“Adultery with the hand”: The Talmud on Masturbation and Guidelines for How Men Should Urinate and Check for Emissions (Niddah 13a-b)

This piece summarizes and rephrases much of Niddah 13a-b. See also my previous piece on a sex in the Talmud. (There I discuss, among other things, a passage in this sugya in Niddah 13b (sections # 5-7) about child molestation, which I won’t discuss here.) 

Compare also the Wikipedia entry “Judaism and masturbation”, which quotes a few lines from this sugya. (I go into much greater depth in this piece.) 

See also my previous piece on R’ Yosei, where I cite the Talmud to regarding his sexual asceticism: it is implied that he almost completely refrained from sex (#10), never looking at his penis (#12) and would undress under his bed sheets (#13).

The passage: Niddah 13a (section #1) - 13b (section #11)

Men checking for emissions

The Talmudic passage discusses the ethics and guidelines regarding bodily examination for emissions in the context of Jewish ritual purity (for women - nidah; for men - zav). 

The Mishna states that while women are praised for examining themselves for bodily emissions, men should not: “[such a hand] should be severed” (tikatzetz - תיקצץ).

The Talmud explains that women are not prone to sexual arousal (hargasha - הרגשה) from such examinations, thus making their actions praiseworthy. In contrast, men are susceptible to arousal (אנשים דבני הרגשה נינהו), potentially leading to masturbation.

This is how Steinzaltz explains it, and it appears to be the explanation of Rashi. Tosafot, in contrast, interprets that the difference between men and women isn’t in whether each is prone to sexual arousal, rather, whether there’s a prohibition of sexual arousal.

I should point out now, that throughout this piece, “masturbation” is exclusively male masturbation, not female masturbation. 

The Talmud goes on to say that if a man must examine himself, it should be done with a hard object like a rock or earthenware (as opposed to with something soft, like a cloth, or directly, without a tool) to prevent arousal.

The sugya then discusses at relative length both masturbation and handling genitals during urination.  The sugya combines the discussion of the two topics throughout, I’ve summarized them separately, for clarity.

Masturbation

The Talmud strongly opposes male masturbation (“emitting semen for naught” - motzi shikhvat zera le’Vatala - מוציא שכבת זרע לבטלה), equating it with severe transgressions.  

R’ Eliezer equates holding the penis (which could easily lead to masturbation) with “bringing a Flood” (ibid., 13a, section #8): 

תניא, רבי אליעזר אומר: כל האוחז באמתו ומשתין, כאילו מביא מבול לעולם 

Rabbi Eliezer says: With regard to anyone who holds his penis and urinates, it is considered as though he is bringing a flood to the world, as masturbation was one of the sins that led to the flood (Sanhedrin 108b)

Rabbi Yoḥanan suggests that one who masturbates is liable to death, relating it to the biblical story of Onan ibid., 13a, (section #17):

אמר רבי יוחנן: כל המוציא שכבת זרע לבטלה, חייב מיתה, שנאמר (בראשית לח, י) "וירע בעיני ה' (את) אשר עשה, וימת גם אותו"

Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Anyone who emits semen for naught is liable to receive the punishment of death at the hand of Heaven, as it is stated with regard to Onan, son of Judah: “And it came to pass, when he engaged in intercourse with his brother’s wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest he should give seed to his brother. And the thing that he did was evil in the eyes of the Lord, and He slew him also” (Genesis 38:9–10).

Rabbi Yitzḥak and Rabbi Ami liken masturbating to murder, interpreting a verse from Isaiah as condemning those who emit semen unnecessarily (ibid., 13a, section #18):  

רבי יצחק ורבי אמי אמרי: כאילו שופך דמים, שנאמר (ישעיהו נז, ה) "הנחמים באלים תחת כל עץ רענן שוחטי הילדים בנחלים תחת סעיפי הסלעים", אל תקרי 'שוחטי' אלא 'סוחטי'

Rabbi Yitzḥak and Rabbi Ami say: One who emits semen for naught is considered as though he sheds blood, as it is stated: “But draw near here, you sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the harlot…Are you not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood, you that inflame yourselves among the terebinths, under every leafy tree, that slay [shoḥatei] the children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?” (Isaiah 57:3–5). Do not read this word as shoḥatei; rather, read it as soḥatei, i.e., one who squeezes out [soḥet] semen is considered to have shed the blood of the children who could have been born from that seed.

Rav Asi further compares masturbating to idol worship (ibid., 13a, section #19): 

רב אסי אמר: כאילו עובד עבודת כוכבים, כתיב הכא "תחת כל עץ רענן", וכתיב התם (דברים יב, ב) "על ההרים הרמים, ותחת כל עץ רענן"

Rav Asi says: It is considered as though he worships idols, as it is written here: “Under every leafy tree,” and it is written there, with regard to the mitzva of eradicating idols from Eretz Yisrael: “You shall destroy all the places, where the nations that you are to dispossess worshipped their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every leafy tree” (Deuteronomy 12:2).

Rav states that one who intentionally causes himself an erection should be ostracized (ibid., 13b, section #2):

אמר רב: המקשה עצמו לדעת, יהא בנדוי 

Rav says: One who intentionally causes himself an erection shall be ostracized. 

Rabbi Ami views such a person as a habitual transgressor, warning that it’s a slippery slope; succumbing to one sin leads to further sins and eventually idol worship (ibid.): 

ורבי אמי אמר: נקרא עבריין, שכך אומנתו של יצר הרע, היום אומר לו עשה כך, ולמחר אומר לו עשה כך, ולמחר אומר לו לך עבוד עבודת כוכבים, והולך ועובד 

And Rabbi Ami says: He is called a habitual transgressor, as this is the craft of the evil inclination. Today he says to a person: Do this sin, and when the individual obeys his inclination, on the following day the evil inclination says to him: Do that sin, and on the following day he says to him: Go and worship idols, and he goes and worships idols.

The school of Rabbi Yishmael interprets masturbation as a form of adultery, expanding the commandment "You shall not commit adultery" to include self-stimulation. Rabbi Elazar, too, uses the term “adultery with the hand” to refer to masturbating  (ibid., 13b, section #4):

ואמר ר' אלעזר: מאי דכתיב (ישעיהו א, טו) "ידיכם דמים מלאו" - אלו המנאפים ביד 

תנא דבי רבי ישמעאל: (שמות כ, יג) "לא תנאף" לא תהא בך ניאוף, בין ביד בין ברגל 

And Rabbi Elazar says, with regard to the severity of this transgression: What is the meaning of that which is written: “And when you spread forth your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; even when you make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of blood” (Isaiah 1:15)? These are those men who commit adultery with the hand, by masturbating. 

Likewise, the school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: When it is stated in the Ten Commandments: “You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:13), this means that there shall not be adultery among you, whether you masturbate by hand or whether with one’s foot. 

Handling Genitals During Urination

Rabbi Eliezer's opinion on handling the penis while urinating is also discussed. He suggests that one should avoid holding the penis, even when urinating, to prevent masturbation, which (as mentioned) he equates with significant sin (“bringing a Flood”). Alternative methods for urinating without needing to hold the penis (to prevent being sprayed by urine) are suggested (such as urinating in an elevated place, or in an area with loose soil).

Additional considerations are discussed in a story of Shmuel and Rav Yehuda, specifically, the need to avoid soiling a synagogue. Different opinions offer solutions. For example, Rav Yehuda's fear of God is deemed enough to prevent sinful thoughts during urination. Being married is also considered a mitigating factor, as married men are presumed to have less intense sexual urges. 

Abba, son of Rabbi Binyamin bar Ḥiyya, advises that instead of holding the penis, a man can assist urination by holding the testicles (beitzim - ביצים - ibid. 12b, section #25): 

 דתני אבא בריה דרבי בנימין בר חייא: אבל מסייע בביצים מלמטה 

Abba, son of Rabbi Binyamin bar Ḥiyya, teaches: One may not hold the penis itself while urinating, but a man who wishes to urinate may assist the process by holding the testicles from below. 

Rabbi Abbahu, quoting Rabbi Yoḥanan, specifies that it's permissible to hold the penis from the corona (atara - עטרה) and below towards the tip, as this is unlikely to lead to arousal, while it's prohibited to hold it from the corona upwards towards the body (ibid.): 

אמר רבי אבהו אמר רבי יוחנן: גבול יש לו, מעטרה ולמטה מותר, מעטרה ולמעלה אסור 

Rabbi Abbahu said that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: There is a clear demarcation in the prohibition against holding one’s penis while urinating: From the corona and below, toward the tip of the penis, it is permitted to hold, as this will not lead to arousal. From the corona and above, toward the body, it is prohibited. 

“Hand Should be cut off” - literally? 

A surprising debate arises over whether the instruction (cited in the Mishnah) to sever the hand of a man who frequently examines his emissions for purity purposes should be taken literally. Rabbi Tarfon advocates a strict interpretation, suggesting that the hand should be severed, which leads to a discussion about practical and ethical implications.

Rabbi Tarfon's position is examined, with the Rabbis questioning the reasonableness of severing a hand for removing a thorn from the belly, to which Rabbi Tarfon responds that it's preferable to suffer physically than to descend into sin.