The Jewish Law—Halakha “to go” is the collective body of Jewish religious law, including the Torah-biblical law (the 613 mitzvot or commandments) and the later Talmudic and rabbinic law as customs and tradition—“The Responsa.” There is no central authority in Judaism. Jews believe that there is a single God who not only created the universe, but with whom every Jew can have an individual and personal relationship. Different communities and individuals pick and choose different rabbinic authority. Judaism places great emphasis on Talmudic study and rabbinic tradition, and ongoing discussion and interpretation of the Torah and other sacred texts central to religious practice. This approach keeps Jewish law and ethics relevant and applicable to modern life. The Jewish faith is greatly concerned with the problem of reproduction and sexual relations. The duty of procreation—“Be fertile, multiply, and fill the earth” (Genesis 1:27) is a mitzvah. It is the first commandment. According to Halakha, the command to reproduce as obligatory is for the male, but not for the female. Commandment (Exodos 21:10) “A man must not withhold from his wife her food, her clothing, or her conjugal rights.” Commandment meant that a man’s duty to have sexual relations with his wife was independent from his duty to propagate, and consequently, the duty to fulfill the woman’s sexual needs continued even after the man had fulfilled the duty to propagate, that is, after he has begotten two children, one male and one female in accordance with the verse in Genesis “male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27). The practice of contraception during Talmudic period is noted in a passage called “The Beraita of the Three Women,” which is the basis for Jewish teaching on contraception. It states that a woman may use a “moch” (contraceptive tampon). The tampon can be inserted before intercourse, which serves as a mechanical barrier to sperm or after cohabitation to absorb the sperm. The woman can drink a Cup of Roots—“ikrim” (feticide) in three circumstances where a pregnancy would seriously harm the woman: the woman is under age (specifically not defined), the woman is pregnant (pregnancy endangers her health), or nursing (Yavamot 12b). According to Judaism, any method of contraception employed by the man is prohibited. Abstinence is prohibited since it fails to fulfill the wife’s conjugal rights. Coitus interruptus is forbidden, based on the prohibition of improper emission of sperm, as first mentioned in the Bible in (Genesis 38:10), by Er and Onah. Condoms are not approved in the Talmudic and rabbinical literature, based on the prohibition of the destruction, waste of the seed (hashatat zera), and improper emission of it. Male hormonal preparations are also forbidden. All rabbinical rulings permit the use of female contraceptives to prevent conception for medical indications, as discussed in the Talmud. Economic hardship and other problems are not indications according to Orthodox Rabbinical authorities. If there is an indication for birth control, the order of contraceptive method preference is as follows: oral contraceptives, intra-uterine device (IUD), diaphragm, and spermicides. Modern rabbinical authorities, Reform and Conservative, may be more lenient in permitting the use of contraception for non-medical reasons.