Referencing Andrew Solomon’s recent expose in the New Yorker on the challenges to traditional family structure by polygamist and polyamorist lifestyles, Professor Juni and Rabbi Kivelevitz engage a range of social antecedents with a particular focus on Biblical and Rabbinic sources, with a focus on the quality of marital relationships and optimal child development. Juni prefaces his presentation, citing his study of bigamy in the Mormon community – which they refer to as "Biblical Marriage" and his research work with bigamous couples in the Native-American, Bedouin, and Black Hebrew communities. He stresses that the alternative lifestyles often confuse sexual activity with genuine interpersonal relations. While opining that the depiction of bigamy in the Pentateuch seems incidental rather than normative, Juni argues that the Biblical perspective on the institution of marriage is entirely male oriented – which he contrasts emphatically from misogyny. .........

....Kivelevitz takes exception to this notion, citingBiblical, Talmudic, and Rabbinic texts about bigamy in Jewish tradition . Moving on to the psychological perspective, Juni expounds on the Freudian understanding that marriage is a sublimated expression of the Oedipal-Electra complex which spells out the need to form a new unit of joint identity of two individuals who care for each other deeply. Moreover, as expounded in Object Relations Theory, the need for such intimate dyadic relationships are inborn basic human needs. Alternative marriage options thus defy optimal templates of (what Freud saw as) relational biologically-ingrained evolutionarily-mandated healthy living styles. The discussants explore the implications of this theory on the appropriateness of marital couples whose ages differ significantly. Kivelevitz raises the scientific reservation of Freud’s dismissiveness of alternate marital norms in various cultures and questioned Freud’s objectivity in arriving at his version of the marital imperative, prompting Juni to agree that Freud was ethnocentric and male-biased in his formulations. Despite these biases, Juni asserts that alternate relational styles to monogamous relationships -- especially bigamy and polyandry (its converse) -- pose serious relational problems because of their inherent relationship asymmetry. Such asymmetry inevitably engenders jealousy and mistrust. The kinship of co-wives and the warm family feeling in the Mormon and Black Hebrew cultures is described by Juni as a possible counterpoint to the Freudian perspective, with the caveat that this entails more of a group identification – in contrast to a marital union...... ..... Doctor Samuel Juni is one of the foremost research psychologists in the world today. He has published groundbreaking original research in seventy different peer reviewed journals, and is cited continuously with respect by colleagues and experts in the field who have built on his theories and observations. Samuel Juni studied in Yeshivas Chaim Berlin under Rav Yitzchack Hutner, and in Yeshiva University as a Talmid of Rav Joseph Dov Soloveitchick. Professor Juni is a prominent member of the Association of Orthodox Jewish Scientists, and has regularly presented addresses to captivated audiences. Associated with NYU since 1979, Juni has served as Director of MA and PhD programs, all the while heading teams engaged in important research. Professor Juni's scholarship on aberrant behavior across the cultural, ethnic, and religious spectrum is founded on psychometric methodology and based on a psycho-dynamic psychopathology perspective. He is arguably the preeminent expert in Differential Diagnostics, with each of his myriad studies entailing parallel efforts in theory construction and empirical data collection from normative and clinical populations. Professor Juni created and directed NYU's Graduate Program in Tel Aviv titled Cross-Cultural Group Dynamics in Stressful Environments. Based in Yerushalayim, he collaborates with Israeli academic and mental health specialists in the study of dissonant factors and tensions in the Arab-Israeli conflict and those within the Orthodox Jewish community, while exploring personality challenges of second-generation Holocaust survivors. Below is a partial list of the journals to which Professor Juni has contributed over 120 articles. Many are available on line Journal of Forensic Psychology Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, and Trauma. International Review of Victimology The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease International Forum of Psychoanalysis Journal of Personality Assessment Journal of Abnormal Psychology Journal of Psychoanalytic Anthropology Psychophysiology Psychology and Human Development Journal of Sex Research Journal of Psychology and Judaism Contemporary Family Therapy American Journal on Addictions Journal of Criminal Psychology Mental Health, Religion & Culture As Rosh Beis Medrash, Rabbi Avraham Kivelevitz serves as Rav and Posek for the morning minyan at IDT. Hundreds of listeners around the globe look forward to his weekly Shiur in Tshuvos and Poskim. Rav Kivelevitz is a Maggid Shiur for Dirshu International in Talmud and Halacha as well as a Dayan with the Beth Din of America. Please leave us a review or email us at [email protected] This podcast has been graciously sponsored by JewishPodcasts.fm. There is much overhead to maintain this service so please help us continue our goal of helping Jewish lecturers become podcasters and support us with a donation: https://thechesedfund.com/jewishpodcasts/donate