# Semen and Kosher? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 5, 2006, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semen-and-kosher/338540 "2006-01-05T06:31:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semen-and-kosher/338540/1 "2006-01-05T06:31:16Z")
I can’t think of anywhere that I’ve ever found that semen is expressly forbiddden for Jews to eat. My question stems from the milk/meat issue. Obviously, semen, although it may have many euphemisms that involve the word “milk,” is not a secretion of the mammary glands. Is it, however, a meat/meat product? If I were Jewish, and followed Kosher, would I be able to ingest semen and milk at the same meal? For the record, no, I’m not the only person in the world wondering this. My boyfriend also wonders the same thing. (Only after I prompted it.) ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semen-and-kosher/338540/2 "2006-01-05T06:42:17Z")
Doesn’t some kosher rule have something about bodily fluids being drained from the animal? 😉 ---
**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:** [January 5, 2006, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semen-and-kosher/338540/3 "2006-01-05T14:22:33Z")
Things that are derived from an animal but are not the animal’s actual flesh are not meat. I imagine this would (from a Kashrus perspective) be no different than drinking milk after French-kissing someone. On the other hand, doesn’t semen usually contain trace amounts of blood? If so, I don’t think you’d be allowed to ingest it, as blood is always a no-no. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semen-and-kosher/338540/4 "2006-01-05T19:15:30Z")
I’d think that the kosher-ness would be the least of your problems - after all, you’d have to “spill your seed” in order for someone to swallow it, and you’d be immediately smitten by the Lord for doing so (google “Bible Onan”). ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semen-and-kosher/338540/5 "2006-01-05T19:20:15Z")
Onan wasn’t smote because he spilled his seed upon the ground, he was smote because he refused to impregnate his (dead) brother’s wife to give his brother a posthumous son. The method he chose to avoid impregnating his brother’s wife was spilling his seed upon the ground. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semen-and-kosher/338540/6 "2006-01-05T19:59:09Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Onan wasn’t smote because he spilled his seed upon the ground, he was smote because he refused to impregnate his (dead) brother’s wife to give his brother a posthumous son. The method he chose to avoid impregnating his brother’s wife was spilling his seed upon the ground. True. But nonetheless, _sh’chatat zerah_ - (destruction of the seed, or ejaculation outside the vagina) is halachically forbidden, and that prohibition is based on the Onan passage. In fact, male masturbation is forbidden for this reason as well. Niddah 13a: in the case of a man, “…the hand that reaches below the navel should be chopped off.” ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semen-and-kosher/338540/7 "2006-01-05T20:51:31Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > True. But nonetheless, _sh’chatat zerah_ - (destruction of the seed, or ejaculation outside the vagina) is halachically forbidden, and that prohibition is based on the Onan passage. In fact, male masturbation is forbidden for this reason as well. Niddah 13a: in the case of a man, “…the hand that reaches below the navel should be chopped off.” Aww, so long, righty. We had something beautiful together . . . ---
**Author:** ![Jpeg\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@Jpeg\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jpeg_Jones)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semen-and-kosher/338540/8 "2006-01-05T21:22:30Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > …“the hand that reaches below the navel should be chopped off.” I read this as “the hand that reaches below, the navel should be choped off.” ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semen-and-kosher/338540/9 "2006-01-05T21:36:59Z")
Ok, how about this: The semen was ejaculated in the normal way into a woman. This woman then took a small vacuum of some kind and deposited (what part of it she could) it into a glass. Multiply this by a lot of women, who all do this, and deposit it into the same glass. This is put into the refrigerator, just so that I can call it a tall frosty mug of semen. And ignore the vaginal juices that surely would contaminate the semen. What about now? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semen-and-kosher/338540/10 "2006-01-05T21:40:59Z")
- hurk \* uh…go ask a rabbi about that one. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semen-and-kosher/338540/11 "2006-01-05T21:41:55Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > True. But nonetheless, _sh’chatat zerah_ - (destruction of the seed, or ejaculation outside the vagina) is halachically forbidden, and that prohibition is based on the Onan passage. In fact, male masturbation is forbidden for this reason as well. Niddah 13a: in the case of a man, “…the hand that reaches below the navel should be chopped off.” Apparently, there is a loophole: > [@](#): > > From an halachic standpoint, semen is considered viable for 72 hours, after which it has no further halachic significance. > **[Yoatzot-Halacha-Intro - Women’s Health and Halacha - Nishmat](https://www.yoatzot.org/yoatzot-halacha-intro/)** > > Nishmat's Golda Koschitzky Center for Yoatzot Halacha: Where Women's Wellness and Halacha Meet. A halachic address for women worldwide. I’d definitely recommend pan frying it with the remaining hand, though. ;j > [@](#): > > [o]ne who fathers a child by artificial insemination is considered to be the Halachic father[.] [http://www.koltorah.org/ravj/14-7%20Cloning%202.htm](http://www.koltorah.org/ravj/14-7%20Cloning%202.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semen-and-kosher/338540/12 "2006-01-05T21:53:37Z")
Wow. Those Rabbis think of everything: > [@](#): > > The halachic condoms are meant for the collection of semen for testing or IVF, not as a method of birth control (they are made with a hole). > **[Stains, flow, and veset - Women’s Health and Halacha - Nishmat](https://www.yoatzot.org/questions-and-answers/1260/)** > > Some Sephardi halachic decisors are more lenient regarding stains on toilet paper, not even requiring a fifteen-second wait! It is difficult to provide a precise definition of "light flow" versus "heavy staining".  Were you to see the blood exit... Ya see. Then technically, it’s not outside. :eek: I assume the testing is non-destructive. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semen-and-kosher/338540/13 "2006-01-05T22:18:15Z")
> [@Inigo Montoya](#): > > - hurk \* > > uh…go ask a rabbi about that one. This reminded me of an old Onion article **Local Lutheran Minister Loves to Fuck His Wife** ---
**Author:** ![rainy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@rainy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rainy)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semen-and-kosher/338540/14 "2006-01-05T23:00:08Z")
> [@Mama Zappa](#): > > …and you’d be immediately smitten by the Lord for doing so (google “Bible Onan”). I didn’t realize until just know that smitten was a past participle (yeah, yeah whatever, I can’t diagram a sentence anymore either) of smite. Just doesn’t seem to carry the same weigh in a connotative sense. -rainy ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semen-and-kosher/338540/15 "2006-01-05T23:06:37Z")
If I’d a had the kind of wife (chaoticbear) who woulda engaged in the kind of conversation, speculation and post ejaculation activation that the above poster indicates, I’da never left home in the first place. ;j ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semen-and-kosher/338540/16 "2006-01-05T23:26:42Z")
> [@Gfactor](#): > > I’d definitely recommend pan frying it with the remaining hand, though. ;j Just great. _Another_ set of dishes to worry about. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semen-and-kosher/338540/17 "2006-01-05T23:32:25Z")
> [@rainy](#): > > I didn’t realize until just know that smitten was a past participle (yeah, yeah whatever, I can’t diagram a sentence anymore either) of smite. Just doesn’t seem to carry the same weigh in a connotative sense. > > -rainy That’s because smitten means ‘infatuated’. ---
**Author:** ![rainy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@rainy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rainy)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semen-and-kosher/338540/18 "2006-01-06T03:23:42Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > That’s because smitten means ‘infatuated’. Exactly my point. ---
**Author:** ![SABEI\_KING](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SABEI\_KING](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SABEI_KING)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2006, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semen-and-kosher/338540/19 "2006-01-07T09:11:22Z")
Well Jews aswell as Muslims eat Kosher. I think the rules in Judaism are sumwhat similar i mean if u really like it who can stop u ? But think logicly or ask u mother semen is mad to nock u up not for the forth mean of the day ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2006, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semen-and-kosher/338540/20 "2006-01-07T13:43:57Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > That’s because smitten means ‘infatuated’. Er, yes :smack:, perhaps The Lord _really_ likes the idea of a snack o’ the ol’ pan-fried washed down by a frosty mug of… I think I realized the minute I hit submit that this should’ve read “smote” or “smited” or something ;j (hey, woohoo, I finally get to use that smiley!) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/semen-and-kosher/338540.md?page=2)