Interviewer: What makes this book special in relation to other books on the subject of family purity?

Rabbi Jacobs: Well, one thing that was really important to me was that it be exclusively in English and that the English be intelligent, contemporary, and easy to understand. I think this is one of the book's most outstanding features. It finds simple ways to express otherwise technical jargon. I also think the material itself is presented in a clear and organized fashion. It was a real challenge to lay out otherwise dense, complex material in succinct form. Considering the long evolution of Jewish law, simplifying these matters required a lot of thoughtfulness- not to mention professional and sympathetic editors! Finally, I wanted the object - the book itself - to be attractive and worthy of gift-giving. The printing is very high quality and the outside cover is beautiful. It makes a wonderful gift idea for a spouse or for a new couple.

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Interviewer: Is there anything especially unique in the book's content?

Rabbi Jacobs: Well, yes. For one thing, over the years, the drafts of the manuscript were sent to dozens of women internationally, asking for their feedback. These included mothers, brides, counselors, and others. Their input adds a fresh and much-needed dimension. After all, women are intimately affected by the subject of family purity, yet most religious texts on the matter are written without consulting them. So the reaction of women to the book has been enthusiastic.

Gynecological and medical considerations have also been included. These were reviewed by Dr. Mordechai Halperin, Director of the Dr. Falk Schlesinger Institute for Medical Halachic Research at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. Here, let me just say that this Institute has been at the forefront of medical research and writing and it has been just an extraordinary fount of information for this book.

The other thing I think is important to note is that one of the dangers of writing in this field is to reduce it to dry mechanics and technicalities. The focus of this book is on the interpersonal dimensions of Jewish law. It's not for nothing that Jewish laws on purity are commonly translated as family law. To do the topic justice and to reach the audience of young and married couples for whom it is intended requires a focus on the human dimensions of family law rather than the merely technical dimensions of it.

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Interviewer: You mentioned that you'd sent out drafts of the book "over the years" for various women to review. How long did it take you to write it?

Rabbi Jacobs: More than ten years.

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Interviewer: Wow! Why so long? And how did you sustain your own interest over such a lengthy period?

Rabbi Jacobs: It took so long mainly because I kept running out of ink!

Okay, just kidding! Seriously, there are a number of stages involved in a project like this, and each requires time and a lot of work. First, I had to compile all the material. Because I wanted this book to be comprehensive, it required detailed research of all the material published in the last fifty years on this topic, both in the States and in Israel, in addition to the standard legal tomes. Plus I had to gather oral information from those in the field. Then I had to organize the material, write about it, and edit and polish it.

Then there were the production decisions that had to be made, like what kind of graphics to use.

Sustaining my interest over the long haul wasn't really that difficult. But there were times I wondered how I'd find the strength to see the project through. Truth be told, what gave me the stamina, especially in the home stretch, was the encouragement from the rabbinical approbations. Because in the final analysis, such a book is really not one person's possession or accomplishment. It belongs to the community.

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Interviewer: Had you written previously?

Rabbi Jacobs: Oh, yes. My first work was a compendium of customs related to family life, published in Hebrew in 1990. The English equivalent of the title would be Times. That publication has been featured at national conventions and is in use in many thousands of families in Israel. My second work, also in Hebrew, was published in 1998 and was entitled Chochmot Hatahara. This book was a hard-cover commentary on the sources for these laws. It's a more scholarly work. Both books bear approbations from the world's leading rabbis.

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Interviewer: So your other books were written in Hebrew?

Rabbi Jacobs: Yes. In fact, one of my pending book projects is to have this book, Family Purity, translated for a Hebrew-speaking audience.

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Interviewer: Your native language is English?

Rabbi Jacobs: Yes. I was born in New York, and it wasn't until after I'd graduated from college at the University of Vermont that I moved to Israel for religious studies; part of that process, of course, was learning Hebrew.

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Interviewer: Any other book projects in the works?

Rabbi Jacobs: Always! Actually, I'm working on a couple of projects that are kind of a change of pace for me as they aren't on strictly religious topics. One is a memoir that looks at how I've incorporated my training in the martial arts into my life as a Jew, and the other is a book about my experiences as an Israeli prison chaplain.

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Interviewer: Training in the martial arts!

Rabbi Jacobs: Yes. I'm a Black Belt in Korean karate.

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Interviewer: No kidding!

Rabbi Jacobs: For real!

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Interviewer: It's obvious your author's bio is a tad different from the average scholar's! I also take it your book Family Purity is intended for a vernacular audience more than a scholarly one?

Rabbi Jacobs: That's right. I wanted the book to be accessible to young engaged and married couples, to older couples, and to counselors and rabbis working with married couples. I didn't want people to feel they had to have a degree in rabbinical law to read it.

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Interviewer: But aren't many young Jewish couples today more ethnically aware than they are religiously observant? Why should they be interested in this topic at all?

Rabbi Jacobs: Actually, that's an excellent question. In the book, I emphasize that family purity is beneficial to couples no matter where they are in their religious observance. All couples can find something they need in it. The book has a common sense tone to it and emphasizes mutual respect and consideration between husbands and wives. That's pretty basic and practical, and it's something that any couple that cares about the quality of their marriage can appreciate.

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Interviewer: It strikes me that one of the things that would also be attractive about this book is that you speak from personal experience. You're a husband and father as well as a rabbi. What do you think are some of the biggest pressure on families in the modern world?

Rabbi Jacobs: Well, we all know that modern life is incredible fast-paced and hectic. Much goes on every day in our personal and family lives - so much that we hardly have time to think about our experiences, let alone integrate them. Society is increasingly affected by technology and the media: click here to send an immediate message, click there to place an order, click over there to download yet more information. We're distracted by all this stuff even if we aren't downright overwhelmed by it.

But at the same time, our personal needs, our human nature, our interpersonal relations are as central as they have always been and will always remain. It has always been necessary to tend and nourish these relationships.

Our people has remained intact for over 3,000 years. Just think of that! We have far outlasted other nations that were richer or more progressive or that claimed other advantages. And we have survived as a people despite centuries of genocidal persecution.

Strictly from a pragmatic standpoint, our survival to now has been nothing short of miraculous. What I believe is that this flourishing of our people is due largely to the emphasis we have placed upon family and upon the laws and practices that define who we are as Jewish families. In this respect, clearly the book is timely.