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Length: 1 hour 35 minutes
Synopsis: This morning (4/28/23), in our Machshavah Lab series for women, we took up a charged topic: arayos. The term "arayos" ("ervah" in singular) refers to the Biblically prohibited sexual relations that are liable for kareis (spiritual excision), including incest, bestiality, homosexual sodomy, adultery, and niddah. These prohibitions form the basis of what is colloquially referred to as the Torah's sexual morality. But are arayos immoral? And if a person has a sexual desire for an ervah, is that an immoral desire? If so, then why do Chazal teach us that a person SHOULDN'T say, "I don't desire to sleep with an ervah" but should instead say, "I desire, but what can I do? My Father in heaven forbade me?" In today's shiur I attempt to provide answers to these questions according to the Rambam.
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מקורות:
ויקרא פרק יח
רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר נשים, הלכות אישות א:ה-ח
רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר קדושה, הלכות איסורי ביאה, כותרת
רמב"ם - פירוש המשניות, הקדמה למסכת אבות, פרק ו
תלמוד בבלי מסכת סוכה דף נב עמוד א
רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר עבודה, הלכות מעילה ח:ח
רמב"ם - מורה הנבוכים ג:לז,מח,מט
שמות כג:יד-יט; לד:יח-כו
Christopher Eames, ‘Thou Shalt Not Seethe a Kid in Its Mother’s Milk’: Peculiar Scripture Illuminated by Archaeology
ספר החינוך - פרשת יתרו, מצוה ל"ה
רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר שופטים, הלכות מלכים ומלחמות ט:ה
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This week's Torah content has been sponsored by my dad in loving memory of our friend, Alan Woog (a"h), who took his final breath on April 18th, just a little shy of his 99th birthday. It has been a privilege to learn with him and from him over the course of these past ten years, and although we will all miss him, we are grateful that he is no longer in pain.
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