Observant Married Jewish Women and Sexual Life: An Empirical Study
Dr. Michelle Friedman is Director of Pastoral Counseling, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School, and Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine; Dr. Ellen Labinsky is Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Mount Sinai Medical Center; Talli Y. Rosenbaum is a Urogynecological Physiotherapist and AASECT Certified Sexual Counselor, Inner Stability, Bet Shemesh, Israel; Dr. James Schmeidler is Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine; Dr. Rachel Yehuda, Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobiology, is the Director of the Traumatic Stress Studies Division at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. The Division includes the PTSD clinical research program and the Neurochemistry and Neuroendocrinology laboratory at the James J.Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center. This article appears in issue 5 of Conversations, the journal of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals.
I. INTRODUCTION
Taharat haMishpahah, literally, “family purity,” refers to the series of Jewish laws and customs governing sexual behavior between husbands and wives. The laws of taharat haMishpahah need to be understood in the larger context of observant Jewish life, which seeks to elevate everyday behavior in light of a divine plan. According to this understanding of the religious Jewish mission, each and every action has the potential to be imbued with sanctity, or kedushah. Taharat haMishpahah is considered one of the pillars of observant Jewish life. Volumes are devoted to the laws of taharat haMishpahah, so a brief summary of this complex area will be incomplete. Read more
"Rabbi, Can We Talk?" Pastoral Counseling at YCT Rabbinical School
Dr. Michelle Friedman is Director of Pastoral Counseling at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in New York City. She is on staff at Mt. Sinai Hospital as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, and she has a private psychiatric practice. This article appears in issue 3 of Conversations, the journal of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals.
“Rabbi, this is hard to talk about but… …. our son has a non-Jewish girlfriend.” ….I’m feeling really shaky. My ex-husband abused me for years and now our daughter is getting married. I don’t know if I can make it through the wedding.” Read more