Procreation is one of the 613 commandments. Rabbi David Feldman writes in his book Marital Relations, Birth Control, and Abortion in Jewish Law: “Despite a common assumption to the contrary, the mitzvah is not based on the charge to Adam and Eve (Genesis 1:28- ‘Be fruitful and multiply’-gg), but according to most commentators, on that to the sons of Noah after the flood (Genesis 9:1 and 7) or to Jacob (Genesis 35:11)”[1] According to rabbinic understanding, only men and not women are commanded the mitzvah of procreation. Men are forbidden to destroy their seed. Consequently according to classical Jewish law, male forms of contraception are forbidden while women may use contraception to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Obviously there is a wide range of opinion about the use of contraception for both men and women. Consult your local rabbi with all your practical questions about birth control methods.
On daf TB Yevamot 12 we learn about three cases where the rabbis permitted a form of contraception. “Incidental to the case of refusal, the Gemara cites a related halakha. Rav Beivai taught a baraita before Rav Naḥman: Three women may engage in relations with a contraceptive resorbent (mokh -מוֹךְ), a soft fabric placed at the entrance to their wombs to prevent conception, despite the fact that this practice is generally prohibited. They are as follows: A minor, a woman who is already pregnant, and a nursing woman. The baraita specifies the reason for each exception: A minor may do so lest she become pregnant and perhaps die; a pregnant woman, lest she be impregnated a second time and her previous fetus becomes deformed into the shape of a sandal fish by being squashed by the pressure of the second fetus. As for a nursing woman, she does so lest she become pregnant and her milk dry up, in which case she will wean her son too early, thereby endangering him, and he will die.” (Sefaria.org translation)
The vast majority of rabbinic literature of birth
control legislation in the response is based on the above baraita. “This passage appears, with minor variations, no fewer
than five times in the Talmud and once more in the Tosefta.”[2]
“The word mokh probably derives from the root makhokh (to crush, soften) and appears to be a generic term for a tuft of wall or cotton. In the Mishnah in a different context (Shabbat 6:5, 64b), the word is used in three senses: an absorbent to remove moisture in the ear, and insertion in the shoe for comfort, and a tampon for a feminine hygiene. Accordingly, mokh can be understood as one of two possible birth control devices: following their interpretation of the baraita which assumes a use of this mokh before (i.e. during) coitus, is translation would approximate tampon (Rashi-gg); if use is presumed afterwards, then mokh is a postcoital absorbent (Rebeinu Tam in Tosefot ד"ה שָׁלֹשׁ נָשִׁים מְשַׁמְּשׁוֹת בְּמוֹךְ).”[3]
If you are interested, Rabbi Feldman discusses each of
the three women individually on the meaning and legal implications of the above
baraita in chapter 10 of his book.
[1] Marital Relations, Birth Control, and
Abortion in Jewish Law, page 46
[2]
Ibid., page 169
[3]
Ibid., page 170
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