Rabbi ari enkin

In his Sexuality and Jewish Law, Yaakov Shapiro, an ordained rabbi and non-conformist Lubavitcher chassid, offers a thorough, unapologetic, and uncensored presentation of everything relating to sexual activity and Jewish law.

All rabbinic texts that deal with sexual matters are cited along with the interpretations and comments of all the relevant rishonim, achronim, and poskim...

Rabbi Dr. Marc Shapiro

I want to call readers’ attention to a new book recently sent to me by R. Yaakov Shapiro. Its title is Halachic Positions: What Judaism Really Says About Passion in the Marital Bed, available here. This is the most detailed book there is on halakhah and marital sexuality. In many ways it is designed to counter a lot of the stringencies that have arisen over time and which the author feels are non-halakhic...

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Rabbi Rafi Ostroff & 
Talli Rosenbaum, MSc, Sex Therapist

“Halachic Positions: What Judaism Really Says About Passion in the Marital Bed” is the cleverly chosen title of a new book recently self-published by Yaakov Shapiro. It is the first volume in a promised series of more books by Shapiro about sexuality and Jewish law, which are the result of the author’s self-described search for a “balanced approach in Torah.”

Rabbi Dr. Natan Slifkin

Halachic Positions: What Judaism Really Says About Passion In The Marital Bed is a new book by Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro, the first in a proposed series entitled Sexuality and Jewish Law: In Search of a Balanced Approach in Torah. It is a fascinating, though very intricate, discussion of the development of halachah in this area.

The Joy of Text

Rabbi Dov Linzer &
Dr. Bat Sheva Marcus

The Joy of Text Podcast - Season 2, Episode 1: The Sex Signals Episode

How can you use your flower arrangements to signal to your partner that you want sex? How does the commandment of tzniut affect women’s sexuality? What sex positions are halakhically permissible? Learn the answers to these questions and more on the first episode of Season Twoof The Joy of Text! In this episode we respond to a listener’s question about wives initiating sex, talk to Yaakov Shapiro about his book, “Halachic Positions: What Judaism Really Says About Passion in the Marital Bed,” and introduce our newest segment of The Joy of the Text – “The Final Word.”

Jewish Coffee House

Rabbi Scott Kahn

Introduction: RABBI YAAKOV SHAPIRO, AUTHOR OF THE “SEXUALITY AND JEWISH LAW” SERIES

In this episode of The Scott Kahnversation, Scott interviews Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro, author of Halachic Positions: What Judaism Really Says About Passion In The Marital Bed. Rabbi Shapiro offers a candid, refreshing, and often surprising look at Halacha's approach to sexuality. His approach may appear daring, but is in fact fully grounded in the classic sources of Halacha. Rabbi Shapiro is also the co-founder of a Chabad Montessori yeshiva in Crown Heights, New York. Their discussion - an introduction to a series dealing with sexuality and Jewish law (which will be continued in the next episode of the Orthodox Conundrum podcast) - is not to be missed.

Part 1: CORRECTING A BASIC MISUNDERSTANDING ABOUT JUDAISM AND SEXUALITY

While many people know that Judaism has a positive orientation toward marriage and sex, people often assume that, even within marriage, there are severe restrictions on what is allowed and what is forbidden. In this episode of the Orthodox Conundrum, Scott Kahn speaks with Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro, author of Halachic Positions: What Judaism Really Says About Passion In The Marital Bed, in order to understand the source of these assumptions, and to discover what the Halachic literature actually says about this topic.

Part 2: EXPLORING THE SIX PRIMARY TALMUDIC TEXTS DEALING WITH SEXUALITY

In Masechet Nedarim 20a, Rabbi Yochanan ben Dehavai states that certain birth defects are caused by particular actions performed by the husband and wife during sexual intercourse; accordingly, he seems to put severe restraints on what a couple may do while having sex. On the other hand, the Sages say that a husband and wife may do whatever they like during intercourse, and that the halacha does not follow Rabbi Yochanan ben Dehavai's restrictive approach. In this episode of the Orthodox Conundrum, Scott Kahn and Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro explore this and other primary Talmudic texts that discuss issues of sexuality, and try to understand the halachic ramifications according to the Rishonim and the author of the Shulchan Aruch.

Part 3: IS NON VAGINAL INTERCOURSE PERMISSIBLE?

Although most religious Jews assume that anal and oral intercourse are halachically forbidden, there is significant discussion and disagreement about this issue in the Talmud and the Rishonim. In this episode of the Orthodox Conundrum podcast, Scott Kahn talks with Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro, author of Halachic Positions: What Judaism Really Says About Passion in the Marital Bed, about this topic, and about the surprising halachic ramifications with which most people are unfamiliar

Part 4: HALACHOT OF SEXUALITY, WASTING SEED, AND THE INFLUENCE OF THE ZOHAR

Rabbi Yosef Karo's halachic opinion on non-vaginal intercourse, as expressed in the Shulchan Aruch, is often seen as standard and normative. The reality, however, is much more complex. In this episode of the Orthodox Conundrum podcast, Scott Kahn talks with Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro, author of Halachic Positions: What Judaism Really Says About Passion in the Marital Bed, about the influence of the Zohar upon the presumed normative halacha, and about the surprising halachic ramifications with which most people are unfamiliar.