Tazria: The Special Power of Women

by Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, yeshiva.co, translated by Hillel Fendel

This week's Torah portion of Tazria tells us that when a boy is born, the schedule is as follows: The mother is in a state of Niddah – ritual impurity – for seven days; on the eighth day, the baby is circumcised, and the mother begins a period of 33 days in which she is pure despite any discharge (although she may not touch something holy or enter the sanctuary). If a girl is born, the mother is impure for 14 days and pure for 66.

The question begs itself: Why is everything doubled when a girl is born?

The answer is connected to the way Woman was created on the Sixth Day of Creation. At first, male and female were created together as one entity, connected at their backs. Afterwards, G-d separated them, building the rib that He took from the man into a woman. What this means is that woman was created twice! She was first created together with the man, and the second time, independently of man. 

This is why, during the Sheva Brachot (Seven Blessings) at a wedding and the following week, two of the blessings have to do with the creation of human beings: One is Yotzer haAdam (He Who Creates Man), and the other is Asher yatzar et haAdam b'tzalmo (He Who Created Man in His Image) – because there were two creations (Tr. Ketuvot 8a). 

Double Purity Enables Double Impurity

The two-fold creation of the female paves the way both for double impurity (14 days) and double purity (66 days). Everything is balanced; "One corresponding to the other G-d has made" (Kohelet 7 ,14). A Jew is commanded to have extra sanctity compared to a non-Jew – and this is why, upon death, his corpse also effects graver defilement than that of a non-Jew. Similarly, holy writings defile one's hands more than do non-holy writings. 

This fundamental principle was not understood by the Sadducees, those who did not believe in the Oral Torah. The Mishna teaches in Tractate Yadayim (4,6): "The Sadducees say, "We have a claim against you, Pharisees, because you say that the Holy Scriptures defile the hands, while the books of Homer do not defile the hands. How can that be?!" Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai said: "Have [you] nothing against the Pharisees but this? The Pharisees say that the bones of a donkey are pure, yet the bones of Yochanan the High Priest are unclean!" They answered him, "The level of impurity accords with the level of affection for them." He said to them, "So too with the Holy Scriptures: The more beloved they are, the greater is their potential for impurity."

The same is true regarding the creation of Woman: She is both more pure and more impure. 

Woman's capacity to bring greater purity and impurity into the world is also based on her "firstness." Women were the first to receive the Torah, as Moshe was told at Sinai: "So shall you say to the House of Jacob [the women] and so shall you tell the Sons of Israel [the men]" (Sh'mot 19,3). Women were also the first to bring Redemption to Israel in Egypt. On the other hand, however, they were also the first to bring impurity upon the world, in causing Adam to sin with the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. This is why they must be more protective of their modesty than men. 

From here we can also understand why we follow the custom of the Arizal to give a woman a double portion of challah [bread] on the Sabbath night. Shabbat is the "source of blessing," and especially so during the evening meal – which is a continuation of the Manna that fell for Israel in the desert. When a man cuts the challah on the Sabbath night, he takes a k'zayit-sized portion of it (Lit., the size of an olive, approximately 28 cubic centimeters) – and gives his wife double that amount. We even recite this in our Sabbath zemirot (songs): Azamer b'shvachin… l'mivtza al rifta k'zeyta [olive] u'kbeiata [egg]. 

This is also how a man must always treat his wife, giving her double of what he takes for himself. The Arizal would conduct himself in this manner in all his ways: He would eat little, nor would he dress as an important person. But for his wife, he would try to fulfill her desires, even if it was most difficult for him. 

And thus we have come full circle: Woman is doubly impure, doubly pure, and must receive double the goodness.