예레미야 1:5의 Musar

נפש כי תחטא וגומר או הודע אליו חטאתו . Both in the Zohar and in the Tzror HaMor much has been written about these verses (4,22-23). The words או הודע אליו חטאתו are understood to refer to pre-natal knowledge, information given to the soul of the person in question prior to his being born. These commentators compare the situation to Jeremiah 1,5: "Before I created you in the womb I selected you, etc." This proves that communication with man commences before he is born. His soul is exhorted to behave in a certain way once he is on earth. The subject is explained by Rabbi Simlai in Nidah 30: "While the embryo is in the womb of its mother it may be compared to a writing book folded over, his two hands at his sides, etc.. A light is lit near his head enabling him to view every corner of the globe. He is taught the entire Torah as we know from ויורני ויאמר לי יתמך דברי לבך, "He also taught me and said to me: 'let your heart retain my words'" (Proverbs 4,4). Another verse from scripture along similar lines is Job 29,4: ואומר בסוד אלוקה עלי אהלי, "When the secrets of G–d were in my tent," i.e. I was privy to the mystical aspects of Torah while still in the womb. The baby is not born until it has been made to swear to be a צדיק not a רשע. He is told that even though the whole world may describe him as a צדיק, he must still consider himself a רשע. He should remain aware of the purity of G–d and his angels, as well as of the purity of the soul he has been equipped with. He is warned that as long as he preserves the purity of his soul all is well and good, but should he fail to so preserve its purity, his soul will be removed from him. This is the gist of Rabbi Simlai's statement.

The fact that a pregnant woman did not experience a miscarriage due to the stench of the meat on the altar corresponds to the statement of Rabbi Akavyah that we must be aware of the smelly drop of semen our body originates from.. This subject is mentioned in Yuma 82 where we are told about a pregnant woman who experienced a terrible urge to eat on the Day of Atonement and whose predicament was presented to Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi. The latter instructed that one should whisper to this woman that the date was the Day of Atonement. When this advice was followed the woman's hunger pains subsided. Concerning this incident they applied the verse in Jeremiah 1,5: "I have known you before you were even formed in the womb." The baby that this woman gave birth to was the famous scholar Rabbi Yochanan. The Talmud next reports about another similar case involving Rabbi Chanina and a pregnant lady. The same procedure was followed, but it did not assuage the lady's terrible urge to eat. The bystanders applied to that lady Psalm 58,4: "The wicked are defiant from birth." The child born from that pregnancy was a certain Shabtai who hoarded produce during years of drought and sold it at exorbitant prices. We draw a parallel from the experience of pregnant ladies who passed the Temple and who did not abort an embryo due to the unpleasant smell of the sacrificial meat to women who did not feel revolted by the smell (or awareness) of their own flesh and blood. According to Rabbi Akavyah the mere thought of it should have been revolting.