Parashiot Tazria-Metzora - 5764

“When a Woman Conceives Seed”

The second verse in Parashat Tazria contains the expression “Ishah ki tazria...,” “When a woman conceives seed...” By opening the Parashah with a reference to a capability possessed by approximately half the human population, the Torah bids us re-examine the relationship between men and women. Our understanding of this relationship continuously evolves with changes in the world, having certain fixed components and certain variable ones. Since this relationship is under challenge now as perhaps never before, it is the duty of our leaders to identify the “fixed” and the “variable” components.

One component of this challenge is the sudden intrusion of the idea of “same-sex” marriage. I really don’t want this topic to dominate this essay, but in today’s moral climate, it cannot be ignored. The following comments can be found in the “Orthodox Response to Same-Sex Marriage,” by Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, Executive Vice President of the Orthodox Union:

“...The position of traditional Judaism is clear and unambiguous, terse and absolute. Homosexual behavior between males or between females is absolutely forbidden by Jewish Law,...”

“The position of Judaism on marriage is equally clear. Judaism recognizes marriage as a fundamental human institution, and affirms marriage only between a man and a woman...”

“...In this connection, we ought to consider a Talmudic passage (Chullin 92a) that says that the nations of the world, however sinful, corrupt or perverse, still have the merit of at least three behaviors, one of which is that they do not write a “ketubah” (marriage document) for males.”
(These comments can be found in their entirety on http://www.ou.org/other/5764/samem64.htm.)

In a companion document, the Rabbinical Council of America states:
“...At the same time, we reaffirm that those who, in spite of their acceptance of these principles, have difficulty in living up to these standards, should be treated with compassion, sensitivity and understanding, in our synagogues, in the Jewish community, and in society at large...”
(These comments can be found in their entirety on http://www.ou.org/other/5764/samemrca64.htm)

Now we turn to other aspects of the male-female relationship. On the 6th Day of Creation, the Torah tells us (Bereshit 2:26-28), “The Almighty said, ‘Let us make humanity in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth,...’ So the Almighty created humanity in his own image...; male and female He created them. And the Almighty blessed them, and the Almighty said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, fill the world and conquer it...’ ” Not a word yet of differences between male and female. The mission of humanity is to “conquer nature,” by understanding it. In Chapter 2, the Torah goes into more detail. In (Bereshit 2:7) we find, “And HaShem, the Almighty, formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life... Bereshit (2:18) is a crucial verse, that speaks of the creation of Chava, the First Woman, “And HaShem the Almighty said, ‘it is not good that man should be alone; I will make for him a helper, to complement him.’ ” The special mission of the First Woman, and all her female children, is to be helpers to their mates.

But notice that the root of the word “helper,” is “Azor,” spelled “Ayin,” “Zayin,” “Resh.” Which is very similar to the root “Zaroa,” spelled “Zayin,” “Resh,” “Ayin;” meaning “to plant seed.” And this is precisely the root of “Tazria” in “Ishah ki Tazria,” “When a woman conceives seed” that appears at the beginning of our Parashah. This lends support to the idea that the ability to “conceive seed,” to have a human child grow within her, in an environment in which the child is enveloped and protected and imbues the ideas of the Torah, as taught, so to speak, by a “Maloch.” This ability, shared by no man, is the most basic way in which she helps him.

One of the traditional sources that women (and men) would like to understand better is the advice given in Pirkei Avos (1:5) by Yosi ben Yochanan, Ish Yerushalayim, “...And do not converse excessively with a woman. They said this even about one’s wife...” This seems at first glance to be insulting to a woman, especially if one of her main functions in a marriage is to provide good advice! A person with exceptional insight once explained this as referring to idle chatter. One should certainly not waste a precious resource, one’s best source of good advice, on idle chatter. Meaningful conversation is, however, another matter.

The following is only half-humorous: We know that the Blessing recited by men among the “Blessings of the Morning” that particularly has puzzled women is the one where he praises and thanks HaShem “Who has not made me a woman.” Now we also know that in Judaism, we are obligated to bless HaShem over bad news. Perhaps this Blessing has evolved, from first expressing gratitude for greater involvement in Torah and imagined superiority (of which the author of this essay has seen precious little evidence) to one of praising HaShem for something not-so-good, for “not making me a woman,” who in our time has come to have great involvement in Torah, and who has a mission of helpfulness embedded in her nature.

Rabbi Pinchas Frankel

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