1 “CONCEIVING GOD’S CHILDREN”: TOWARDS A FLEXIBLE MODEL OF REPRODUCTIVE DECISION-MAKING Lea Taragin-Zeller FORTHCOMING, Medical Anthropology 38:4 https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/Byrvc3VtbrBnAY2z9D24/full?target=10.1080/01459740.2019.1570191 Drawing on an ethnographic study of reproduction in Israel, in this article I demonstrate how Orthodox Jews delineate borders between the godly and the human in their daily reproductive practices. Exploring the multiple ways access to technology affects religious belief and observance, I describe three approaches to marital birth control, two of which are antithetical: steadfast resistance to and general acceptance of “calculated family planning.” Seeking a middle road, the third model, “flexible decision-making,” reveals how couples push off and welcome pregnancies simultaneously. Unravelling the illusion of a binary model of planned/unplanned parenthood, I call for nuanced models of reproductive decision-making. Keywords: Israel, Contraception, Decision Making, Judaism, Religion, Reproduction INTRODUCTION As I enter the communal hall for a lecture entitled “Family Life and Jewish Law,” my eyes latch onto a blue-eyed toddler playing on the floor, a big kippah (skullcap) on his head. “Is he yours?” I ask Meir, the man standing next to him. Meir, whom I had met at a previous lecture, smiles at me – “No.” A few seconds later, the child looks up and calls to him – “Daddy, can you help me?” Confused, I ask: “Is this a game”? He sighs and wholeheartedly replies: “He really isn’t mine; he is God’s child. We don’t make children. We accept them as a blessing from God. Even if we wait for the right time to conceive,