Thank you for this. I think you argue very well. I found the entry through christianitysex, and it covers several things which have been in my mind recently.

I hope you don't mind if I ask a few questions.

You say that male masturbation is forbidden as being a waste of seed, but I do not recall anything in the Law of Moses, or elsewhere, which explicitly forbids it. Have I missed something? Or do you refer to the general uncleaness resulting from the emission of semen?

A friend of mine (libellum) argues that the Jewish purity laws were based on the idea that things, especially bodily fluids, should remain in their proper places, hence the uncleaness of menstrual fluid and semen, for which see particularly Lev 15. The proper place for semen was a woman's vagina, and anything else was impure. Would you agree with this understanding? If so, how do you see it interacting with the concern for the raising of legitimate children you outline above? Is it a consequence of that concern, or are the two independent but interacting factors?

Do you mind if I refer to this entry in my own journal?