What Is the Torah’s View on Birth Control?

The first mitzvah in the Torah is given to Adam: pru u’reveu u’maleh et ha’aretz. “Be fruitful and multiply and fill up the land”¹. From these words our sages derived that there is an obligation to have children, one that is so highly regarded it is called a ‘mitzva rabbah’. Indeed, family and the home form a central element of Jewish life. Our commandment does not stop at having children, but also involves teaching them Torah and ensuring that they are raised to a life of Torah and mitzvot². 

How one fulfills the mitzvah (how many children a couple should have) is the source of Rabbinic debate, but it is clear from the sources that even after having fulfilled the Torah obligation, it is still praiseworthy to continue having children.

With the bracha of having children come various challenges – physical, mental, financial – and for this reason, the question of whether a couple may use contraception to prevent pregnancy has always existed³. With the advent of advanced and highly effective methods of contraception today, as well as changes in society in the modern world, Orthodox couples often need to seek advice on whether or not they may be permitted to use contraceptives. 

The topic is vast, and it is important to stress that this article does not constitute a halachic psak on the matter. Rather we will present here the Torah approach to the use of contraceptives, asking when they may be used and what may be used. A couple approaching the subject should consult with a posek who knows both of them well, and can help direct them to the most appropriate path on the matter. Rav Shlomo Zalman Aurbach was known to stress that each case needed to be examined in its own right. 

When Is Contraception Allowed?

Married life comes with many stages and changes. Personal circumstances will influence when a couple seeks advice on this matter. Perhaps in the beginning, when newlyweds, wanting to establish themselves. After having children, couples may want to know if they may ‘space’ their children, for a myriad of reasons. In each stage and in each case, it is important they consult a Rav with whom they feel comfortable.  

Newlyweds

Ideally, a couple should not wait to begin the mitzvah of pru urevu, meaning they should not use contraception after getting married, due to how important the mitzvah is⁴. That said, there are cases where a couple may be permitted to wait. Today it is not uncommon for a posek to allow contraceptive methods for up to a year, when a couple feels that they need to establish their connection and marriage⁵. In today’s world, both men and women are likely to marry before completing their degrees or being financially independent. Is this grounds for waiting? Our knee jerk reaction might be that it is, due to the high value of financial success in today’s society, but actually most poskim do not see this as grounds for postponement of pru urevu, though again, it depends on the circumstances. Rav Melamed, for example, writes that in a case where one or both of the couple are in university in very demanding degrees, and having a child will cause irreparable loss in terms of their studies, this may be considered shaat hadchak (a time of pressing need)⁶. Rav Henkin, however, in Bnei Banim writes that in general, the pursuit of a degree or career is not a reason to allow for the use of contraception. 

Spacing

Discussion on the spacing of children exists in sources as early as the Talmud. Based on a Gemara in Masechet Niddah⁷, it was understood that it takes approximately two years for a woman to regain her physical strength after childbirth. Another gemara tells of a situation in which a woman does not want to become pregnant in order that she have enough milk for her older child⁸. Here we see two reasons to allow for spacing: the physical state of the mother and the care of already born children⁹. The Chazon Ish allowed women a year to recover before becoming pregnant again. Today many posekim allow up to two years in order to ensure the child receives proper care, and as that was the natural separation in the past, due to the period of nursing.

Pikuach Nefesh and Sakana (Risk)

One case in which contraception will always be permitted is if becoming pregnant or giving birth will endanger the life of the wife. In this case the principle of pikuach nefesh, by which one is permitted to forgo a mitzvah, or even if necessary break one, in order to save a life, will be applied¹⁰. 

How one fulfills the mitzvah (how many children a couple should have) is the source of Rabbinic debate, but it is clear from the sources that even after having fulfilled the Torah obligation, it is still praiseworthy to continue having children.

Contraception will usually also be permitted in the case of sakana whereby the wife’s physical or mental health will be affected negatively. A discussion of three cases of potential sakana in which three different women use a form of contraceptive can even be found in the Gemara¹¹. Some poskim apply this also when there is a sakana to the fetus, such as a high risk of congenital disease. The Chatam Sofer allowed contraceptives when the age of the mother made pregnancy difficult.

Not All Contraception Is Created Halachically Equal

Above we have discussed the halachic permissibility of delaying the mitzvah of having children. Aside from this concern, an additional problem with contraceptive methods is that some use a method that results in committing the prohibition of ‘shichfat zera l’betala’, the ‘wasting of seed’. Therefore, the most preferable methods are those that do not result in this, but rather indirectly prevent pregnancy, such as the Pill or IUD. While the ‘tracking method’ seems to be the most halachically compliant method, because it causes there to be fewer days that a couple may be together it takes away from the mitzvah of onah, may cause issues in shalom bayit, and is therefore not encouraged¹². (It is also the least effective method)

The Torah approach to contraception teaches us that no matter how the values of the Western world may change, or how low the birth rate sinks in developed countries, our values are constant. Judaism views children as the ultimate bracha. This is a supreme mitzvah, one that has an effect not only on the individual family, but on the whole Jewish people. The Rambam says “For anyone who adds a soul to the Jewish people is considered as if he built an entire world.”¹³ The approaches discussed above show how we take that timeless value, and view it in light of the emotional, physical and mental wellbeing of families, and women in particular. The discussion of contraception also illustrates how halacha develops next to the advances of the modern world, showing how the process that has existed since the time of Moshe Rabbanu endures today. 

1. Bereishit 1:28 ↩︎
2. Rav Hercshel Shachter: https://www.torahweb.org/torah/2005/parsha/rsch_matos.html  ↩︎
3. See for example the case of Yehudit, wife of Rabbi Chiya in Yevamot 65b ↩︎
4. For a detailed explanation on why this should not be postponed: Rabbi Azarya Berzon: https://www.yutorah.org/lectures/795615/The-Mitzvah-of-Pirya-VeRivya-&-its-postponement,-spacing,-Part-I  ↩︎
5. Pneinei Halacha, The Home and it’s Blessings, Chapter 5, B’nei Banim IV:15 ↩︎
6. Pneinei Halacha, The Home and it’s Blessings, Chapter 5 ↩︎
7. Masechet Niddah, 9a ↩︎
8. Yevamot 12b:3-4 ↩︎
9. See for example the psika of Rav Henkin, B’nei Banim II:38,Pneinei Halacha, The Home and it’s Blessings, Chapter 5 ↩︎
10. To the exclusion of the three cardinal sins: murder, incest, and idolatry ↩︎
11. Yevamot 12b:3-4 ↩︎
12. Rabbi Shlomo Aviner,  ↩︎
13. Mishne Torah, Hilchot Ishut, Chapter 15 ↩︎