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regarding whom there is no concern of his emitting semen for naught,
since he is married.

The sefer Chaim Ve’shalom (Vol. 2, 18) applies similar logic to the
Divrei Malkiel to the case of a man who had been married to his wife
for five years without children. A rumor circulated that he was unable
to sire children and he even testified about himself that he did not
ejaculate at all. After a while his wife was found to be pregnant and
according to the husband, the fetus was not his. Was it permitted
to employ masturbation to test him and get him to emit semen to
see whether his sperm “shoots like an arrow”? He rules that although
emitting semen is a serious Torah prohibition, it is permitted in this
case because the situation awaits clarification in regard to two poten-
tial prohibitions: 1. the prohibition of mamzerus regarding the child
i.e. will he be allowed to marry a Jewess? and 2. the prohibition of
sotah (an adulteress) to her husband i.e. if it transpires that she was
unfaithful she may no longer live with her husband. It is therefore
better that one prohibition – of emitting semen for naught – be vi-
olated rather than numerous prohibitions being violated i.e. by the
child who will violate the prohibitions of mamzerus when he marries
and by the woman and her husband who will violate the prohibition
of sotah by living together. Chaim Ve’shalom derives this ruling from
the aforementioned gemara in Yevamos [though he notes that from
the gemara it is only clear that indirect means may be employed to
obtain emission of semen but not a direct act of masturbation].

It must be pointed out that the arguments employed by the Divrei
Malkiel and Chaim Veshalom follow the view of the Beis Meir and
others, who are of the opinion that the rationale of “Desecrate a sin-
gle Shabbos for him now…” is ruled as halachah. However, the Biur
Halachah (329:4 s.v. ela) writes that license to desecrate Shabbos in
order to save life is not derived from the rationale, “Desecrate one
Shabbos for him now so that he will observe many future Shabbasos”
but from pasuk,“And he shall live by them [i.e. the mitzvos]” (Vayikra
18:5), from which Chazal deduce “and not die by them.” The principle
of “Desecrate one Shabbos now” is not adopted by halachah i.e. it

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