred exhibits: “A Jewish Wedding” by the Jewish Dutch painter Joseph Israels from 1903 and “A Jewish Wedding” by the contemporary photographer Yitzhak Wolf. The latter shows a same-sex couple blessing their wedding – initially only in the photo, as no synagogue was found willing to do so.

“This exhibition is about the relationship of Judaism and Jewish tradition to changing ideas about sexuality, gender and lust,” German-Russian journalist and filmmaker Anna Narinsky (“Find the Jew”, 2020) explains to DW. based in Berlin. “For sexuality, as for any other topic in the Jewish tradition, the religious laws are not rigid, but adapt to the current realities of life and changing social structures through interpretations, discussions and stimuli,” affirms Museum director Hetty Berg in Berliner Zeitung.

Condemnation of celibacy

Let’s start with the “duty”: unlike Christianity and many other religions, Judaism strictly condemns celibacy. No one is allowed to escape the command to “Be fruitful and multiply.”

The Torah states that a man has three duties towards his wife: to feed her, to clothe her, and to provide her with sexual intercourse. And preferably at least twice a week. The opposite is considered sufficient grounds for divorce in some Talmudic treatises, with alimony paid to the wife after only one week of no activity in bed.

At the same time, religious books emphasize the importance of the woman’s consent in sexual intercourse. “When you are finally ready for sexual union, make sure that your woman’s intentions match your own,” teaches the Iggeret ha-Kodesh, a 13th-century Kabbalistic text, for example.

However, the Torah not only forbids premarital sex, but also other activities “without the intention of procreation” – for example masturbation, as according to the Torah this would be “wasting semen”. Women must also abstain from intercourse during and after menstruation – they can – and must – return to the marital bed seven days after the last period and after cleansing in the mikveh, the ritual bath.

Edited by: Sofia Kleftaki