In post-biblical literature Jewish opinion stands out clear and simple: Marriage is a duty, and celibacy a sin.
“The world was created to produce life; He created it not a waste, He formed it to be inhabited” (Isaiah 45:18) and “Be fruitful, and multiply” (Genesis 1: 28) are taken as commands. Marriage with a view to that end is a duty incumbent upon every male adult, several Jewish texts say.
In fact, the Talmud stipulates that a husband’s abstention from sexual relations may be taken by the wife as ground for a divorce (Ketubot 6:7), and the Shulchan Aruch says that a single man who is past 20 can be compelled by a rabbinic court to marry (though it makes exceptions for students).
The only known celibate among the rabbis of Talmudic times is Ben Azzai, who preached marriage to others, but did not practice it himself. “My soul is fond of the Law,” he is reported as having said; “The world will be perpetuated by others.” (Yevamot 63b)
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Adapted from The Jewish Encyclopedia.
