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artificial insemination that has been introduced nowadays. See sefer
Bnei Ahuvah (Hilchos Ishus, chap. 15), which quotes physicians in re-
cent times as denying the possibility of a virgin’s becoming pregnant
in a bathtub. The Emek Halachah (Vol. I, 68) writes very aptly that
this denial is certainly not based on any knowledge but is attribut-
able to the stranglehold of Christian doctrine, for if they knew that
a virgin can become pregnant while still remaining a virgin, one of
the fundamental tenets of their faith concerning the mother of “that
individual” [i.e. Immaculate Conception] would collapse.

The Tashbatz (Vol. III, 263) writes,“If we are to believe the Apoc-
rypha we find in the book Ben Sira that his mother [who was the
daughter of Yirmiyahu Hanavi] became pregnant from Yirmiyahu’s
semen. [Yirmiyahu criticized his contemporaries who used to bathe
in hot baths which led to wasteful emissions of semen [which is a
serious prohibition]. In reprisal, his Jewish enemies forced him to
bathe in a hot bath, where he had a wasteful emission. Heaven re-
vealed to Yirmiyahu that his daughter had become pregnant from his
sperm.]“Sira” [a bathtub] has the same gematriya as Yirmiyahu (271),
meaning that Ben Sira [this ‘son’ of the bathtub], is the son of Yirmi-
yahu.” Chelkas Mechokek (Even Ha’ezer 1:8) writes that Yirmiyahu
was delving into Book of Creation on his own when a heavenly voice
was heard saying “Acquire for yourself a partner.” He went to his son
Ben Sira and they delved into the book of Creation for three years, in
fulfillment of the passuk ‘Those who fear G-d then spoke’”

Now, the Chelkas Mechokek was uncertain whether the man
whose semen impregnated a woman in a bath, as a result of which a
son was born, has fulfilled the mitzvah of procreation with this child
born through an abnormal process and [additionally,] whether this
child is considered his son in all respects.

The Beis Shmuel (ibid.,10) writes that this doubt can be resolved
from the comments of the Hagahos Ha’smak, quoted by the Bach
(Yoreh De’ah, 195) who writes:

“A woman is warned against lying on a sheet upon which
another man lay, lest she become pregnant from the sperm

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