# Modern Orthodox Jews and Unorthodox Sex Practices **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 11, 2020, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-orthodox-jews-and-unorthodox-sex-practices/855462 "2020-06-11T16:02:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-orthodox-jews-and-unorthodox-sex-practices/855462/62 "2020-06-13T21:51:15Z")
So do Judaism, Chtistianity, Islsm, and orhers. Religions espouse monotheism, yet people believe in additional supernatural and deific entities. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2020, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-orthodox-jews-and-unorthodox-sex-practices/855462/63 "2020-06-14T00:31:02Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > **“I am the Lord thy God and thou shalt have no other Gods before Me.”** > > Really, it’s that simple - Jews have one and only one God, and are not allowed to venerate any other gods… I’m not following: why is venerating a different god not as bad as venerating a polytheim? ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2020, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-orthodox-jews-and-unorthodox-sex-practices/855462/64 "2020-06-14T01:57:42Z")
one thing too a lot of sex-related “sins” weren’t really considered sins or were tolerated in a “don’t ask/tell” kind of way until the prigs who started the protestant reformation and even later the 19th century “victorian”/eduardian world eras declared them so ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2020, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-orthodox-jews-and-unorthodox-sex-practices/855462/65 "2020-06-14T02:35:58Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > I’m not following: why is venerating a different god not as bad as venerating a polytheim? It is just as bad. The sin we’re dealing with here is known in Hebrew as “Avodah Zara”. Literally, that means “foreign worship”, which could be easily misunderstood as referring to any non-Jewish religion in general. Actually it is an umbrella concept comprising two distinct forms: polytheism (worship of multiple gods) and idolatry (worship of a non-god). They are both denials of the most basic beliefs that Judaism has about God, and both are equally abhorrent, and no real distinctions are made between them. It is generally accepted that Islam’s concept of God is the same as Judaism’s in this regard (though there are obviously disagreements about what God did and said and commanded). That does NOT mean it’s okay for a Jew to convert to Islam, only that he doesn’t have to give his life for it. Christianity is a lot murkier, mostly because the are so many different denominations, each with its own particular interpretation of the Trinity. Some of them might constitute polytheism and/or idolatry from a Jewish perspective, and others might not. And I know even less about the beliefs of Sikhs and others, so I’m really not qualified to comment. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2020, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-orthodox-jews-and-unorthodox-sex-practices/855462/66 "2020-06-14T10:31:51Z")
A Christian’s belief in the Trinity is Idolatry. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/peas7C2I3lk/maxresdefault.jpg "Rabbi Tovia Singer Demonstrates in Manila Lecture that Trinity Doctrine is Gravest Form of Idolatry") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peas7C2I3lk) ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2020, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-orthodox-jews-and-unorthodox-sex-practices/855462/67 "2020-06-14T20:59:48Z")
First of all, I need to correct something I said earlier - the Biblical prohibition of milk with meat applies only to domesticated mammals (cows, goats, sheep) and the prohibition is Rabbinic not only on birds, but also on wild animals (deer and the like). Thanks to Keeve for the (privately e-mailed) correction. Also, I found the source of the statement that a man should not have his mind on one of his wives (and certainly not a woman he’s not married to) while he is being intimate with another of them. It’s derived from the phrase in Numbers 15:39, “you shall not stray after your heart.” I realize that that seems vague, suffice it to say the exact pathway from that phrasing (in the original Hebrew) to the specific application is a bit complicated. septimus: > [@](#): > > According to the “Damascus Document” found at Qumran, King David had more than one wife because he was unaware of the law — The Book of Law which prohibited polygamy had been sealed up in the Ark of the Covenant in the time of Joshua, and the Ark hadn’t been opened again to read The Book until the time of Zadok(?). While I do not know the details of the “Damascus Document”, it’s clear that this idea had not been accepted by the mainstream of Jewish tradition. The Talmud and Maimonides and later authorities all discuss, at length what is required, permitted, and forbidden for men married to multiple wives. Jewish man nowadays are not allowed multiple wives, but this is known to only date back to a Rabbinic injunction from circa the year 1000 and not as far back as the time of Joshua, or of Zadok. susan: > [@](#): > > Religions espouse monotheism, yet people believe in additional supernatural and deific entities. Supernatural, yes. Deific, certainly not. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2020, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-orthodox-jews-and-unorthodox-sex-practices/855462/68 "2020-06-14T22:23:02Z")
Not Deific, but possibly deific. What is there about an angel, say, that makes it not a god (in the lower-case understanding of the term)? ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2020, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-orthodox-jews-and-unorthodox-sex-practices/855462/69 "2020-06-14T23:10:27Z")
Perhaps, then, I’m not understanding what was meant by “deific.” Laying aside the terminology, the idea is that in Judaism, at least (I’m not in a position to make any definitive statements on the fine points of theology in other religions) no being had power of any sort independently of G-d. There is no area or aspect of existence that G-d did not create and that he does not exercise ultimate control over. If “deific” does not necessarily imply some sort of independent, ultimate power then I retract my objection to the term. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-orthodox-jews-and-unorthodox-sex-practices/855462/70 "2020-06-15T02:19:15Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > First of all, I need to correct something I said earlier - the Biblical prohibition of milk with meat applies only to domesticated mammals (cows, goats, sheep) and the prohibition is Rabbinic not only on birds, but also on wild animals (deer and the like). Thanks to Keeve for the (privately e-mailed) correction. > … Thank you _Moreh_, informative as usual. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-orthodox-jews-and-unorthodox-sex-practices/855462/71 "2020-06-15T13:33:15Z")
Well, that’s the thing. One could interpret the various gods of a polytheistic religion as each having an independent existence, and possibly some domain over which they have exclusive control, where, even if there is some deity among them that is the greatest or chief, that chief is still qualitatively the same sort of being as the others. In this sense, the Abrahamic religions have only one god, who is therefore referred to as God. One could also, however, interpret a being, created by and wholly inferior to another, but still more powerful than a mortal human, as being a god. In this sense, angels, which are widely accepted as existing in the Abrahamic religions, could be considered gods. So whether Christians, Jews, or Muslims have “multiple gods” depends on how you define “gods”, and there are definitions which are not obviously wrong which support either answer. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-orthodox-jews-and-unorthodox-sex-practices/855462/72 "2020-06-15T13:34:41Z")
Well, that’s the thing. One could interpret the various gods of a polytheistic religion as each having an independent existence, and possibly some domain over which they have exclusive control, where, even if there is some deity among them that is the greatest or chief, that chief is still qualitatively the same sort of being as the others. In this sense, the Abrahamic religions have only one god, who is therefore referred to as God. One could also, however, interpret a being, created by and wholly inferior to another, but still more powerful than a mortal human, as being a god. In this sense, angels, which are widely accepted as existing in the Abrahamic religions, could be considered gods. So whether Christians, Jews, or Muslims have “multiple gods” depends on how you define “gods”, and there are definitions which are not obviously wrong which support either answer. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-orthodox-jews-and-unorthodox-sex-practices/855462/73 "2020-06-15T14:00:36Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I suspect the majority of people wouldn’t be agreeable to threesomes or swinging, no matter who the partner is. I’m not sure why you think that your friend or the woman’s religion is the main reason for her reluctance. Thank you! I agree. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-orthodox-jews-and-unorthodox-sex-practices/855462/74 "2020-06-15T16:50:16Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > One could also, however, interpret a being, created by and wholly inferior to another, but still more powerful than a mortal human, as being a god. In this sense, angels, which are widely accepted as existing in the Abrahamic religions, could be considered gods. Much more about these views and this terminology can be found in a 7-year-old thread titled [What is a “god”?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=687555) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-orthodox-jews-and-unorthodox-sex-practices/855462.md?page=3)