View source for Keri

{{short description|Seminal emission}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Tumah and taharah}}
{{italic title}}
'''''Keri''''' ({{Script/Hebrew|קֶרִי}}) is a Hebrew term which literally means "accident" or "mishap", and is used as a euphemism for [[semen|seminal]] emission.<ref>[https://www.sefaria.org/Jastrow%252C_%D7%A7%D6%B0%D7%A8%D6%B4%D7%99_%C2%B2.1 Jastrow: קְרִי]</ref> The term is generally used in [[Halakha|Jewish law]] to refer specifically to the regulations and rituals concerning the emission of [[semen]], whether by [[nocturnal emission]], or by sexual activity. A man is said to be a ''ba'al keri'' ({{Script/Hebrew|בעל קרי}}) ("one who has had a seminal emission") after he has ejaculated without yet completing the associated purification requirements.

== Hebrew Bible ==
The [[Book of Leviticus]] contains several laws relating to seminal emission. A man who had experienced an emission of semen would become [[tumah|ritually impure]], until the evening came and he had washed himself in water.<ref>{{bibleverse||Leviticus|15:16|HE}}</ref> Any clothes or leather touched by semen also become ritually impure, until they are washed in water and the evening had come.<ref>{{bibleverse||Leviticus|15:17|HE}}</ref> If the man ejaculated semen during sexual intercourse with a woman, the woman would also become ritually impure, until the evening had come and she had washed herself in water.<ref>{{bibleverse||Leviticus|15:18|HE}}</ref>

The [[Book of Deuteronomy]] says that a soldier who became impure through a ''mikreh lailah'' ("night occurrence") must leave the army camp, immerse, and only return to the camp in the evening.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Deuteronomy|23:11|HE}}</ref> From the word ''mikreh'' (מקרה), the rabbis derived the term ''keri'' (קרי) to refer to an emission of semen.

In {{Bibleverse|Exodus|19:15|HE}}, prior to the revelation at Mount Sinai, Jewish men were warned not "to approach a woman" so as not to become impure.<ref>See {{Alhatorah|Exodus|19:15|Rashi}}; {{Alhatorah|Exodus|19:15|R. Yosef Bekhor Shor}}</ref> 

The Books of Samuel contain two stories which suggest that the laws of seminal emission were observed in that period. In {{Bibleverse|1 Samuel|20:26|HE}}, [[Saul]] assumed that [[David]] was missing from the royal feast due to having become impure in a ''mikreh'' (mishap). In {{Bibleverse|1 Samuel|21:5|HE}}, the priest is willing to distribute holy bread only to those men who have "kept themself from women".<ref>Yitzhak Meitles, ''Parshat Derakhim: Archaeology and Geography in the Weekly Torah Reading'', p. 250</ref>

Non-traditional [[Biblical criticism|biblical scholars]] see the Leviticus regulations as having originally derived from [[taboo]] against contact with semen, because it was considered to house life itself, and was thus thought of as sacred.<ref>''[[Peake's commentary on the Bible]]''{{Page needed|date=September 2011}}</ref>{{Verify credibility|date=December 2010}}

== In rabbinic literature ==
The [[Talmud]] adds prohibitions designed to avoid seminal emission outside of [[sexual intercourse]]. It was forbidden for a man to touch his [[penis]] with his hand, on the basis that the sensation of touch causes ''keri''. The Talmud goes on to address the concern that preventing any contact with the [[penis]] would make [[urination]] more awkward for males, and makes suggestions in this regard.<ref name=Niddah13a>{{cite wikisource |נידה יג א |Babylonian Talmud, tractate [[Niddah (Talmud)|Niddah]] 13a |he}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Linda Bourgoin|title=Effect of Sexual Intercourse in Water |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXMXgghQifM |date=2016-03-10 }}{{cbignore}}{{Dead Youtube links|date=February 2022}}</ref> A man who intentionally caused himself [[erection]]s was considered worthy of ostracism.<ref>Niddah 13b</ref>

The Talmud also described procedures in case a man emitted semen (permissibly or otherwise). It states that one who experienced an emission of semen is required by the Torah to immerse in water in order to be allowed to consume [[Terumah (offering)|terumah]] or [[Korban|sacrifice]]. It also states that [[Ezra]] decreed that one should also immerse in order to be allowed to recite words of [[Torah]],<ref>{{cite wikisource |בבא קמא פב ב |Bava Kamma 82b |he}}</ref> but that Ezra's decree no longer applies nowadays.<ref>{{cite wikisource |ברכות כב א |[[Berakhot (Talmud)|Berachot]] 22a |he}}</ref>

Later on, the [[Rishonim]] debated whether Ezra's decree still applies in regard to [[Jewish prayer|prayer]]. [[Hai Gaon]]<ref>Brought in the commentary of [[Yonah Gerondi]] on [[Berakhot (tractate)|Berakhot]]</ref> and [[Chananel ben Chushiel]]<ref>Brought in {{cite wikisource |author=Tosafot Hullin 122b |title=תוספות חולין קכב ב |wslink=חולין קכב ב#תוספות) |wslanguage=he}}</ref> say that a ''ba'al keri'', while he may study Torah, may not pray until he goes to a [[mikveh]]. [[Maimonides]] says that the decree was cancelled entirely and a ''ba'al keri'' may even recite the [[Shema Yisrael|Shema]],<ref>[[Mishneh Torah]], Hilkhot Kriat Shema 4:8</ref> but that the ''[[minhag]]'' of [[Shinar]] ([[Mesopotamia]]) and [[Sepharad]] (in his day, a term for the [[Iberian Peninsula]]) is that before prayer a ''ba'al keri'' should wash himself entirely with water.<ref>Hilkhot Tefillah 4:6</ref>

The modern [[halakhic]] consensus is that a ''ba'al keri'' is not required to immerse in the mikveh before praying, reciting Shema, saying [[Berakhah|Berakhot]], and so on.<ref>[[Shulchan Aruch]], Orach Chaim 88:1</ref> However, some Jews today, including many [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidic Jews]], practice this immersion because it is considered a praiseworthy practice.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Jewish life}}

[[Category:Jewish ritual purity law]]
[[Category:Ejaculation]]
[[Category:Hebrew words and phrases in Jewish law]]