Comentario sobre Levítico 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.