[7][8] Deuteronomy 24:5 requires a man who has been married within the last year to "gladden" his wife at home, rather than joining the army to fight in a war which is ongoing.
In later Jewish tradition, this is understood as a general requirement for every husband to stay at home with his wife for the first year of marriage, and for them to "rejoice" together.
[11] There are also other reasons that contributed to this tradition, including saying that this is the only day of the week when Torah scholars have time, or that this is in order to imitate cosmic unions that happens on Friday night between God and the Shekihnah, as imagined by the Kabbalists.
[17] While sexual lust is categorized as a form of "evil inclination" (yetzer hara), the rabbis recognized its necessity as a motivator of procreation, and thus described it as "very good" in one source.
Thus, for example, some texts say that the above mentioned impurity created by ejaculation exists "in order that Torah scholars would not be with their wives like roosters" (B. Berakhot 22a): in other words, to reduce their sexual activity.
According to Iggeret HaKodesh ("The Holy Letter", a 12th-century work sometimes mistakenly attributed to Nahmanides[19]), a man should arouse his wife during sex, and even that he should ensure that she achieves orgasm before he does.
[20] Despite the general acceptance of sexuality in marriage as described above, some sources advocate that especially pious people should minimize their engagement in sex.
According to rabbinic sources, Moses was physically separate from his wife Tzipporah while he fulfilled his role as prophet and leader of the Jewish people.
Nevertheless, it is pious conduct for a person not to act frivolously concerning such matters, and to sanctify himself at the time of relations, as explained in Hilchot Deot.
For this act was [given to us] solely for the sake of procreation... Our Sages do not derive satisfaction from a person who engages in sexual relations excessively and frequents his wife like a rooster.
[10]Nahmanides went further, writing that "sexual relations are remote and disgusting according to the Torah, except for the perpetuation of the human species".
The term erva is also used to describe parts of a woman considered to be immodest and sexually provocative, including hair, thighs, and singing voice.
[30] Classical rabbinic sources also condemn marriage between two men, which they see as an activity performed by non-Jews which invited Divine punishment.
[34] In Liberal Judaism (United Kingdom), homosexual relationships are considered acceptable,[35] and weddings are conducted for same-sex couples.
Extramarital sex is frowned upon by all Jewish groups, even though its legal meaning is not always obvious; according to some authorities, it falls under a biblical prohibition.
According to Exodus 22:15–16, the man who entices[41] a single woman to have sex must offer to marry her afterwards or the equivalent in compensation, unless her father refuses to allow him.
[citation needed] In modern days, the Halakhic question on whether taking male semen for the purpose of medical examinations or insemination is a sin remains in dispute among Jewish legal authorities.
[48] Many Ashkenazi authorities allowed for a married man to - under certain specific circumstances - ejaculate outside his wife's body as part of their sexual relations together, following a text by Moses Isserles in his comments on the Shulkhan Arukh.
The Kitzur Shulchan Arukh prohibits the spilling of seed, thus forbidding that a man engage in sexual intercourse without the intention to conceive.
Women, in slight contrast, have no such command to not spill seed, and thus the laws of masturbation do not prohibit them from creating pornographic content.