Our Gemara on Amud Aleph engages in a mystical and provocative idea: Had Israel not sinned with the Golden Calf, they would have become like angels—immortal, and beyond the need for reproduction.
But then the Gemara raises a challenge: Isn’t reproduction a mitzvah? It responds by distinguishing between pre-Sinai commandments and post-Sinai obligations, suggesting that perhaps they were not obligated after Sinai. However, the answering does not hold enough water because there is an additional verse giving direction after Mount Sinai: “Return to your tents” (Devarim 5:27), which implies a resumption of conjugal life after the giving of the Torah.
The Gemara answers: That was not about reproduction per se, but rather the mitzvah of onah—marital intimacy.
Ben Yehoyada highlights that even non-procreative intimacy can give rise to spiritual consequences. He asserts that a married couple, even past childbearing years, still “give birth to souls” when they unite in holiness. Biur Halacha (240:1) echoes this idea.
This is a powerful convergence of mystical and psychological insight. Intimacy is not just physical—it’s generative. A deep union between souls builds an emotional network of connection and spiritual influence on the couple, their family, and even their community.
As discussed in our earlier Blogpost Psychology of the Daf on Avodah Zara 2, mitzvos create “forces” or “angels” that shape our inner and outer world. So too, intimacy creates something real—even if invisible.
The opposite also holds true. After the sin, Adam withdrew from Chava for 130 years. The Zohar (I:55a) tells us he begat spirits and demons during that time—forms of impurity and distortion.
The Rambam in Moreh Nevuchim (I:7) explains:
“Those sons of Adam born before that time were not human in the full sense. They lacked the ‘form of man’—i.e., intellectual and moral perfection… Such beings resemble man externally but act as beasts internally, misusing intellect for harm.”
These “demons” are not mythical—they are real psychological and spiritual consequences of alienation, frustration, and emotional exile. When a person is estranged from their spouse, their values, or their purpose, they birth destruction instead of growth.
Just as death is inevitable, so too estrangement is a risk in all human life. But we do everything to resist it. When Adam returned to Chava, they begat Seth—“in his image, in his likeness”—a restoration of wholeness.
Loss, alienation, and the demonic consequences of misused potential are real. But so is return. Like Adam, we too can come back to ourselves, to our loves, and to our God.
Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation
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Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, LCSW-R, LMFT, DHL is a psychotherapist who works with high conflict couples and families. He can be reached via email at simchafeuerman@gmail.com