Anon asked Staff ago Hello. I once heard that according to Halacha one is permitted to go to a prostitute, as long as it is not in the city in which you live. Is there a Halacha like this, and if so, where is it written??
Thank you.
Ronny
jsadmin Staff answered 20 years ago
Dear Ronny,
The sages of the Talmud recognized that sexual desire is one of the most difficult desires for people to deal with. They said, “A man of twenty who has not married spends all his days in thoughts of sin” (Kiddushin 29b).
In the Talmud, many instances of the Sages’ desire are related. Rav Amram Chasida hosted in his home freed captive women. He put them in the attic and removed the ladder which connected the floors so there would be no opportunity of meeting. One of the former captives passed the entrance of the attic and “light” issued from her. Due to strong desire Rav Amram Chasida, on his own, moved the ladder, whose weight required 10 men to move it. He placed it at the entrance to the attic and began to climb toward the former captives. When he got halfway up he decided to conquer his desires. He stopped and screamed “Fire in Rav Amram’s house!” Sages came and saw that his sexual urges overcame him and were shamed. He told them, “Better that you be ashamed of me in this world than in the next” (Kiddushin 81b).
There is also the story of the sage whom rumors reported had gone to a prostitute after he dressed in black and went to a different city. This is permitted by force of circumstance: Rabbi Il’ai said that if a man’s urges overcome him, he should go to a place where no one knows him, wear black and wrap himself in black, and do what his heart desires, so the name of G-d will not be publicly disgraced (Moed Katan 17a).
Permission is only de facto, after a person is greatly tempted and cannot overcome temptation. He should do what he will in a different city where he is not known, and so the name of Heaven will not be publicly desecrated (Tosaphot on Chagiga 16a).
Rabbeynu Channel interpreted this permission in a different manner. In his opinion, the permission is a suggestion only, to help one overcome his urges, but that one is not truly permitted to go to a prostitute or violate any other prohibition.
N.B. Recall that the prostitute must be pure (after immersion in the mikvah).
Sincerely,
Daat Emet