Abstract:

The continued presence of people in the world is possible by having a child and reproducing. Every society and religious belief wants to see itself superior to others, to be numerous, and to spread to the world. According to Jewish belief, God first ordered Adam and Eve, then in the process, Jews’  ancestors (Israelites) like Noah, Abraham and Jacob to reproduce many times and God selected them among other nations. God has made an agreement with “chosen nation” Israelites and covenanted them some regions as homeland. In Jewishness, having children and reproducing are accepted as an order of God. In order to fulfill this order and to preserve the purity of the "chosen nation" in Jewishness, almost all kinds of cure such as: getting married with women of Israelites, if necessary, polygamy to have a child, divorcing the infertile women who cannot give birth to a child, marrying brother’s wife to brother-in-law to leave a heir to the deceased without a child, approaching birth control prudently, avoiding abortion if there is no serious health problem, are applied. Since the most important objective of the marriage is having a child in Jewishness, it is necessary for a couple to have at least one son and one daughter or two sons to be accepted as a family. In this context, having a child and reproducing is considered a very important religious order (mitsva) in terms of Jewishness. According to Judaism, by force of this order, it is very important to give birth and to grow, in number for the nation chosen by God (İsraelites), to sustain its existence in the world, to dominate the world by increasing its population, and to breed generations living according to the orders of God.

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