at0m1c Posted July 25, 2004 Share Posted July 25, 2004 In the book of Genesis, Onan is supposed to produce offspring with his brother's wife in order to fufill his duty. Is this a Jewish custom? And does offspring refer to males only or both males and female? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fides_et_Ratio Posted July 25, 2004 Share Posted July 25, 2004 According to ancient Jewish law, one had a duty of fathering children for one's dead brother. This was part of Onan's sin... refusal to fulfill this duty (the other part relates to birth control). I'm not positive on the male/female children thing, so I won't speculate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmotherofpirl Posted July 25, 2004 Share Posted July 25, 2004 You would need a male child to carry on the family unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StColette Posted July 25, 2004 Share Posted July 25, 2004 The book of Deuteronomy also talks about this "When brothers live together and one of them dies without a son, the widow of the deceased shall not marry anyone outside the family; but her husband's brother shall go to her and perform the duty of a brother-in-law by marrying her. The first-born son she bears shall continue the line of the deceased brother, that his name may not be blotted out from Israel. (Deuteronomy 25:5-6) I had to argue parts of Jewish traditions not too long ago and the care of widows was part of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now