Chapter Five. A Book Of Advice And Sexual Morality

Abstract

Pinhas Baruch Monselice presents a practical counsel to young men as they approach marriage and, consequently, before the beginning of normative sexual activity. The attachment of Tiferet Bahurim to concrete reality on issues of family life is reflected in its familiarity with the patterns of the wedding ritual as known to us. This book alludes several times to significant stages in the marriage ritual, such as patterns of matchmaking and choosing partners common in Italian Jewish communities in the early modern period. The original and normative dimension derives from his scrupulous presentation of these processes as directly dictated by classic Jewish sources from the Mishnah and the Talmud onward. Hence the awareness, and the accompanying criticism, of the gap between the Halakhic requirements concerning family life, sexual morality, or ritual purity and impurity, and their actual fulfillment.Keywords: family life; Italian Jewish communities; marriage ritual; sexual morality; Tiferet Bahurim