into consideration Samuel's statement, for Samuel said: I can have repeated sexual connections without [causing] bleeding; or is perhaps the case of Samuel rare? He replied: the case of Samuel is rare, but we do consider the [possibility] that she may have conceived in a bath.9 But behold Samuel said: A spermatic emission that does not shoot forth like an arrow cannot fructify! In the first instance, it has also shot forth like an arrow.
The obvious meaning of this passage is that a woman who conceives in a bath is not regarded as having been rendered a non-virgin and thus unable to marry a High Priest.10 From this, one may a fortiori conclude that the Halakhah prohibits only sexual relations, without which there is no adultery. Thus, artificial
insemination would not constitute adultery because sexual intercourse has not taken place.11
However, many authorities reject this strain of logic pointing out that there are significant differences between the case of the woman in the bath and an artificial insemination situation. In the bath, the woman conc
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