Renowned sex therapist, TV host, and former IDF sniper Dr. Ruth Westheimer is coming under fire for statements she made on an American radio show in which she cited the Talmud, the central text for the Jewish religion, while giving a green light to rape.
Westheimer said she was ”very worried about college campuses saying that a woman and a man . . . can be in bed together, Diane, and at one time, naked, and at one time he or she, most of the time they think she, can say ‘I changed my mind.’
“No such thing is possible,” Westheimer added. “In the Talmud, in the Jewish tradition, it says when that part of the male anatomy is aroused and there’s an erection, the brain flies out of that and we have to take that very seriously, so I don’t agree with that.”
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency said Dr. Ruth was unavailable to comment on which passage in the Talmud she was referring to, but she did offer a clarification of her statements on her Twitter account on Tuesday.
Rabbinical scholars speaking with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency were quick to deny Westheimer’s statement. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, author of numerous books on sex in Judaism, said, “I know Dr. Ruth and very much like her, but anyone in the Jewish community should strongly object to what she said. Consent is offered by a woman, and it can be withdrawn at any moment.
“The idea that men are ravaging beasts who are controlled by their hormones and can’t stop themselves is a Neanderthal view that Judaism would never embrace. It’s a shockingly frightening excuse for rape."
