Комментарий к Вайикра 12:8

אחד לעלה ואחד לחטאת THE ONE FOR A BURNT-OFFERING AND THE OTHER FOR A SIN-OFFERING — Scripture puts it (the עולה) first only by way of mention, but so far as offering it is concerned the sin-offering precedes the burnt-offering; thus do we learn in the Treatise Zevachim 90a, in the chapter commencing כל התדיר .

וכפר עליה, for during all the days that she had been excreting blood her thoughts had been preoccupied with the phenomenon of semen, etc, and she had therefore not been in a fit state of mind to enter the precincts of the Temple and offer sacred matters.

[The verse] placed it first. Meaning: For the purpose of reading the Torah that the one who reads in the Torah will read the word “burnt-offering” first, “but as to [the order of] offering...” [You might ask:] Why does Rashi not explain this above, where it is written: “She shall bring a lamb, in its first year, as a burnt-offering and a young pigeon or a turtledove as a sin-offering”? This is because above it is logical that it should place the burnt-offering first, since it is speaking about a rich person who brings a lamb as a burnt-offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove as a sin-offering, and even for bringing the offerings the burnt-offering comes first, since a lamb is more important. Here, however, [it is speaking] of a poor person who brings two turtledoves or two young pigeons, which are both the same, so I might think that also for bringing the offering the burnt-offering comes first since it was placed first, etc. Therefore, Rashi explains: “The verse placed it first...”

וכפר עליה הכהן, “and the priest shall make atonement for her.” Some people understand this procedure as being in the nature of physical cleansing as in Leviticus 14,19: וכפר על המטהר, “he will cleanse him on account of his uncleanness;” or in verse 53 of the same chapter: וכפר על הבית, “he will make atonement for the house.” In both these verses the subjects are afflictions either on the skin or the house, [neither of which can be considered as “guilty,” so that atonement in the spiritual sense would be required for them. Ed.] We find a similar expression in connection with someone suffering an uncontrollable emission of semen from his sexual organ, i.e. a disease. Clearly, it was not the semen that is at fault and requires purification on that account. (Compare Leviticus 15,15) While it is true that the afflictions in these verses were the result of the person suffering them having committed a sin, it still would sound incomprehensible if their belongings would be “punished.” Furthermore, the expression וחטא את הבית, “he will cleanse the house,” is used in the spiritual sense [seeing the root of the word is חטא sin, so that וכפר and וחטא, can be used both for describing spiritual cleansing and physical cleansing, depending on the context in which these words appear. (Compare Mishnah Negaim, 4,11)

The kohein will atone for her. Some say that this atonement is for the oath that she swears at the time of childbirth that she will never again be with her husband (Niddah 31). For this reason, when she gives birth to a boy she [forgets her pain and] regrets making the oath quickly due to the great rejoicing [of the bris], and therefore her atonement comes sooner. When she gives birth to a female, however, she still has pain and does not regret quickly, so her atonement is delayed.