‫טהרת היולדת‬

Tazria-Metzora begins with the halachos of a yoledes, a woman who gives birth.
The Torah tells us, “ ‫ וביום‬.‫אשה כי תזריע וילדה זכר וטמאה שבעת ימים כימי נדת דותה תטמא‬
‫השמיני ימול בשר ערלתו‬, If a woman gives birth to a male child, she becomes impure for
seven days, like the tumah of a niddah. On the eighth day, the child shall be
circumcised.” On this passuk, R’ Asi comments, “ ‫כל שאמו טמאה לידה נימול לשמונה וכל‬
‫שאין אמו טמאה לידה אין נימול לשמונה‬, Any child whose mother becomes impure with
tumas leidah is circumcised at eight-days-old; any child whose mother does not become
impure with tumas leidah does not need to be circumcised at eight-days-old” (:‫)שבת קלה‬.
In other words, the son of a Jewish mother, who has tumas leidah, is circumcised at
eight-days-old. The son of a non-Jewish mother, who doesn’t have tumas leidah, can be
circumcised at any time.
The question arises: What is the connection between the halachos of tumas
yoledes and the bris milah on the eighth day? After all, the passuk of ‫ וביום השמיני‬seems
to belong in parashas Lech Lecha with the rest of the halachos of bris milah, not here
with the halachos of yoledes!
When we read the pesukim at the beginning of the parasha closely, we see that
the y’mei tumah and y’mei tohar when a daughter is born are double the y’mei tumah and
y’mei tohar when a son is born. When a son is born, the tumah lasts for seven days, but
when a daughter is born, the tumah lasts for fourteen. When a son is born, the y’mei
tohar last 33 days (“‫)”ושלשים יום ושלשת ימים תשב בדמי טהרה‬, but when a daughter is born
the y’mei tohar last 66 days (“‫)”וששים יום וששת ימים תשב על דמי טהרה‬. This leads us to
our second question: Why are the y’mei tumah and y’mei tohar after the birth of a
daughter double the y’mei tumah and y’mei tohar after the birth of a son?
The answer to these questions is as follows: Rashi on the passuk, “ ‫להים‬-‫וייצר ד' א‬
‫( ”את האדם עפר מן האדמה‬Bereishis 2:6), tells us Hashem created Adam HaRishon twice:
one creation for ‫ עולם הזה‬and one creation for ‫תחיית המתים‬. Man was placed into this
world in a physical form and charged with the task of infusing his material nature with
spirituality. Essentially, Man must be born anew, building his character and imbuing his
personality with holiness. “‫( ”ועיר פרא אדם יולד‬Iyov 11:12). Man is born a wild animal,
an ‫עיר פרא‬, but must ripen into an ‫אדם‬.
This task can be accomplished only by coming close to Hashem. Attaching
oneself to Hashem creates taharah; detaching oneself from Him creates tumah. To attach
oneself to Hashem is to attach oneself to the source of life; to detach oneself from
Hashem is to detach oneself from the source of life. Therefore, whenever there is a loss
of life, or whenever potential for life is unfulfilled, tumah is created. Tumas meis is
formed by the loss of life. Tumas niddah is formed by a potential life that didn’t come to
fruition. The opposite also holds true: when a woman is pregnant, she does not have
tumas niddah, since she is occupied with the creation of a life.
The point at which life and death meet is the moment of birth. On the one hand, a
new life has been brought into the world. But at the very same time, the child has now
begun to die, as it is one moment closer to its predestined time. This is why Chazal refer
to the womb as ‫קבר‬, since in addition to being the source of life it is also the source of
death. The ‫ בעל הטורים‬explains that this is in fact the reason the bris is on the eighth day
of the child’s life, since we must wait for the seven days of aveilus for the child to pass,
as it were.
 The point of the son’s bris milah is to motivate him to strive for taharah.
Through this he can escape from tumah, and because of this physical reminder his mother
is subject to less tumas leidah than for a daughter.
The parasha opens with the laws of a woman who gives birth to a ‫ זכר‬or a ‫נקבה‬.
“'‫ואם נקבה תלד וגו‬...‫אשה כי תזריע וילדה זכר‬.” This phraseology is quite strange,
considering that these are the terms used for animals who give birth. What sets us apart
from them? “'‫ – ”ובמלאת ימי טהרה לבן או לבת וגו‬when the y’mei tohar are over, there are
aspirations for taharah. At this point the child is called a ‫ בן‬or a ‫ – בת‬from the words ‫בנין‬
and ‫בית‬, as the Rishonim explain.
The bris, which reminds one to strive for taharah and kedusha, is only a siman in
the body of the son. This is why the total number of days from the birth of a son until the
end of the period of tumah is 40 days. The number 40 appears in many places
representing new birth: The city of Nineveh is given 40 days to abolish their old ways and
to start anew – “‫( ”עוד ארבעים יום ונינוה נהפכת‬Yonah 3:4); after the 40 days of rainfall that
flooded the world, the earth was prepared for a new beginning; a mikveh must contian 40
‫ סאה‬of water in order to purify someone and allow him or her to begin anew. A
daughter, however, does not have a physical sign until later in life when she has her first
period, teaching her about tumah and taharah and reminding her to aspire towards
taharah and kedusha. Therefore, her mother remains in a state of tumah for 80 days – 40
days for the mother and 40 days for the daughter – in order to remind the daughter early
in life of the importance of taharah and kedusha.
As we find ourselves now in the days of sefirah, our task is clear: we must count
the days of sefirah like a woman counting her days of taharah. To the extent that we
pursue taharah will we merit kedusha and the ability to turn ‫ צרה‬into ‫ברכה‬, to turn
‫ התנתקות‬into ‫התחברות‬, and to turn ‫ נגע‬into ‫ענג‬.