Par sh at T azr ia

Lif e And Dea th

Ra bbi Ari Kahn

"And G-d said to Moshe saying: Speak to the children of Israel saying: When
a woman conceives and gives birth to a male, she shall be t'me'ah for seven
days, like by the days of niddah (menstruation) .. On the eighth day
circumcise the flesh of the foreskin" (Vayikra 12:1-3)

The Torah begins to teach the laws of childbirth, the details of which include the
laws of "purity and impurity" or tum'ah and tahara. The topic of purities and
impurities was begun in the previous section, at the end of Shmini, where the laws
of ritual purity in animals are discussed. The specific "tum'ah” discussed in this
chapter is that of the new mother, and is compared to the status of niddah. The
laws of niddah, however, are not mentioned in the Torah prior to this section.
Therefore, the use of niddah as an explanatory comment is difficult to understand.

A second problem in the text concerns the response to childbirth which the Torah
calls for:

"At the completion of her days of purification she shall bring a ..burnt
offering and a... sin offering" (12:6)

The burnt offering is understandable, but why would the new mother be required
to bring a sin offering? What sin did she commit? The Talmud explains that the
pain of childbirth may have been so severe that she might have sworn not to be
intimate with her husband again.

R. Simeon b. Yohai was asked by his disciples: Why did the Torah ordain that
a woman after childbirth should bring a sacrifice? He replied: When she
kneels in bearing she swears impetuously that she will have no intercourse
with her husband. The Torah, therefore, ordained that she should bring a
sacrifice. (Niddah 31b)

The Ba'al haTurim comments that the separation for seven days which is like
niddah which is comparable to the seven days of mourning1. This idea has its
origin in the Zohar, and is understandable regarding niddah: The concept of
mourning for seven days is man's response to death, and the period of mourning
is one of separation from society. The essential gesture is one of Teshuva: the
sackcloth and ashes, our most recognizable symbols of mourning, are seen twice
in Tanach: Mordechai and the people of Ninveh used these symbols to awaken
their people to Teshuva. We may say that when man confronts death, the
response is mourning, which brings man to consider his own mortality, to mend
his ways and to mend the world. When we consider the time of niddah as a type

1
The Torah calls for seven days of separation, as evidenced by this verse; current observance of the niddah laws follows
Rabbinic injunction which calls for an additional five days.
of mourning, we realize that the menstrual blood is a very literal representative of
a life which did not come to fruition, a missed opportunity to foster life. Therefore
Judaism, with its supreme value for human life, goes so far as to call upon us to
respond to the loss of potential life.

The Zohar's teaching thus provides insight into the essence of the laws of niddah,
where husband and wife separate and observe their private mourning for the child
not born. But why would the Ba'al haTurim introduce this concept at this juncture,
in the case of an actual birth of a very real son? Indeed, the question could be
posed on the verse itself: Why would the separation called for after childbirth be
paralleled with the niddah state at all?

In order to resolve these difficulties, let us consider Rashi's comments to the first
verse of the parsha. Citing the Midrash, Rashi observes:

Rav Simlai said, just as man's creation followed that of all of the animals.. in
the process of creation, so the laws (of tum'ah) follow (i.e., are detailed in
the text after) those of the animals. (Rashi 12:2)

There is evidently something about these laws which invites us to compare and
contrast them with the days of creation. The reference to the number seven
should alert us to a possible connection with the seven days of creation. On the
sixth day, after all other creatures are created, Man is created. Man is
commanded:

The Lord G-d commanded Man saying, ‘Of all trees of the Garden you shall
eat. And from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil you will not eat, for
on the day you eat from it you will surely die. (Bereshit 2:16-17)

We are well acquainted with the tragic end of the story: Eve and Adam eat from
the tree, and although death is not the immediate result of their transgression,
they become mortal. Apparently, the meaning of G-d’s decree was that eating
from the tree would bring death into the world. Thus, “for on the day you eat
from it you will surely die.” G-d's specific reaction to Eve's sin sheds light on our
subject:

To the woman He said, ‘I will greatly increase your sorrow and your
pregnancy. In sorrow will you bear children.’ (Bereshit 3:16)

Instead of death, Eve, and indeed all of womankind, are told what awaits them in
childbearing and childbirth. The Talmud examines the phrase "I will greatly
increase your sorrow":

R. Isaac b. Abdimi stated: Eve was cursed with ten curses, since it is written:
‘Unto the woman He said, and I will greatly multiply,’ which refers to the
two drops of blood, one being that of menstruation and the other that of
virginity. ‘Thy pain’ refers to the pain of bringing up children, ‘and thy
 travail’ refers to the pain of conception ‘in pain thou shalt bring forth
children’…(Eruvin 100b)

The implication is that, if not for the sin of the forbidden fruit, women would not
have had a menstrual cycle at all. Rather, childbirth would have been a painless,
automatic, almost immediate result of physical intimacy. Rashi understands that
Cain and Abel were conceived and born on the very same day, in the Garden of
Eden, in a "pre-sin" childbirth:

AND SHE CONCEIVED AND BORE CAIN. R. Eleazar b. ‘Azariah said: Three
wonders were performed on that day: On that very day they were created,
on that very day they cohabited, and on that very day they produced
offspring. R. Joshua b. Karhah said: Only two entered the bed, and seven left
it: Cain and his twin sister, Abel and his two twin sisters.(Bereshit Rabbah
22:2).

In a perfect, idyllic world, there is no pain, there is no mourning. Now, perhaps,

we can understand the comments of the Ba'al ha Turim: Every childbirth reminds
us of the sin and punishment of Eve. We live in a world bounded by mortality, and
we are forced to realize that the child who was born is destined to die. This
explains the separation following childbirth which is compared to niddah. Both
are results of the same sin, and while niddah responds to the potential life which
was frustrated, the separation after childbirth is mourning/Teshuva for the
necessity of the process of childbirth and for the mortality of the child born of this
process. The logic in requiring a sin offering now becomes apparent: The
childbirth is so completely intertwined with the sin of Eve, so totally identified with
and resultant from it, that a sin offering at the conclusion of this process now
seems completely natural.

We may now understand why the separation period following the birth of a
daughter is twice as long as the seven-day period described thus far. After the
birth of a girl, the mourning for our mortality and pain is that much greater, for
the child born is not only the victim of mortality but also the transmitter, as it
were. She, too, will die, but more poignantly, she will carry the results of sin into
the next generation. She will be the next to suffer the unavoidable consequences
of sin which have become part and parcel of human existence.

Returning to the beginning of the Parsha,

And G-d said to Moshe saying: ‘Speak to the children of Israel saying: When
a woman conceives and gives birth to a male, she shall be t'me'ah for seven
days, like by the days of niddah (menstruation) .. On the eighth day
circumcise the flesh of the foreskin" (Vayikra 12:1-3)

The Torah commands that on the eighth day the son born is to be circumcised.
The number eight represents that which is beyond the physical, beyond the seven
days of "nature". The idea of circumcision is that of man controlling his desires,
transcending his own physical identity. In that sense, circumcision is a perfection
of nature which elevates mankind. It was Adam and Eve succumbing to their
desires which set in motion the chain of mortality and pain, and the Torah here
supplies us with a means of breaking the chain.

The laws of niddah detail the counting of seven "clean days" prior to immersion in
the mikveh, which is referred to as "mayim hayim," literally, 'living water' or
'water of life'. Another reference in the Torah to counting is in the days known as
the "omer", specifically the period between Pesach, the day of liberation, and
Shavuot, the day the Torah was given at Sinai. The Zohar compares the counting
of the seven clean days with this counting of the seven weeks of the omer.

AND YE SHALL COUNT TO YOU FROM THE MORROW AFTER THE SABBATH.
Observe that when Israel were in Egypt they were under an alien
domination and they were trammelled with uncleanness like a woman in
the days of her uncleanness. When they were circumcised, they entered
into the holy portion which is called “covenant”, and thereupon the
uncleanness left them as the blood of uncleanness leaves a woman. Just as
a woman then has to count seven days, so now God bade the Israelites
count days for purity. They were to count “for themselves”, so as to be
purified with supernal holy waters, and then to be attached to the King and
to receive the Torah. The woman had to count seven days, the people seven
weeks. Why seven weeks? That they might be worthy to be cleansed by the
waters of that stream which is called “living waters,” and from which issue
seven Sabbaths. When Israel drew near to Mount Sinai, that dew that
descends from the supernal Point came down in its fullness and purified
them so that their filth left them and they became attached to the Holy King
and the Community of Israel and received the Torah, as we have explained.
Observe that any man who does not count those seven complete weeks so
as to qualify himself for purity is not called “pure” and is not in the class of
“pure”, nor is he worthy to have a portion in the Torah. But if a man has
reached this day in purity and has not lost count, then it behooves him on
this night to study the Torah and to preserve the special purity to which he
has attained on this night. (Zohar Section 3, Page 97a,b)

Just as a woman counts the time between tum'ah and tahara, so too Israel count
the period between their redemption from the impurity and suffering of Egypt,
and the culmination of this period at Sinai. When a woman emerges from the
mikveh, what follows is a reunion with her husband and a chance for new life to
enter the world. When the Jewish People rendezvoused with G-d at Sinai, they,
too formed a union which gave new life, and hope. The imagery of Torah as a Tree
of Life is one which has been repeated time after time, as are references to Torah
as water.

At Sinai, the Jews received the Torah, the true elixir of life. Adhering to the Torah
keeps man actively in union with G-d. When the time comes and all the world
accepts G-d and His Torah, death will become a thing of the past, as it says, "Bilah
hamavet lanetzach",
 “Death will be erased for all eternity, G-d the Lord will wipe away all tears”.
(Isaiah 25:8)

On that day there will be no death and no more sorrow.