This is Hygieia, daughter of Asclepios, the god of medicine. The snake is associated with rejuvenation because it sheds its skin and grows a new one. We still worship the same HaShem that the Macabim did, but the Hellenistic cult of Asclepios is now known only in the history books. At Epidaurus (which I have visited) the sick would stay overnight. What you needed to do to be healed would come to you in a dream. I'd prefer antibiotics, thank you.
I don't think those dreams really count as you have not slept at the Temple of Asclepios or prayed to the gods for healing.
Personally I am very distrustful of dreams. My uncle dreamed that his dead father (my grandfather, gassed at Treblinka) came to him and approved of his marriage to a certain woman, who was in fact a most unsuitable match. A Freudian would say that this was just projection or wishful thinking. As for you, being unfaithful in dreams is OK in my book as long as you don't let the dreams/fantasies spill over to your real life. Window shopping is OK as long as you don't buy anything.
One of the things that drives Muslim meshinginas to suicide bombing is that they are told that it is sinful to have lustful thoughts or even to look at women. Since all men do this and are incapable of stopping, they see "martyrdom" as the only way to make these thoughts stop. Of course Orthodox Jewish men have the same problem but for some reason they don't see blowing up airplanes full of innocents as a solution.
Dreaming of approval of marriages reminds me of Sholem Aleichem's Leyzer Wolf, the Butcher, whose marriage plans were ruined by an aunt that appeared in a dream to warn against him. If you are near Tel Aviv, seeing the Fiddler on The Roof is a must.
Orthodox men are tortured by sex dreams - with their wifes. The wifes are not available for two weeks, and they are only if they go to the mikweh. I know a man whose wife drove him crazy by not going to the mikveh for months. What can he dream of? King Solomon and the Queen of Sabah?
I too thought of Fiddler. I saw the original NY production as a boy in the mid-60s - the only Broadway show my parents and I ever attended (as well as the movie starring Topol) and several times since so I just about have it memorized.
But maybe I'll see it again in Israel...next year in Jerusalem, as we say on Passover. I haven't been to Israel since the late '70s. My uncle who lived in Ra'anana (Rechov Sokolov - I still remember the aerograms that would arrive every month written in Yiddish) had just died but his executor allowed me to stay in his house. He died childless from his 2nd marriage. His 1st wife and children were killed by the Nazis. If I had first cousins in Israel I would have surely been back by now but as it is I have never had a strong reason to go again. I can only imagine how much the country has changed. When I went there were still a few horse drawn carts on the streets of Tel Aviv. My uncle's house was a one story cottage with chicken coops behind - I'm sure there's a multi-story building there now. I should go just to visit his grave and put some pebbles on it as there is no one else to do this.
There is a wonderful collection of short stories written by a young author named Nathan Englander. Englander was raised ultra-Orthodox but became an apikoros so he has a unique perspective from the inside. Sort of a latter day I.B. Singer. In his story, "For the Relief of Unbearable Urges" a Hasid has just such a situation. His Rabbi gives him a dispensation to visit a prostitute, but you'll have to read the story to see how things end up (not good needless to say).
Orthodox men are tortured by sex dreams - with their wives.
I remember reading an article that said that the Orthodox are some of the biggest customers in Israel for prostitutes because of this. Is an Orthodox man prohibited from having sex with his wife because of the Talmud or the Torah?
9 comments:
This is Hygieia, daughter of Asclepios, the god of medicine. The snake is associated with rejuvenation because it sheds its skin and grows a new one. We still worship the same HaShem that the Macabim did, but the Hellenistic cult of Asclepios is now known only in the history books. At Epidaurus (which I have visited) the sick would stay overnight. What you needed to do to be healed would come to you in a dream. I'd prefer antibiotics, thank you.
K
I dream with women. What should I do?
I don't think those dreams really count as you have not slept at the Temple of Asclepios or prayed to the gods for healing.
Personally I am very distrustful of dreams. My uncle dreamed that his dead father (my grandfather, gassed at Treblinka) came to him and approved of his marriage to a certain woman, who was in fact a most unsuitable match. A Freudian would say that this was just projection or wishful thinking. As for you, being unfaithful in dreams is OK in my book as long as you don't let the dreams/fantasies spill over to your real life. Window shopping is OK as long as you don't buy anything.
One of the things that drives Muslim meshinginas to suicide bombing is that they are told that it is sinful to have lustful thoughts or even to look at women. Since all men do this and are incapable of stopping, they see "martyrdom" as the only way to make these thoughts stop. Of course Orthodox Jewish men have the same problem but for some reason they don't see blowing up airplanes full of innocents as a solution.
K
Dreaming of approval of marriages reminds me of Sholem Aleichem's Leyzer Wolf, the Butcher, whose marriage plans were ruined by an aunt that appeared in a dream to warn against him. If you are near Tel Aviv, seeing the Fiddler on The Roof is a must.
Orthodox men are tortured by sex dreams - with their wifes. The wifes are not available for two weeks, and they are only if they go to the mikweh. I know a man whose wife drove him crazy by not going to the mikveh for months. What can he dream of? King Solomon and the Queen of Sabah?
I too thought of Fiddler. I saw the original NY production as a boy in the mid-60s - the only Broadway show my parents and I ever attended (as well as the movie starring Topol) and several times since so I just about have it memorized.
But maybe I'll see it again in Israel...next year in Jerusalem, as we say on Passover. I haven't been to Israel since the late '70s. My uncle who lived in Ra'anana (Rechov Sokolov - I still remember the aerograms that would arrive every month written in Yiddish) had just died but his executor allowed me to stay in his house. He died childless from his 2nd marriage. His 1st wife and children were killed by the Nazis. If I had first cousins in Israel I would have surely been back by now but as it is I have never had a strong reason to go again. I can only imagine how much the country has changed. When I went there were still a few horse drawn carts on the streets of Tel Aviv. My uncle's house was a one story cottage with chicken coops behind - I'm sure there's a multi-story building there now. I should go just to visit his grave and put some pebbles on it as there is no one else to do this.
There is a wonderful collection of short stories written by a young author named Nathan Englander. Englander was raised ultra-Orthodox but became an apikoros so he has a unique perspective from the inside. Sort of a latter day I.B. Singer. In his story, "For the Relief of Unbearable Urges" a Hasid has just such a situation. His Rabbi gives him a dispensation to visit a prostitute, but you'll have to read the story to see how things end up (not good needless to say).
K
Sir:
Surely you mean, "..a dispensation to visit a proselyte .."?
Anon.
Jews do not proselytize.
K
Orthodox men are tortured by sex dreams - with their wives.
I remember reading an article that said that the Orthodox are some of the biggest customers in Israel for prostitutes because of this. Is an Orthodox man prohibited from having sex with his wife because of the Talmud or the Torah?
The TAlmud has no clear opinion on this matter.
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