"When a woman is fruitful and bears a son" (VaYikra 12:1)
Man, who dwells below, is spiritually feminine while Hashem, who pours down life, "shefah," is usually referred to as masculine. What stands out in the pasuk is that the woman is singled out as "fruitful" (lit., producing seed), her willingness preceding the man's. While the simple understanding is that a male child results from this order of events there is a spiritual explanation that goes to the heart of our relationship with the Creator.
The Baal Shem Tov says that when we arouse ourselves in teshuvah, turning to Hashem without a prior arousal from above, this is called "when a woman will produce seed." Because the initial impetus comes from below, Hashem responds with rachamim, "compassion" or "love." This means that our teshuvah, which came without prompting, is accepted without further consequences. This is what it means that she will "bear a son" - there are no dinim, there is no incompleteness in the teshuvah, no further generations or clarifications that need to be expressed. (See Baal Shem Tov on the parashah)
In the era of Avraham Avinu there was no one who stood in wonder at the Creation. There was a "stoniness" in the world and thousands of souls came and went without any of them stopping to inquire; without anyone feeling surprised that he was alive or that the world existed. It was Avraham who first awoke.
But how awake can a person really be?
Even if we say "Hashem renews the Creation every day!" don't we become habituated to this as well? The real wonder is that Hashem takes our boredom and habituation and reveals to us an extraordinary new perspective. This is the greatest surprise - that the heart is still capable of experiencing wonder. And to such an extent that a person comes to the point where he asks, "Who could have created such a world?!?"
Now Avraham Avinu had no one to begin to ask; no one to whom he could turn with his burgeoning feelings of wonder. How amazing then that he came to the point where he sought the "master of the mansion," the ruler of the universe. Not just the architect of the galaxies but the face that shines into our very soul. Who has the burning desire to know the depths of the Creator's vastness, the intimacy of His closeness?
And the rabbis saw a reference to this unique quest of Avraham in the opening words of parashat Tazria, "A woman who produces seed and bears a male child." For Avraham started from the feminine - the aspect of simple faith and trust in Hashem - and arrived at the masculine.
As it says in Bereshit, "Avraham lifted his eyes and saw from afar" (Br. 22:4). And the rabbis said on this, "We esteem the name of Avraham who came from afar."
There are many who are bequeathed a soul yet they remain asleep. And this is what the rabbis hinted at, that this pasuk alludes to the name of Avraham. Because name, shem, is equal numerically to ratzon, will or desire. Avraham gave birth to a burning desire from his simple faith. "When a woman (simple faith) produces seed and bears a son (turning it into burning desire for Hashem)." And this is the name, "Avraham" which refers to his actions. That Avraham took the gift of soul that was given to him and turned it in the holiest way towards action till a holy nation sprang from just one individual. And this is what the pasuk in Job says, "I will raise up those who know Me even from a great distance. Those that devote their efforts to Me I will justify." (Adapted from Mei HaShiloach on the parashah)
Tazria
Reb Shlomo Minyan HarNof
(R. Raphael, email: [email protected])
One Flesh - The Child As Union
"(After giving birth to a boy the woman) will be in a state of impurity for seven days" (VaYikra 12:2) The students of Rabbi Shimon Ben Yochai asked, Why does the Torah say that a woman is impure for one week when a boy is born and two weeks for a girl? Because when a woman is in the throes of birth she swears never to go back to her husband but when a boy is born, and people around her are glad, it helps her overcome her negative feelings in seven days. By contrast the birth of a girl reminds everyone of the pain (of childbirth) and thus she holds onto her vow for twice as long. (Tractate Niddah 31b)
I want to offer an explanation of what the rabbis said. The responsibility entailed in bearing children lies much more heavily upon the woman than the man. The man has the power to ignite the spark of life, but the woman is the one who actually unites the spiritual and the physical worlds, bearing a soul into the world. This is why there is a heaviness at the birth of a female - because it reminds us of our humanness - that the fullness of being mortal means being "born of woman." And this is why the angels criticized Moshe when he came Heavenward to receive the Torah: "The Torah springs from pure spirituality. How can you who are in the world ever expect to merit this." But Moshe showed the angels that the Torah was meant precisely for man who is born into the physical world while carrying the preciousness of the soul within. This is a doubling of responsibility - not just having the glory of spiritual potential but bearing the responsibility of nurturing it within physical reality.
The joy that accompanies the birth of a male child holds a potential that is more intense but also, at some level, limited. Male desire, his ability to envision utopia, is easy to please momentarily but it is quickly disappointed, angered and frustrated. Thus the intense joy that accompanies the birth of the male only reaches real fullness when it finds its realization in the world. For while there is the purity and excitement of unlimited potential, man is only complete by uniting with woman who gives it expression.
Thus the two are bound together in compleimentarity and also in the deepest way literally and spiritually in the birth of a child. The male can rise to the promise of the pure potential within him only through the female who is his crowning glory, the realization of that potential in the world. The male is like the half shekel that needs its other half. The female is both receptive and creative, turning raw potential into actuality. While this potential comes from man, woman takes it and develops it into a child of both, then raising the offspring into adulthood, cultivating the potential within the child.
Therefore the boy is called, "ben" related to the power of building (as in "yiven," he will build), and female is "bat" like "ba'eit," the ability to enclothe and give structure as a house lends structure to the family. And finally we are all called "adam," like the earth which is "adama." For just like the earth must be nurtured in order to bring forth its "infinite" potential, so the child needs our love and guidance so they can develop into strong and caring individuals, themselves, may it be His will. For there is a third partner in all of this, Hashem Yitborach, who answers our prayers which are there throughout.
With Loving-Kindness
The world was built with chesed, loving-kindness. First Hashem created "the empty space" and there was nothing there, below, that could arouse Him to create. Thus, everything came from above and it was only when Hashem then withheld this lovingkindness that the world became dependent for its nourishment on an arousal from below.
This the uniqueness of man in creation - that with our actions we call forth a response. Indeed, this is the whole point of creation. For just as the creation was made with pure chesed, it could have been sustained freely as well. But if Hashem poured down all His chesed there would be no way that we could both receive it and remain separate creatures.
Through our awe of Gd we are enabled to be a vessel that can both exist separately and contain Hashem's chesed. This is through ratzon, our will and desire that everything be according to the will of Hashem.
Mitzvot
Sefer HaChinuch lists seven commandments in this week's parashah. Three dealing with the purification of a woman who gives birth, four regarding the confirmation and ritual curing of tzora'at, "leprosy."
At A Glance