Avraham Peretz Friedman, Aronson, 1996
Friedman, a graduate of Yeshivah and Columbia Universities, has written extensively on issues of marital harmony and sexuality. This small book addresses the very difficult and highly sensitive subject of the enjoyment and contextualisation of sexuality. He discusses the need for a Torah-focussed presentation of the subject, distinguishing it from a Christian perspective. A list of the main topics will suffice to get a sense of the breadth of the material Friedman covers: ‘Judaism and the enjoyment of physical pleasures, the spirit of contrariness and the taste of the forbidden, a spice, the Torah’s encouragement of procreation, the Torah’s encouragement of sexual enjoyment, the mitzvah of onah (if you don’t know what this is, ask the rabbi), guarding the treasure and procreation’. Friedman is mature in his approach, and very explicit (although never coarse) when necessary. He is particularly focussed on the mindset of intimacy, contending that the attitude and intentions of the partners in a relationship are seminal to the Jewish view of sexuality. I lend this book to every engaged couple I teach.
Marital Intimacy
