Shmuel holds that one may not cohabit with his virgin bride on Shabbat. How does this agree with other rules in the Talmud?
For example, the well-known first rules at the beginning of the Talmud talk about reading the Shema prayer at night. There we mentioned that a bridegroom is exempt from saying Shema – because he is worried about upcoming cohabitation with his bride, being unsure if he will succeed in rupturing her hymen and complete the act of cohabitation – and this exemption lasts until the end of Shabbat. This must prove that cohabitation with his bride is permitted on Shabbat, contrary to what Shmuel has said!?
Abaye answered that the groom is worried that he did not complete the cohabitation the previous night, which upsets him to the point that he can't say the Shema. However, if so, even if his ship is drowning in the sea, he should likewise not say the Shema – and this is not true. We know that even if one is a mourner and thus is aggravated, he only skips the tefillin but still says the Shema.
Rava defended differently: there are two versions of the earlier Shema ruling, and in one of them, he says the Shema on Friday night, while in another, he does not. Thus, Shmuel has at least one source to rely upon – one which permits the reading of Shema – because cohabitation on Shabbat is prohibited, and he has nothing to worry about. The Talmud then discusses methods of penetration that leave the hymen intact and how this relates to the guarding of the bridal sheets.
Art: The Bridegroom's Health by Otto Erdmann
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