This study explores myriad traditional Jewish sources, from the Bible to recent books, on the “how-to” of conjugal intimacy, showing both stability and change in what Jews were instructed to do, or to avoid doing, in their marital bed.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preface -- Introduction -- 1 Foundations -- 1.1 The Bible -- 1.2 The Talmudic/Rabbinic Literature -- 2 Rationalists, Philosophers, and Codifiers -- 2.1 Abraham ben David’s Gate of Holiness -- 2.2 Maimonides’s Never-Written Guide to Sexuality -- 2.3 Jacob ben Asher’s Arba‌ʾah Turim -- 2.4 Isaac Aboab’s Menorat ha-Ma‌ʾor -- 2.5 Joseph Karo’s Shulkhan Arukh -- 3 Kabbalists and Hasids -- 3.1 Sexuality according to the Zoharic Literature -- 3.2 Iggeret ha-Kodesh -- 3.3 Sexuality in Safedian Kabbalah -- 3.4 Popularized Kabbalah -- 3.5 Marital Relations in Hasidic Texts -- 4 Orthodoxies in Recent Decades -- 4.1 Contemporary Modern Orthodox Marital Guidance -- 4.2 Haredi Guides to Marital Sexuality -- 5 Conclusion -- 5.1 Ascetism and Enjoyment -- 5.2 Sex on Friday Night -- 5.3 Sex in the Middle of the Night -- 5.4 The Night of the Ritual Bath -- 5.5 Holes in Sheets -- 5.6 Overturning the Table, Not in Her Way, and Anal Sex -- 5.7 Censorship -- 5.8 The Need for Manuals -- 5.9 Religious Zionist Sexuality -- 5.10 Haredi Sexuality -- Bibliography -- Index.

When literate in Hebrew Jews (until recent centuries and even decades, mostly men) wanted to learn from traditional Jewish sources how to behave in their conjugal bed, what did they find? Did the guidance differ between generations, places, or cultural contexts? How did thinkers in a tradition based on supposedly binding texts deal with changing sensibilities, needs, and realities in this intimate domain? This study explores sources from the Bible to contemporary publications, showing both stability and change in what Jews were instructed to do, or to avoid doing, when having sex with their spouse.

Description based on print version record.