When a Woman Emits Seed
How Will Am Yisrael and HaKadosh, baruch Hu Reconcile
Parashat Tazria opens with a rather enigmatic statement (Vayikra 12:1-2): וַיְדַבֵּר יְיָ אֶל־מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר׃ דַּבֵּר אֶל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר אִשָּׁה כִּי תַזְרִיעַ וְיָלְדָה זָכָר וְטָמְאָה שִׁבְעַת יָמִים כִּימֵי נִדַּת דְּוֺתָהּ תִּטְמָא׃ (And Hashem spoke to Moshe saying, Speak to B'nei Yisrael saying, A woman when she emits seed and gives birth to a male, and she becomes ritually impure [tamei] seven days, like the days of her ritual impurity [niddah] she becomes tamei). More often than not, the word תַזְרִיעַ [tazria] is translated as 'she conceives seed', but that's not literally what it means. Tazria literally means, 'she emits seed.' But we all know from Biology 101 that women don't emit seed, right? Men emit seed, not women. So what's going on here?
Picking up on this strange wording, Chazal teach something even more remarkable, which at first glance, seems out of touch with reality (Niddah 31a): אמר רבי יצחק אמר רבי אמי אשה מזרעת תחילה יולדת זכר איש מזריע תחילה יולדת נקבה שנאמר אשה כי תזריע וילדה זכר (R' Yitchak said in the name of R' Ami, A woman who emits seed first gives birth to a male, [but if] a man emits seed first, she [the mother] gives birth to a female, as it says [Vayikra 12:2]: 'a woman who emits seed and she gives gives birth to a male'). In other word, since the pasuk mentions the case of her emitting seed – first – and giving birth to a male, then by implication, the opposite case (which is not mentioned in the pasuk) must be that when he emits seed – first – then she must give birth to a female. Okay, that seems like a bit of a stretch, but let's go with it. The Gemara then states that when this statement was originally taught people didn't know from where it was derived. Eventually, R' Tzadok came along and explained that the source of this teaching is Bereshit 46:15: אֵלֶּה בְּנֵי לֵאָה אֲשֶׁר יָלְדָה לְיַעֲקֹב בְּפַדַּן אֲרָם וְאֵת דִּינָה בִתּוֹ (These are the sons of Leah which she bore to Ya'akov in Padan Aram, and Dinah his daughter). The pasuk attributes the sons to their mother and the daughter to her father. So as far as Chazal are concerned, when Leah 'emitted seed first' she gave birth to sons, but when Ya'akov 'emitted seed first', she gave birth to a daughter. Simple, right? Sure.
Let's see if we can make sense out of this.
The Megaleh Amukot teaches that the key for understanding this topic is Tehillim 85:12: אֱמֶת מֵאֶרֶץ תִּצְמָח וְצֶדֶק מִשָּׁמַיִם נִשְׁקָף׃ (Truth will sprout from the Earth and righteousness [or 'justice'] will look down from Heaven). He writes the following: אמת שהוא זכר הוא צומח מן הארץ ר"ל כשארץ מזרעת תחלה ומקדמת וצדק שהיא נקיבה כשהזרע נזרע מן שמים שהוא זכר (Truth, which is male, sprouts from the Earth, that is to say, when the Earth emits seed first and precedes; and righteousness, which is female, [results] when the seed is sown from Heaven, which is male). Seeing that this is fairly cryptic, let's unpack it a bit.
The first thing we see here is that the 'woman' who emits seed in Vayikra 12 is the Earth, and when she 'emits seed first', truth sprouts from the Earth, i.e. she gives birth to a male (for truth is a male). We still need to understand the meaning of 'Earth', but at least we have made some progress. The second thing we learn is that when Heaven, which is identified as a male, emits seed first righteousness is produced (for righteousness is perceived as a female). But still, what does all this mean?
As is known from the kabbalah, 'Earth' stands for a number of interrelated spiritual realities – the sefirah [divine light or energy] of malchut, the Shechinah [Divine Presence] and Knesset Yisrael – each of which are identified as females. Therefore, Chazal want us to understand that when Am Yisrael initiates, i.e. 'emits seed first', then truth is produced. This is known as אתערותא דלתתא [itaruta dil'tata, an arousal or awakening from Below]. When the Earth, i.e. when Knesset Yisrael, is awakened or aroused to serve Hashem before He, so to speak, initiates or reaches out to us, then we, as the woman, are said to 'emit seed first'. This is called מים נוקבין [mayim nukvin, feminine water]. It is an expression of our love for Hashem, of our longing to [re]connect to our Creator, to desire a more intimate relationship with our Husband. The whole process is pictured as a flow of water from Below to Above, i.e. from Earth to Heaven.
'Heaven', on the other hand, is known as Ze'ir Anpin or the Holy One, blessed be He [Ha-Kadosh, baruch Hu], and includes the six 'male' sefirot: chesed, gevurah, tiferet, netzach, hod and yesod. The idea is that when Ha-Kadosh, baruch Hu initiates or reaches out to us, i.e. when He 'emits seed first', then righteousness is the result. This is called אתערותא דלעילא [itaruta dil’eila, arousal or awakening from Above] and is an expression of Hashem's longing to [re]connect with us, with Knesset Yisrael. This divine energy is pictured as a flow of water from Above to Below, and is thus called מים דוכרין [mayim duchrin, masculine water].
So Chazal is painting a very beautiful picture teaching us that when Am Yisrael initiates or reaches out to Hashem in teshuvah in a process called itaruta dil'tata, this is the woman who emits seed first. The result is that she, i.e. 'we', now likened to the Earth, produces or brings forth truth – truth on at least two levels. The first level is that we will begin to discover our 'true' self. We will learn about who we really are. We will come to see ourselves a little bit more objectively. We will learn, step by step, to stop justifying ourselves and begin judging ourselves more accurately, more honestly. The second level is that truth will start sprouting all over the world. We'll begin to see truth coming out in news, in politics, etc. The world of lies will begin to disintegrate before our eyes and, more and more, the world of truth will be constructed in its place. Both of these processes are extremely beneficial and lead to tremendous spiritual and physical healing, not only for us, but for everyone on the planet.
The other side of this equation is what happens when we don't initiate, when we, so to speak, wait for Hashem to take the first step. What happens then? Tehillim 85:12, the pasuk quoted by the Megaleh Amukot, uses the word צֶדֶק [tzedek], meaning not only righteousness, but also justice. The Radak explains: כשיהיו עושים בארץ המעשים טובים יהיה נשקף עליהם צדק משמים כי הגזירות היורדות מן השמים הם לפי מעשה בני אדם בארץ (When they do good deeds on the Earth, justice will be reflected upon them from Heaven, for the gezeirot [harsh judgments, i.e. din] that come down from Heaven are in accordance with the actions of the people on the Earth). This intimacy is expressed in the pasuk immediately before the one that has been our focus (85:11): חֶסֶד־וֶאֱמֶת נִפְגָּשׁוּ צֶדֶק וְשָׁלוֹם נָשָׁקוּ׃ (Loving-kindness and truth have met, tzedek and peace have kissed) – truth being produced on the Earth when the woman initiates, and tzedek, righteousness and justice, flowing down from Heaven when the man initiates. It is exactly as expressed in the Mishnah (Sotah 8a): בְּמִדָּה שֶׁאָדָם מוֹדֵד בָּהּ מוֹדְדִין לוֹ (With the measure that a person measures, they [the Heavenly courts] measure for him).
This is the explanation of that which is taught (Chagigah 12a): תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן, בֵּית שַׁמַּאי אוֹמְרִים: שָׁמַיִם נִבְרְאוּ תְּחִלָּה וְאַחַר כָּךְ נִבְרֵאת הָאָרֶץ שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹקִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ״. וּבֵית הִלֵּל אוֹמְרִים: אֶרֶץ נִבְרֵאת תְּחִלָּה וְאַחַר כָּךְ שָׁמַיִם שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״בְּיוֹם עֲשׂוֹת ה׳ אֱלֹקִים אֶרֶץ וְשָׁמָיִם״ (It was taught in a Baraita, Beit Shammai say, The Heavens were created first and afterward the Earth, as it says [Bereshit 1:1]: 'In the beginning, G-d created the Heavens and the Earth.' Beit Hillel say, Earth was created first and afterward Heaven, as it says [Bereshit 2:4]: 'In the day Hashem G-d made Earth and Heaven'). Each party has a pasuk that supports its understanding. One pasuk mentions Heaven first, showing that it preceded, while the second pasuk mentions Earth first, showing that it preceded. So which was it?
The deeper truth is that this debate was not about the historical sequence of events at creation. The debate centered on what we have been dealing with all along. Who – not 'what' – should act first? Which is the better or more optimal way? Should there be itaruta dil'tata, an awakening or arousal from Below, that leads to mayim nukvin, i.e. the seed emitted by the woman, which produces truth, or should there be itaruta dil’eila, an awakening or arousal from Above, leading to mayim duchrin, i.e. the seed emitted by the man, resulting in righteousness and justice? Which is the optimal path for [re]creating intimacy between Knesset Yisrael, i.e. the Shechinah, and Ha-Kadosh, baruch Hu? That's what the debate was all about.
We see the same concept brought out in the wording of Bereshit 2:5: וְכֹל שִׂיחַ הַשָּׂדֶה טֶרֶם יִהְיֶה בָאָרֶץ וְכׇל־עֵשֶׂב הַשָּׂדֶה טֶרֶם יִצְמָח כִּי לֹא הִמְטִיר יְיָ אֱלֹקִים עַל־הָאָרֶץ וְאָדָם אַיִן לַעֲבֹד אֶת־הָאֲדָמָה׃ (And each plant of the field wasn't yet on the Earth and each herb of the field wasn't yet sprouted, for Hashem G-d hadn't caused rain on the Earth, and there was no Adam to work the ground). Rashi reminds us that the plants were created on the third day, so why hadn't anything grown very much since then? He answers: וּבְג' שֶׁכָּתוּב "תּוֹצֵא הָאָרֶץ", לֹא יָצְאוּ, אֶלָּא עַל פֶּתַח קַרְקַע עָמְדוּ עַד יוֹם שִׁשִּׁי (But on the third [day of creation] it is written [Bereshit 1:12], 'the Earth brought forth' – [but] it didn't emerge, rather they [the plants] stood on the surface of the ground until the sixth day). So we see that the Earth initiated but not much happened, that is, not until Hashem brought down the rain. Until the rain came down, the 'seed' that the woman emitted was just a mist that went up from the Earth, as it is written (Bereshit 2:6): וְאֵד יַעֲלֶה מִן־הָאָרֶץ וְהִשְׁקָה אֶת־כׇּל־פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה (And a mist went up from the Earth and watered the whole surface of the ground). Clearly, the 'mist' corresponds to the woman's seed.
So we're beginning to see the resolution to the debate between Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel. It is like that which is written in Shir ha-Shirim 5:2: פִּתְחִי־לִי אֲחֹתִי רַעְיָתִי יוֹנָתִי תַמָּתִי (Open for Me, My sister, My beloved, My dove, My Pure one). The Torah Temimah explains: ר' יוסי אומר, אמר הקב"ה לישראל, בני פתחו לי פתח אחד של תשובה כחודה של מחט ואני פותח לכם פתחים שיהיו עגלות וקרניות נכנסות בו (R' Yosi says, Ha-Kadosh, baruch Hu, said to Yisrael, My children, open for Me an opening of teshuvah like the point of a needle and I will open for you openings that wagons and carts will be be able to enter through). It is also as we read in Tehillim 10:17: תַּאֲוַת עֲנָוִים שָׁמַעְתָּ יְיָ תָּכִין לִבָּם תַּקְשִׁיב אׇזְנֶךָ (The desire of the humble ones You heard Hashem, You prepare their hearts, You cause Your ear to pay attention). The humble ones pray, but even then, Hashem prepares their hearts to pray.
Are we beginning to see? There is really no such a thing as itaruta dil'tata without itaruta dil’eila. It is impossible to have one with the other. They go together. This is the truth of Shir ha-Shirim 6:3: אֲנִי לְדוֹדִי וְדוֹדִי לִי (I am for My beloved and My beloved is for Me). The Earth can produce a mist, but she needs the rain from Heaven to really bring forth truth. Perhaps no one expressed it better than the prophet (Malachi 3:7): שׁוּבוּ אֵלַי וְאָשׁוּבָה אֲלֵיכֶם (Return to Me and I will return to you). The promise is of reciprocal and simultaneous initiatives.
In the end, how do the Sages respond to the debate between Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel? They said there in Chagigah 12a: וַחֲכָמִים אוֹמְרִים זֶה וָזֶה כְּאַחַת נִבְרְאוּ שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר ״אַף יָדִי יָסְדָה אֶרֶץ וִימִינִי טִפְּחָה שָׁמָיִם קוֹרֵא אֲנִי אֲלֵיהֶם יַעַמְדוּ יַחְדָּו״ (But the Sages say, This and this were created together [literally, 'as one'], as it says [Yeshayahu 48:13]: 'Also, My hand has laid the foundation of the Earth and My right hand has stretched out the span of Heaven, I call to them, and they stood together'). Indeed – created as one. Beautiful.
We are neither exempt from action nor responsible for everything. Our loving Husband in Heaven eagerly and anxiously awaits our heartfelt return.
