Parashat Tazri'a

Tazriah 5768/2008

A midrash says that humans are part animal and part angel. We have vision and speech, like angels, but we fornicate and eat like animals.

We are told that although we are part-animal, we are still expected to be ‘holy’. In last week’s parsha, we learnt the basics of how we are required to govern our eating. This week, we begin to examine the limitations of our sexuality, starting with after childbirth.

A women who has just given birth is considered ‘unclean’, in need of a purification process. This is perplexing, particularly as giving birth is fulfilment of the first commandment given to humans, to ‘be fruitful and multiply’. However, a woman who has given birth knows that with the joy of achievement, come many mixed emotions. We are stunned by the miracle of a new life; we feel both empowered and humbled; we are exhausted and invigorated at the same moment; we are acutely aware that giving birth is fraught with dangers and we are asked to give thanks that we have survived the process.

Sex is not just for procreation in the Jewish tradition. Within marriage, it is an obligation and a joy in and of itself. However, birth is the best outcome from sexual engagement. Animals and humans produce their offspring through the same process but only humans can elevate sex and childbirth to a religious act, through our consciousness of the significance of what we have done.

We are aware that giving birth is the greatest of all joys and the greatest of all responsibilities. To be acutely conscious of the miracle, the joy and the responsibility is to be ‘holy’.