EX hAIMATWN (John 1:13)
Eric S. Weiss
eweiss at gte.net
Sat Jan 22 00:23:57 EST 2000
AHA! I found the book at amazon.com -
The Holy Letter : A Study in Jewish Sexual Morality
by Nahmanides (Editor), Seymour J. Cohen (Editor)
Our Price: $30.00
Hardcover - 187 pages Reprint edition (December 1994)
Jason Aronson; ISBN: 1568210868 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.78 x 8.51 x
5.78
and this "summary" at http://www.siecus.org/religion/reli0002.html :
The Holy Letter: A Study in Jewish Sexual Morality
Seymour J. Cohen
Translated from a 13th century Hebrew text, Iggeret ha-Kodesh, this book
looks at the spiritual insights of Jewish thought. It serves as both a
guide for the marital relationship as well as a kabbalistic work
illustrating God's relationship to people. Chapters include: "The Nature of
Intercourse," "The Time of Intercourse," and "The Intention of Union."
On 01/22/00, ""Eric S. Weiss" <eweiss at gte.net>" wrote:
> This may be totally off-base, but earlier tonight I was at our local used
bookstore, and in the Jewish books section of the religious section was a
book called, I believe, THE HOLY LETTERS. It is a translation of an
anonymous work, thought to be authored by Nachmanides (middle ages?). It
deals with the sexual relationship in marriage. Hebrew, with English
translation on facing pages. As I glanced through it, I "think" my eyes
caught something about the nature of the child being related to any
mingling with the woman's blood, or depending on the time of the month in
which intercourse was had. The jacket cover mentioned something about
Kaballistic interpretations, etc., but - and I'm making a wild guess here,
since I just skimmed the book briefly - it's possible the book's subject
matter is based on or includes longstanding Talmudic teachings. Which
means
it might be a source of information for ancient Jewish views that might
shed light on the issues raised in this question. If I can and remember to
do so, I may get back to the store and, if the book is still there, see if
there is some such relevant information.
- Eric Weiss eweiss at gte.net
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