Kommentar zu Wajikra 12:5

ואם נקבה תלד, and if she gives birth to a female child, etc. Why does the Torah not describe the birth with the word וילדה as it did in the case of a male child? Torat Kohanim write: "how would I have known that the legislation of impurity due to giving birth applies not only in the case of a female child being born but also if a child of undetermined sex or a bisexual child had been born? The Torah writes אם נקבה תלד וטמאה, "if she gives birth to a female she is ritually impure" to teach us that the basic ritual impurity depends on the birth process not on the sex of the baby being born." I most certainly do not want to dispute what Torat Kohanim has written, but I do want to add something to that comment. Perhaps the author of this comment arrives at his conclusion by the failure of the Torah to write simply וכי תלד נקבה, "if she gives birth to a female," with the verb at the beginning of the sentence instead of at its end. This latter sequence of the words would have indicated that what the woman gave birth to would result in her becoming ritually impure only if the baby was definitely female. As it is, the wording allows also for babies of indeterminate sex.

וששים יום וששת ימים תשב על דמי טהרה, “and she will remain in a state of blood of purification for sixty six days.” The Torah made a minor change in the description of the blood during those sixty six days, calling it על דמי טהרה, whereas the thirty three days of the parallel period after the birth of a male bay are called as remaining בדמי טהרה. The reason is that after the birth of a male child the mother has to observe these thirty three days under all circumstances, whereas in the case of a female child having been born, it is theoretically possible that the mother has already aborted a new embryo during the 80 days since she gave birth, in which case these days might not have to be observed in full.

ואם נקבה תלד, “and if she gives birth to a female child, etc.” the Torah now describes what procedure to follow if, as a result of the husband reaching orgasm first, a baby girl is born. We know this is the meaning from the letter ו before the word: אם, “if or when.” This is how the Talmud, tractate Niddah, folio 31 interprets our verse. Some scholars claim to have read in articles dealing with these matters scientifically, that every woman has seven orifices in her body, three on her right side and three on her left side and one in the middle. If the man’s semen enters any of the orifices on her right side she will give birth to a male child, whereas if it enters on one of the orifices on her left side she will give birth to a female child. If it enters the orifice in her middle, the baby born will either possess no (visible) genitals or the genitals of both sexes. According to these theories it depends on the woman’s position during marital intercourse. If she lies on her right side, she will give birth to a male child, i.e. her ritual impurity will depart from her relatively quickly. This is why the Torah provided for her to be ritually unclean for relations with her husband for only seven days after giving birth. If she had been lying on her left side, her ritual contamination departs more slowly, and that is why the Torah put her out of bounds for marital intercourse for a period of fourteen days. This is why Solomon said in Song of Songs 2,6: שמאלו תחת ראשית וימינו תחבקני, “his left is under my head, and his right embraces me.” The love-sick partner in this poem indicates her desire to bear male children.

תשב על דמי טהרה, Rashi explains that the expression תשב in our context means “to sit out,” in the sense of “to wait out.” She is not housebound, but she must await the termination of these days before being allowed to handle sanctified objects, [including the dough she bakes, when it is larger than the minimum quantity requiring that challah be taken from it. Ed.] Of course, she may not enter consecrated grounds during that period. Nachmanides writes that it is possible that the word תשב here is used in the same sense as in Hoseah 3,3 ימים רבים תשבי לי, “you are to refrain for a long time (from sexual intercourse)” A woman who is in the habit of having marital relations with her husband is described as יושבת לו, “co-habiting with him.” Seeing that the Torah had spelled out the type of her impurity during the first seven days as similar to the days of her menstruation, whereas the following days spell out different kinds of restrictions, it is clear that during these latter days she may cohabit with her husband in spite of any blood which appears to originate in her womb or ovaries. Nachmanides’ personal view, however, is that a woman who sees menstrual blood is called niddah, a term borrowed from someone who has been put into some kind of ban and is ostracised from the community. A woman experiencing her period is similarly socially restricted as far as her husband and holy things are concerned. In the olden days such women were assigned special huts to dwell in during these days, In some societies they were not even allowed to speak to people, as their condition was perceived as contagious, and their spittle could have transmitted their germs. The earth that women in such a state stepped on was considered as polluted. What such women excreted was considered is similar to decaying flesh of the dead. Even being looked at by a woman in such a state was considered dangerous by some societies. This may have led the Torah to decree harsher degrees of ritual impurity for women in such a condition. Any place a menstruating woman sat on or lay on is treated as ritually impure, requiring purification in a ritual bath. The nature of ritual impurity of a menstruating woman has something in common with people afflicted with tzoraat on their skin, such people being ostracised and placed In quarantine outside the camp of the Israelites in the desert, or outside built up areas in later Israelite kingdoms. In the case of the צרוע, the person so afflicted, the Torah specifically states בדד ישב מחוץ למחנה, “he is to remain for an open ended amount of time outside the camp.”(Leviticus 13,46) It is clear that the meaning of the word ישב there cannot be: ”he is to sit,” as who can sit for an undisclosed amount of time. The meaning of ישב is that such a person must remain in a condition of expectancy for an indeterminate period of time. The term ישב is used to indicate that he must not enter the camp during this period of ostracism. If the Torah was not content to describe the situation of the צרוע with the words ויצא אל מחוץ למחנה he is to go outside the camp, and ולא יבא אל המחנה and he must not enter the camp, a term used for different other kind of ritually impure people, the reason may be that this צרוע is not to move about at all as even his gaze may be harmful, not only his touch. When the Torah here says that the new mother must תשב בדמי טהרה, it means that she is to observe a similar degree of restriction as do menstruating women, [no more, as we know from the addition that she must not enter consecrated grounds, as otherwise this latter addition would have been superfluous. Ed.]

Alternatively, the fact that the position of the word תלד is interpreted by Torat Kohanim as including אנדרוגינוס, bisexual children, may reflect the fact that the author of Torat Kohanim holds a view similar to that expressed in Bikkurim 4,5 that such a creature is considered as in a category by itself. [The author proceeds to analyse this problem; the interested reader is referred to the original. Ed.]