HHMI Newsgroup Archives
From: "Yeshivat Har Etzion's
Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash"
To: yhe-intparsha@vbm-torah.org
Subject: INTPARSHA -27: Parashat Tazria
YESHIVAT
HAR ETZION
ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH
(VBM)
**************************************************************
INTRODUCTION
TO PARASHAT HASHAVUA
by
Zvi Shimon
PARASHAT
TAZRIA
A
Life and Death Situation
The Overview Structure
Following the construction and consecration of the
Mishkan, the Torah continues with the description of the
different forms of impurity. Opening the section on impurity,
in parashat Shemini (chapter 11), is the list of impure
animals forbidden for consumption. Next are laws relating to
the impurity contracted from touching the carcasses of
animals. In this week's sedra, parashat Tazria, the Torah
begins relating the impurities stemming from the human body,
some relating solely to men others only to women. The logic
behind the concentration on the laws of impurity following the
completion of the Mishkan is clear. Since purity is a
requisite for contact with the holy, an impure person may not
touch anything determined to be holy. The Mishkan is of course
the nucleus of holiness. In order that God's presence dwell in
the Mishkan it must be protected from defilement. Therefore,
the key to insuring the sanctity of the Mishkan is to
differentiate between the pure and impure in order to prevent
the defilement of the Mishkan.
We have explained in the previous sedras, the logic
behind the order of the book of Leviticus and its progression
from the construction of the Mishkan to the laws impurity. Is
their any logic to the order of the laws of impurity? Rashi
(Rabbi Shlomo ben Yitzchak, France, 1040-1105) cites the
following explanation of our sages:
"Rabbi Samlai said, just as the creation of man [took
place] after that of every animal, beast and fowl, in the
act of genesis, so are his [man's] laws [with regard to
impurity] specified after the laws of the animal, beast
and fowl."
The Torah first states the laws of impurity relating to
the animal kingdom since their creation preceded that of man
(see Genesis 1). Only after stating the laws relating to
animals, the Torah discusses the forms of impurity stemming
from man. This explanation of the order of the laws of
impurity is rooted in the act of creation. What is the
significance of this association?
I believe this association may be understood in two
opposite ways representing the two possible approaches to
understanding the laws of impurity. The connection to creation
teaches us that the laws of impurity are the decrees of God.
God as creator, has dominion over His creation, and therefore
creates statutes to be obeyed by man. These laws are not
natural phenomena. They are 'chukim,' - laws which are decrees
of the Creator and often incomprehensible to man.
Alternatively, the connection to creation could be intimating
that the laws of impurity are rooted in the act of creation.
Impurity is a natural phenomenon, part of the fabric of the
physical world. There are certain physical qualities which
create impurity.
Parashat Tazria begins the section dealing with
impurities stemming from the human body. It includes impurity
caused by childbirth (chapter 12), leprosy (12-14), and male
and female bodily discharges (15). We discussed earlier the
logic for the Torah's beginning with the impurities of the
animal world before the impurities of man. What is the logic
to the order of the impurities stemming from the human body?
The order is not according to the severity of the impurity,
since the severest form of impurity results from leprosy. The
leper is not only forbidden from entering the temple as is the
case with the other forms of impurity; He must also dwell
outside the camp of Israel (see 13:46). Rather, the Torah
begins with the impurity caused by childbirth since it is
inherent to the life cycle. Leprosy is an aberration.
Childbirth is a natural and desirable occurrence. Since it is
a necessary and integral part of life, the Torah states it
first.
Impurity caused by Childbirth
These are the laws relating to impurity resulting from
childbirth:
"When a woman at childbirth bears a male, she shall be
unclean seven days; she shall be unclean as at the time
of her menstrual infirmity. On the eighth day the flesh
of his foreskin shall be circumcised. She shall remain
in a state of blood purification for thirty-three days:
she shall not touch any consecrated thing, nor enter the
sanctuary until her period of purification is completed.
If she bears a female, she shall be unclean two weeks as
during her menstruation, and she shall remain in a state
of blood purification for sixty-six days.
On the completion of her period of purification, for
either son or daughter, she shall bring to the priest, at
the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, a lamb in its first
year for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove
for a sin offering. He shall offer it before the Lord
and make expiation on her behalf; she shall then be clean
from her flow of blood. Such are the rituals concerning
her who bears a child, male or female. If however, her
means do not suffice for a sheep, she shall take two
turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and
the other for a sin offering. The priest shall make
expiation on her behalf, and she shall be clean." (12:2-
7)
The Torah states that after giving birth, the woman is
impure for seven days (in the case of a male child) and like
the 'nida' (A woman during her menstrual period) is forbidden
from entering the temple or from having sexual relations.
Following the seven days of impurity (for a male child), the
thirty-three days of "blood purification" begin. During this
period she is only forbidden to enter the Sanctuary or to
touch consecrated things. However, she is permitted to have
sexual relations. She is not completely pure nor is she
totally impure. [The Kara'ites (a sect which accepts only the
written Torah but rejects the oral tradition) differed sharply
from our Sages in their understanding of this period. They
considered a woman during the thirty-three days to be
completely impure and deemed her to be prohibited from sexual
relations. However, their interpretation is textually
problematic since it is unclear why the Torah would state that
she may not enter the sanctuary and not mention the other
prohibitions.]
The concept of impurity caused by childbirth is unique
amongst the different forms of impurity. The different sources
of impurity are usually connected to death. This is obviously
the case with respect to impurity caused by touching a corpse
of a human being (see Numbers 19:11) or the carcass of an
animal (Leviticus 11:31,39). Leprosy is a serious disease
which deforms the body and is related to death due to its
degenerating effect. Impurity is also caused by menstruation
(15:19) and seminal discharges (15:16). Both of these
impurities are a result of the death of reproductive cells and
are thus related to death or the absence of life. The 'zav'
(male discharge, 15:2) and 'zava' (female discharge 15:25)
also represent, to some extent, the loss of life. We may infer
from these examples that death is the source of impurity. God,
by contrast, is the source of life. It is therefore
understandable that these two concepts are exclusive to one
another. An impure person may not enter God's sanctuary since
it is the center of life while impurity is the result of
contact with death. The two are diametrically opposed.
However, childbirth is different from the other impurities. It
is life, not death, creation, not degeneration! Why does it
cause impurity?
The Ramban (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman, Spain, 1194-1274)
offers the following explanation:
"But in my opinion the meaning of the word 'tahora' is
cleanness [in a physical sense], similar in meaning to
'zahav tahor' (pure gold), which means smelted and
refined. Thus the meaning of the expression here is as
follows. Having commanded that a woman who gives birth
to a male child be impure for seven days as in the days
of her impurity, because then she usually sees issues of
blood from the interior of the womb [from which the
menses are discharged], He further commanded that she
should wait for another thirty-three days, staying in her
house in order to cleanse her body; for during all these
days she will emit the remnants of blood and the turbid
secretions which come from these bloods, and then she
will be cleansed from the childbirth, pregnancy and
conception, and she may come to the House of God. Now
our Rabbis have received the tradition that during these
[thirty-three days for a male child and sixty-six for a
female], she is pure for her husband, because with
reference to the seven impure days it says that they are
as in the days of the impurity of her sickness, but in
connection with these [thirty-three days etc.] He said
that she is impure as regards [eating or touching]
hallowed things and entering the Sanctuary, but not for
non-holy things nor for her husband, just as the Rabbis
have said, 'Her husband is not a holy object.'" (Ramban
12:4)
According to the Ramban, impurity is related to bodily
uncleanness. During childbirth the woman loses blood. This
loss of blood is similar to menstruation. Therefore, although
childbirth is essentially a creative act it also involves
biological processes which cause impurity.
The Netziv (Rabbi Naphtali Zvi Yehuda Berlin, Lithuania,
1817-1893) offers a completely different explanation for the
impurity caused by childbirth. He bases himself on the
rationale offered by the sage, Rabbi Meir, for the impurity of
the 'nida' (A woman during her menstrual period).
"It was taught: R. Meir used to say, Why did the Torah
ordain that the uncleanness of menstruation should
continue for seven days? Because being in constant
contact with his wife [a husband might] develop a
loathing towards her. The Torah, therefore, ordained:
Let her be unclean for seven days in order that she shall
be beloved by her husband as at the time of her first
entry into the bridal chamber." (Babylonian Talmud,
Tractate Nida, 31b)
The Netziv infers from this explanation that this must
also be the reason for the impurity following childbirth.
Since, according to the Torah, a woman is permitted to have
sexual relations during the thirty-three-day period of her
"blood purification," the Torah prohibits her during the first
seven days after childbirth. This is so that the husband and
wife do not loose their attraction to one another. The Torah
prescribes a period of physical separation between husband and
wife so that their excitement and love for one another remain
strong and vibrant forever.
Another interesting explanation for the impurity caused
by childbirth is that it really involves a SUBJECTIVE loss of
life. While the fetus is in the womb of the mother, she
carries within her body an additional living being. As such,
she is abounding with life. As the baby is born, the world
indeed receives another living individual. There is,
objectively, more life existing. However, the mother body has
"lost" some of the "life" which it contained prior to the
birth. It is this decrease in life which causes impurity.
The Sin Offering
So far we have dealt with the reasons for the impurity
caused by childbirth. However, there is another issue in our
section which requires explanation. Following the thirty-three
days of blood purification the mother must bring a burnt
offering and a sin offering. We know that a sin offering is
brought for the unwitting commitment of a sin. What sin
obliges the mother to bring a sin offering?
Shadal (Rabbi Shmuel David Luzzatto, Italy, 1800-1865)
suggests that the obligation of the mother to bring a sin
offering is similar to the obligation of bringing an offering
in other cases of impurity such as the leper and the 'zav' and
'zava'. He suggests that the common denominator of all these
cases of impurity is, as stated above, their connection to
death. This contact with the morbid and the survival of it
require an offering. While giving birth the woman's life is in
danger. She owes a sacrifice for having survived the birth
process.
The Ibn Ezra (Rabbi Avraham ben Ezra, Spain, 1092-1167)
and the Ramban cite an explanation of our sages:
"R. Simeon b. Yochai 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." (Babylonian
Talmud, Tractate Nida, 31b)
The sin offering is not due to the physical process of
giving birth but rather to the mother's thoughts and reaction
to the pain of giving birth. Her thoughts of no longer
conceiving and her void oath to that effect require atonement.
Rabbi Hoffman (Rabbi David Zvi Hoffman, Germany, 1843-
1921) agrees that the sacrifice of the woman who gives birth
stems from a similar obligation as that of the other cases of
impurity. However, he gives a different explanation of this
obligation. The obligation to bring a sin offering is not due
to the process of giving birth nor to the thoughts going
through the woman's mind. Rather, it is due to the outcome of
being impure and thus being prohibited from entering the
sanctuary. The state of impurity creates a barrier between man
and God. This distance and separation from God requires
atonement. The purpose and destiny of the people of Israel is
to be a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Exodus 19:6).
This mission requires an ongoing relationship with the
almighty. Any interruption in this relationship requires
atonement. Being cut off from the sanctuary, from proximity to
God, contradicts the essence of the Jewish people as a whole,
and of every individual Jew. Occasionally, as in the case of
childbirth, this separation is inevitable and necessary.
However it is only a temporary aberration. After bringing her
burnt and sin offerings, the proud mother can, once again,
enter the sanctuary.
This explanation of Rabbi Hoffman holds true not only in
respect to impurity. There are other conditions which distance
man from his creator. Sin is, of course, the major cause for
the gap between man and God. Sinning is not only evil, it is
also tragic. It prevents man from being close to God. It eats
away at his spiritual essence. However, occasionally, man is
distant from God not because of sin. Worldly concerns and
complete preoccupation with the mundane and the day to day
eclipse the spiritual component of life. Such a situation is
not to be assented to. We must always remember our calling as
the people of God. A woman who gives birth may not enter the
temple for a specified period. However this situation is
temporary. It is a matter of necessity. The sin offering which
she brings following this period is testimony to the fact that
this separation is a transient aberration. The natural
condition is one of closeness and continuous attachment to
God.
YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH
ALON SHEVUT, GUSH ETZION 90433
Copyright (c) 1999 Yeshivat Har Etzion
All Rights Reserved
********************************************************************
Torah/Commentary: Parashat Tazria -- (Leviticus 12:1-13:59)
Commentary on the Weekly Torah Reading for 3 Nisan, 5760
by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
Chief Rabbi of Efrat;
EFRAT, LIBERATED JUDEA, Yom Chamish: The major subject of this
week's as well as next week's Torah portion is that of ritual purity
and impurity, tuma and tahara, one of the most esoteric and puzzling
aspects of our Scriptures for the modern mind.
What is even more disturbing is that, in the very midst of the
Biblical discussion of a child bearer's state of impurity, comes the
command of circumcision -- a subject which has little to do with the
matter at hand. Its proper placement belongs in the book of Genesis,
when the Almighty entered into a covenant with Abraham through the
ritual of circumcision.
As the Bible here records: "When a woman conceives and gives birth to
a boy, she shall be ritually impure for seven days, just as she is
impure during the time of separation when she has her period. On the
eighth day (the child's) foreskin shall be circumcised, then, for
thirty-three additional days, she shall sit on blood of purity..."
[Leviticus 12:2-4].
Why is the command of circumcision right between the impure and pure
periods following child-birth? Moreover, our Sages specifically
derive from this ordinance that the ritual of circumcision overrides
the Sabbath:
"On the eighth day, (the child's) foreskin shall be circumcised, --
even if it falls out on the Sabbath" [Babylonian Talmud, Tractate
Shabbat 132a].
Why express this crucial significance of circumcision -- it takes
precedence even over the Sabbath -- within the context of ritual
impurity? Is there a connection?
Targum Yonatan Ben Uziel links the two issues by interpreting: "And
on the eighth day, when (she) is permitted (to have sexual relations
with her husband), on that (day) is (the baby) to be circumcised".
Yonatan is thereby citing the view of our Sages in the Talmud, who
understand that the circumcision must be on the eighth day following
the birth "so that everyone not be happy while the parents will be
sad" if they cannot properly express their affection towards one
another. [Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Niddah 31b].
It seems to me that there is a more profound connection. When a woman
is in a state of ritual impurity, she and her husband are forbidden
from engaging in sexual relations until she immerses in a mikveh
(ritualarium of rain or spring water). This restriction demands a
great deal of self-control and inner discipline. The major symbol
which graphically expresses the importance of mastering one's physical
instincts is the command of circumcision: even the sexual organ
itself, the physical manifestation of the male potency and the
unbridled ID, must be tempered and sanctified by the stamp of the
divine.
A well-known midrash takes this even one step farther: "Turnus Rufus
the wicked once asked Rabbi Akiva: Whose works are better, the works
of G-d or the works of human beings? He answered him, the works of
human beings...(Turnus Rufus) said to him, why do you circumcise?
(Rabbi Akiva) said, I knew you were asking about that, and therefore I
anticipated (the question) and told you that the works of human beings
are better. Turnus Rufus said to him: But if G-d wants men to be
circumcised, why does He not see to it that male babies are born
already circumcised? Rabbi Akiva said to him...It is because the Holy
One Blessed be He only gave the commandments to Israel so that we may
be purified through them" [Midrash Tanhuma, Tazria 5].
Now Rabbi Yitzhak Arama (the Akedat Yitzhak Biblical Commentary)
explains this to mean that there are no specific advantages or
necessary rationalizations for doing the commandments; they are merely
the will of G-d, and we must see that as being more than sufficient
for justifying our performance of them.
It seems to me, however, that the words of the midrash as well as the
context of the commandment reveals a very different message. The
human being is part of the physical creation of the world, a world
which is subject to scientific rules of health and illness, life and
death. The most obvious and tragic expression of our physicality is
that, in line with all creatures of the universe, we humans as well
are doomed to be born, disintegrate and die.
The most radical example of ritual impurity is a human corpse, avi
avot hatuma, and an animal carcass, a dead reptile, and the blood of
the menstrual cycle (fall-out of the failed potential of
fertilization) likewise cause ritual impurity. A woman in child-birth
has a very close brush with death - both in terms of her own mortality
as well as during the painful anguished period preceding the moment
when she hears the cry of a healthy, living baby.
G-d's gift to the human being created in the divine image, however, is
that in addition to physicality there is also spirituality, in
addition to death there is also life eternal, in addition to ritual
impurity (TUMA) there is also ritual purity (TAHARA). Hence, the very
human life which emerges from the mother's womb brings in his wake
not only the brush with death TUMA but also the hope of new life
TAHARA - and while the TUMA is for seven days, the TAHARA is for
thirty-three! The human being has the power to overcome his physical
impediments and imperfections, to ennoble and sanctify his animal
drives and instincts, to perfect human nature and redeem an imperfect
world.
This was the message which Rabbi Akiva attempted to convey to Turnus
Rufus the wicked. Yes, the world created by the Almighty is beautiful
and magnificent, but it is also imperfect and incomplete. G-d has
given the task of completion and redemption to the human being, who
has the ability and capacity to circumcise himself, to sublimate his
sub-gartelian (beneath the belt or gartel) drives, to sanctify society
and to complete the cosmos.
The works of the human being are greater! The command of circumcision
belongs within the context of impurity and purity.
This is also what our Sages were trying to convey when they taught
that circumcision overrides the Sabbath. The Sabbath testifies to
G-d's creation of the world - impressive but imperfect, awesome but
awful, terrific but tragic. Circumcision testifies to the human
being's challenge to redeem himself and perfect the world.
Circumcision overrides the Sabbath.
Shabbat Shalom from Efrat,
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
******************************************************************
Return to
Newsgroup Archives Main Page
Return to our Main Webpage
©2011
Hebraic Heritage Ministries International. Designed by
Web Design by JB.