The Hebrew word for semen is zera, which means seed. This seed contains not only the physical and spiritual blueprints of life, but also the life force itself. Each discharge of semen contains hundreds of thousands, even millions, of souls.

Each microscopic drop is more than a potential life. It is already a living soul. For this reason, the sin of spilling semen in vain is considered like the spilling of blood - like taking the life of a person. Not just the life of any person, but the life of the child who commits the sin (Niddah 13A; Shulchan Aruch, Even HaEzer, 23:2).

Every drop of semen is your child.

Kabbalistic sources explain that with each drop of semen, a soul is brought into the world. When this occurs in a manner forbidden by Jewish Law, the soul is taken captive by the forces of impurity - the kelipot, or husks, of the Sitra Achra, the "Other Side." Thus the holy life force contained in these souls is captured by the realm of evil, strengthening the power of evil in the world. In their anguish at being taken captive amongst the husks, these kidnapped souls return to haunt the man who gave birth to them, inevitably causing him a gamut of troubles, sometimes sickness, sometimes depression, sometimes poverty, marital strife, problems with children, and a long list of other tragedies.