Intimate Judaism: A Jewish Approach to Intimacy, Sexuality, and Relationships

Do you have unanswered questions about Judaism, sexuality and intimacy?

Do you want your children to get a better sex education than you received, but lack the language or tools to provide it?

Do you want to improve and enhance intimacy in your marriage, but aren’t sure how to go about it?

Do you wonder about how Judaism views various aspects of sexuality?

Do you have questions or issues that you would like to address – either in Jewish law or regarding sexuality – but there is no one you feel comfortable asking?

Our monthly podcast, INTIMATE JUDAISM, addresses intimacy and healthy sexuality in the context of Jewish family life. We raise conflicts and challenges and offer candid solutions while remaining firmly within the bounds of Torah and Halacha.

You will:

Learn how to provide your children with healthy perspectives that acknowledge both Halacha and their natural sexual development
Discover how Judaism encourages sexual expression between you and your spouse
Find out how to create and enhance emotional and physical intimacy in your marriage
Explore how the laws of Taharat Hamishpacha – family purity – can impact intimacy and sexuality, and how to address this in your marriage
Understand how lifecycle events such as pregnancy, postpartum, menopause or chronic illness can affect marital intimacy and sex
Learn how to deal with difficult situations in marriage such as pornography and infidelity

(46) Want, Will, Should or Must: Is the Sex You Are Having Really Consensual?

Dec 18, 2022

Numerous sources in our tradition demonstrate that sex in marriage must be mutual and consensual, and at no time can sex be forced or coerced. However, If a woman has been taught that she must do what her husband wants and she is responsible for protecting him from sin, she will fear the consequences of saying no. In...

(45) Navigating Relational and Sexual Intimacy During Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Postpartum Period

Nov 8, 2022

Pregnancy and childbirth are profound events in the life of a couple. The physical, psychological and hormonal changes that occur to women during pregnancy and in the postpartum period can impact both partners and affect emotional and sexual intimacy. Couples must learn to adjust to a changed family system and a new...

(44) Infertility and Relationships

Oct 3, 2022

Infertility and pregnancy loss affects relationships: with self, God, partner, family, friends and community. In part 2 of this two part series, Rabbi Scott Kahn and Talli Rosenbaum discuss the general implications of infertility and pregnancy loss on these relationships and on marital intimacy and sexuality. Listen to...

(43) Infertility and Pregnancy Loss (Part One): A Conversation with Dr. Aimee Baron

Sep 13, 2022

The liturgy we recite on Rosh Hashana includes references to fertility and childbirth. God remembers Sarah, Rachel and Chana by answerIng their prayers for a child. The poem “Hayom harat olam,” the ‘birth day’ of the world, evokes images of pregnancy. For individuals and couples struggling with infertility...

(42) ‘The Surrendered Wife’ and Marital Intimacy: Hierarchal Power Dynamics Versus Equal and Mutual Partnership

May 17, 2022

Last month, Orthodox Jewish journalist Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt published an article in The Atlantic highlighting the popularity of Laura Doyle’s 2001 New York Times bestseller, ‘The Surrendered Wife,’ among Orthodox Jewish women. Doyle’s book provides a practical guide to marital bliss and harmony, suggesting...