Parashat Tazria: When A Woman Conceives

The Ramban is telling us we have a master key. This master key connects Jewish intimacy diet with something extraordinarily high-level that if one were to understand it they would never live the same again. They would never eat the same again. If they care about their future. And he says it all begins with our verse that we've mentioned in the series multiple times in Parshat Tazria. In Leviticus chapter 12 verse number two says speak to the children of Israel saying when a woman conceives and gives birth to a male, she shall be contaminated for a 7-day period. As during the days of her separation infirmity she shall be contaminated. So here we have a verse in the Torah it's about purification laws not necessarily all that we can apply to today because we don't have the Beta Migdash but generally speaking the average woman out there that gives birth by the time she's actually stops bleeding from the delivery you know as she's would have already been pure even according to the standards of the Torah from when we were able to purify ourselves at the Beta Migdash. You have to wait you know certain amount of days and so on for male for female. But point being is is that the Ramban says start here. Start here with the verse that says when a woman conceives. Chapter 12 Notice that this woman conceives chapter 12 is right after the end of chapter 11. The last verse in chapter 11. Meaning we have chapter 12 verse one and two is what says what it says here. But look what it says in chapter 11. The last verse. Not even the beginning of the verse. Not even the beginning of the chapter. The last last verse. MEANING IT'S ONE VERSE NEXT TO THE OTHER. They're next door neighbors. The verse says the word of God is to distinguish between the contaminated and the pure and between the creature that may be eaten and the creature that may not be eaten. Here the Ramban is telling us notice we talked about forbidden foods this is not just an idea this is a reality in the world that God created where the teachings and the secrets about conception about what will come out of this intimate act starts with the food. The forbidden food, the permissible food, what animal all of that as the Torah says. But it's not just there. He says if you look at the beginning of chapter 13. Again, with 12 we'll go back one. That's the forbidden foods. Where 12 that's the conception. Chapter beginning of chapter 13. Torah says Hashem spoke to Moshe and to Aaron saying if a person will have on his skin of his flesh a sa'et which is a certain a a amount or a sapachat a certain type of of skin disease a baheret and it will become tzaraat affliction on the skin of his flesh. He shall be brought to Aaron the Cohen or to one of his sons the Kohanim. Here we see that the different types of afflictions are discussed in chapter 13. It's not just the affliction of tzaraat which many translate to leprosy which it's really not leprosy cuz tzaraat is both a physical and a spiritual disease. It's a different spots that can actually start even on the walls of the house. It doesn't necessarily need to start on the body. Then it appears in different parts of the body. It could be on the head. It could be on the arms. It could be different parts of the body. There's different colors to it. It's a whole teachings in itself. But this is not just talking about tzaraat. This is talking about all afflictions. All different types of afflictions on the flesh itself. The Ramban says you have conception before it diet after it affliction. This is the master secret says the Ramban. Hakadosh Baruchu specifically and precisely put these three different key topics right next to each other in order to unveil to us wondrous secrets. And he placed the verse and the woman shall be have seed in the middle to inform us that if a man abstains from the bad foods he will have proper holy pure sons. And if not great harsh afflictions will befall him due to the drop of the seed which has been derived from those forbidden and abhorred foods. Hashem arranged this all in order to inform us that a man must sanctify himself also through food which are proper when near the time of the union intimacy in order that the seed that will be coming out of his body will be clean and pure and balanced between north and south as I have said. Here the Ramban is now taking things to a completely different world. We've learned the importance of food. We've learned the differences as far as north and south, where the bed should be, the the the temperature in the room, the how the certain foods warm the body, how certain foods cool the body, how certain foods heal the body, how certain foods can actually help intimacy, help seed. We mentioned saffron. We mentioned the different types of things that are very nutritious but and not just nutritious for you know you getting skinny or fat but rather nutritious on the on the intimate aspects of things. All of that we've discussed. Here he's saying something completely different. Here he's telling us if you follow this set of instructions you're doing yourself the biggest service in the world. Because if you follow this regiment you are now just by simply sanctifying the way you eat how you eat, when you eat, what you eat that in itself will produce a certain type of seed that's clearer, that's purer which thereby by default by default will produce better children that are more put together, wiser on a spiritual and a physical aspects, healthier. But if not he does not hold any punches here and he simply tells you how it is. We are meant to be a light unto the nations. Not to follow their misguided practices. [music] Remember every Jew has to remember that he's a Jew and she's a Jew. We don't celebrate non-Jewish holidays even if they seem harmless. It's a zilzool. Disrespect to the Torah.