Sex manual for ultra-orthodox Jews aims to initiate newlyweds

Dr David Ribner's book The Newlywed's Guide to Physical Intimacy educates young couples who likely have very little experience with the opposite sex

In a nod to conservatism there are no photographs in the book

It might be the most natural thing in the world, but at least one author in Israel thinks that the country’s ultra-orthodox Jewish community need a little help when it comes to newlyweds beginning their married life together.

Sex is a taboo subject in the ultra-orthodox community, so much so that physical contact – even shaking hands – can be eschewed by unmarried men and women. The result is that couples who marry often have no sexual experience and to put it frankly, don’t really know what to do when it comes to consummating their wedding.

However, a new book designed for the ultra-orthodox community could be about the change all that. Dr David Ribner, an ordained rabbi, has published, The Newlywed's Guide to Physical Intimacy, which begins with an explanation of how the male and female bodies are different, and goes right to explaining the various positions that couples might wishes to try, once they have mastered the basics.

In a nod to conservatism, there are no photographs in the book, but rather illustrations of what the couple have to do, with the characters’ faces left deliberately blank. The diagrams are contained in envelopes which can be detached from the rest of the book and discarded if the couple would rather rely on the text alone.

“We wanted to give people a sense of not only where to put their sexual organs, but where to put their arms and legs,” Dr Ribner told the Daily Beast. “If you have never seen a movie, never read a book, how are you supposed to know what you do?”