Thanks for accepting the material from the Snopes Urban Legends
Reference Pages as the answer to your question. I've reposted the link
below, with a few excerpts.
"Claim: Orthodox Jews have marital relations through a hole in a sheet.
Status: False...
None of the three branches of Judaism (Orthodox, Conservative, or
Reform) require this of their adherents, and indeed taking the joy out
of marital sex in such a fashion runs directly counter to all things
Jewish...
One guess as to the origin of the slit sheet belief postulates it as a
joking reference to ultra-Orthodox weddings, where men and women are
said to attend separate receptions by way of dividing the hall with a
curtain. Through a hole in the curtain, the children can pass through,
but no one else...
This belief turns up as a scene in the 1992 film Como agua para
chocolate (Like Water For Chocolate), which is set in the late 1800s.
Following the wedding of a young Mexican couple, a scene from their
wedding night shows the new wife nervously arranging a sheet over
herself. Also, Simon Louvish's 1986 book The Death of Moishe-Ganef
uses the sheet belief as a plot point."
Snopes Urban Legends Reference Pages
http://www.snopes.com/religion/sheet.htm
Here's another interesting article about this mistaken belief:
"I have been asked by many non Jewish friends about a practice in
which Jewish people have sex through a hole in a sheet. Is this an
actual practice with some Jews, or just another example of a false
Jewish stereotype?
...As for sex through a hole in a sheet, I must confess I had never
heard anything like that so I began to investigate. Tracking down
information was not easy. Ultimately, I contacted 6 different rabbis.
All 6 of them said they knew next to nothing about the practice--FYI,
4 of the rabbis where Orthodox. One of the Orthodox rabbis told me he
had never heard of it.
The other 5 rabbis told me they had heard some mention of this
practice but that is about it. None of the rabbis had ever known
anybody who actually practiced 'hole in the sheet sex.'...Three of the
rabbis told me that in their opinion, this alleged sheet practice
would actually be a violation of Jewish law! One told me that Jewish
law encourages full contact between a husband and a wife and even
grants the wife permission to request full body contact...a sheet in
the way would obviously cause a problem!
Just to add a little (more) humor to this mystery, one rabbi told me
that he speculated that this rumor may be a result of non-Jews seeing
tzitzit hanging from the clothesline and assuming it was a sheet with
a hole in it. (Tzitzit are the undershirt like garments with fringes
on the four corners that many observant Jewish men wear beneath their
shirt.)
Rabbi number sixth I spoke to had the most plausible explanation to
me. After racking his brain he called me back to say that perhaps the
rumor comes from a little known Jewish divorce law that speaks of a
spouse willing to have sex only through a sheet. This is considered so
bad, that the other partner can cite 'the sheet' as grounds for
divorce--with no financial remuneration! In other words the law
condemns such behavior.
In conclusion, apparently having sex through a sheet is not practiced
by Jews and indeed is a false stereotype."
Being Jewish: Jewish E-Mail
http://www.beingjewish.org/jewishemail/resp0429.html
The old rumor that Jews have sex through a hole in a sheet has
undergone a revival, thanks to HBO's show "Curb Your Enthusiasm,"
which mentioned the myth as if it were factual.
"One of America's biggest hit comedies is HBO's 'Curb Your
Enthusiasm,' starring Larry David, the co-creator of TV's 'Seinfeld.'
Since David is unashamedly Jewish, the show often prominently features
Jewish themes. A few weeks ago, in the penultimate season finale, the
show revolved around the idea that Larry, who was afforded a 10th
anniversary present by his wife allowing him to have sex with a
stranger only once, chose a Hassidic Jewish woman as his partner. But
before meeting her, he is told by his other two Jewish friends to make
sure to bring a sheet with hole in the middle, because it is well
known that orthodox Jews all have sex through a sheet with a hole in
the middle. Through countless lectures that I have delivered around
the world, I have discovered that the vast majority of people actually
believe this to be true: that orthodox Jews do indeed have sex through
a sheet with a hole in the middle. Indeed, many films have portrayed
this to be true, most notably the thoroughly repugnant film, 'A Price
Above Rubies,' that starred Renee Zellwegger. So it's time to set the
record straight... It's one of the most ludicrous slanders against
Jews, and yet hundreds of millions of people believe it."
WorldNetDaily: Holy sex and holy walls
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=38069
This urban legend has spread beyond Judaism. I once dated a young
Baha'i man, and a friend of mine cautioned me that I shouldn't marry
him, since Baha'i couples must conduct their marital relations though
a slit in a sheet. That isn't true, of course, but it was good for a
laugh when I mentioned it to my Baha'i boyfriend. I have also heard
the rumor applied to the Amish and to Mormons. It is baseless in those
cases also.
Google search strategy:
Google Web Search: sex "through a sheet" OR "through a hole in a sheet"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=sex+%22through+a+sheet%22+OR+%22through+a+hole+in+a+sheet%22
I hope this is helpful. If anything is unclear or incomplete, please
request clarification; I'll gladly offer further assistance before you
rate my answer.
Best regards,
pinkfreud |
