אשה כי תזריע וילדה, “when a woman has fructification of seed and has given birth as a result;” the regulations about to be discussed apply only when she gives birth naturally from the womb, not by caesarean invasive procedure. Rabbi Shimon holds that a baby born by caesarean section is considered as having been “born,” and that its mother is obligated to offer the same sacrifices that the mother of a baby born from the womb has to offer. The only difference between such a baby and the one born from the mother’s womb, is that if it is firstborn male, its father does not have to redeem it by paying a priest five shekel. (Sifra)

וילדה, even if the mother gave birth after only between five up to eight months pregnancy, she has to do so, and the restrictive nature of this word means that she has become ritually unclean by giving “birth” to a fetus after five or more months of pregnancy. (Sifra)

זכר, “a male;” including if it was stillborn.

וילדה זכר, “and she gave birth to a male;” According to our author (quoting ספר התולדות), a woman’s body contains seven openings, three on her left side, three on her right side, and one in the center. If her husband’s semen enters via the openings on her right side it will produce a male child. If it enters through the openings on her left side, she will produce a female child. If it enters through the opening in her center she will produce either a hermaphrodite possessing both fully developed masculine and feminine organs, or neither of such organs that are fully developed. Her position in bed shortly after her husband’s ejaculating semen into her determines through which of these openings the semen travels. If she lies on her right side the degree of ritual contamination “evaporates” faster than if she had been lying on her left side; this is why she cannot resume marital relations with have husband or offer her respective sacrifices until this process has run its natural cause. Lying on her left side at that critical juncture slows down the ritual contamination which was the result of the mother having been impregnated with her partners’ semen. This is why the Torah decreed different length of 33 or 66 days before the mother can purify herself. (verses 47) The above is hinted at by Solomon in Song of Songs 2,6: שמאלו תחת לראשי, “with his left hand under my head.” The maid’s lover did this in order to help his partner to give birth to males. [The fact that Solomon who had so many wives and concubines produced only a single male heir is proof that G-d’s active providence overrides nature. Ed.]

וטמאה, “she will be ritually unclean;” the emphasis here is on the suffix ה meaning only the mother, not her child will become ritually unclean as a result of that birth. (Sifra)

שבעת ימים, “for seven days;” in the event that she gave birth to twins or more babies, the count starts at the end of the last birth. When the students of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai asked him why the Torah decreed different lengths of ritual contamination depending on the sex of the baby, he answered them that the birth of a male baby results in an even greater degree of joy than the birth of a female baby. As a result, the baby’s mother retracts her oath made at the time of enduring the pains during her delivery sooner than after the birth of a daughter, (who is after all also destined to undergo such pain in due course.)

נדת, this word is a variant for distance, temporary disassociation, as for instance in Job 18,18: ומתבל ינדוהו, “and chased out of the world.” In our verse the separation is from her husband.

כימי נדת דותה, “just as she separates from him during the days when she has her menses. A Baraitha (Niddah, folio 31) relates that Rabbi Meir explained the reason why generally speaking the period of a woman’s menses lasts seven days, is because if her husband had to abstain from marital relations with her during that period, she will be as desirable for him at the end of that period as she was when he stood with her under the wedding canopy. The woman who just gave birth is familiar with the seven day period during her menses and it is a period she abhors. By reminding her of this comparison, she may look forward to having marital relations with her husband again as when pregnant she does not experience the discomfort of her menses. By the same token, this separation also awakens desire in her for her husband.

וביום, “and on the day, etc.;” the reason why the Torah had to write this word is to teach us that if for some reason the circumcision had been delayed beyond the eighth day it must not be performed at night but on the nearest day thereafter possible, except on the Sabbath, as the Sabbath may be desecrated only when the circumcision is performed on the eighth day after birth. (Sifra)her for her husband. וביום השמיני ימול, and on the eighth day the baby is to be circumcised; Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai’s students asked him why that day had been chosen by G-d for circumcision of the newly born; (not sooner) he answered them that this was so that the whole family could rejoice in that celebration, as otherwise the mother of the child could not participate in the joyful activity due to her still being ritually unclean. That day has been described as a joyful occasion in Psalms 119,162: שש אנכי על אמרתך, the psalmist proclaiming “I rejoice over Your promise,” and our sages in the Talmud tractate Shabbat folio 130 understand David as having referred to the day the child is circumcised. On the face of it this is a remarkable statement as one would expect both parents to be saddened by the fact that they cannot indulge in marital relations until then; however as soon as the mother has immersed herself in a ritual bath on the evening after the seventh day, she is free to resume normal relations with her husband. Thus on the eighth day the whole family can rejoice. The reason why this commandment has been repeated is to remind us that it is so important that it be performed on the eighth day that it overrides the work prohibition on the Sabbath.

How then can I deal with the explicit warning that anyone desecrating the Sabbath laws is subject to legal execution? (Exodus 31,14.) Only preparatory activities associated with the circumcision are forbidden even on the Sabbath, whereas the circumcision itself overrides the Sabbath provided it is performed on the eighth day. (If the baby was born at dusk on Friday evening, the circumcision is deferred until the day after the Sabbath. If there is some doubt about the baby having a proper foreskin, the removal of that is also not performed on the Sabbath. (Sifra)

ימול בשר ערלתו, “the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.” We have learned concerning this procedure as follows in the Talmud tractate Shabbat folio 137: “a newborn may be legally circumcised on the eighth, ninth or the tenth, the eleventh or the twelfth day, without the father having been remiss in performing the procedure on the correct day. How can this occur? 1) The normal day for mandatory circumcision is the eighth day. 2) the ninth day as the “official” day is when the baby was born at dusk. If dusk is considered as part of the next day, then the baby cannot be legally circumcised until the morning of the day following, i.e. the ninth day. If that day happens to be the Sabbath, circumcision would have to be delayed for another day. How could it happen that the legal day for the circumcision would not occur until the eleventh of even the twelfth day? If the baby was born at dusk on Friday, and the day following the Sabbath is a festival. If the baby was born at dusk of the end of the twentysecond of Ellul and the following Thursday which would normally be the eighth day is New Year of the following Year and a holiday. As this day however could be the ninth day, both days of New Year as well as Sabbath following are out, so that the earliest legal day would be Sunday, which is the twelfth day after its birth. It is possible that our author bases himself on a statement attributed in Bereshit Rabbah 7,2, to someone by the name do Yaakov, resident of Nevorai, who issued a ruling in Tzor, that the son of an idol worshipping woman and a Jewish father, born on the Sabbath, could be circumcised on the Sabbath. When Rabbi Chagai heard about this ruling he ordered this Yaakov to appear before him in order to be punished by lashes for such a ruling. To this Yaakov of Nevorai replied that “when someone gives a correct ruling according to the Torah, why should he be punished by lashes?” Thereupon Rabbi Chagai asked him to explain how his ruling could conform to Torah law. Thereupon Yaakov cited Numbers 1,18: ויתילדו על משפחותם לבית אבותם, “they identified themselves according to their families by their fathers’ houses.” To this Rabbi Chagai replied that Yaakov had not interpreted that verse correctly, as it could not override the prohibition against intermarriage with members of an idolatrous nation which is spelled out in Deuteronomy 7,3, with the words לא תתחתן בם, “do not intermarry with them (the Canaanites) i.e. since such a union is illegal its offspring is not Jewish. It is also confirmed by Deuteronomy 7,4 where the Torah gives as the reason for such a prohibition: כי יסיר את בנך מאחרי, “for he will lead your son astray from Me;” a reference to your soninlaw. The Torah did not write כי תסיר, for she will lead astray, but “for he will lead astray.” She cannot lead astray, as she is not Jewish in the first place. Therefore the son of the woman mentioned in the story cited in Bereshit Rabbah, does not require circumcision on either a weekday or the Sabbath since he does not qualify for performance of that rite until and if he converted.

ושלשים יום ושלשת ימים, “and thirty three days, etc;” the thirty three days plus the first seven days combine to make forty days, the number of days that are required until the male fetus has developed its features. The female fetus requires twice this number of days as has been proven conclusively. (based on the Talmud tractate Niddah folio 30)

תביא כבש, “she is to bring a sheep as an offering;” when his students asked Rabbi Shimon why the mother of the baby has to bring an offering, he answered them that it was because during the contractions preceding her giving birth she swore not again to have marital intercourse with her husband which was the reason for the pain she had to endure. This was an inappropriate oath for which she as to atone.

אל פתח אהל מועד, “to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.” This teaches that the mother herself looks after these birds as well as sheep until then, when she hands them over to the priest. (Sifra)

והקריבו, “and he (the priest) shall offer it;” although the pronoun ending in this word is in the singular mode, i.e. ”it,” what is meant is all three creatures, the two birds and the sheep. The Torah also does not bother to spell out the manner in which the birds will be killed, i.e. מליקה, “pinching off of the head, as per Leviticus 5,8.