“When a woman conceives and gives birth to a male.” The Sages said (Niddah 31a): If a man emits seed first, she gives birth to a female; if a woman emits seed first, she gives birth to a male. The commentators wrote that this is a natural phenomenon. The question arises: What is the purpose of informing us about this matter in this section, which discusses the impurity of a woman who gives birth — seven days for a male and fourteen days for a female? Furthermore, what is the relevance of the commandment of circumcision here? Although we could say that the Torah wanted to provide a reason why circumcision is performed on the eighth day, which is so that not everyone will be rejoicing while the father and mother are sorrowful (ibid. 31a), since she has a seven-day period of impurity. Nevertheless, in order to resolve all the difficulties with one approach, I say that all of this follows naturally from the original sin, as it is written: And she becomes purified from the source of her blood. For Eve’s primordial sin is the source that opened for these impure bloods, for sin and impurity, as we find (Eruvin 100b): Rav Yitzchak bar Avdimi said, I will greatly increase your pain — these are the two drops of blood: the blood of menstruation and the blood of virginity, etc. This is also implied in the Jerusalem Talmud, chapter “With What May One Light” (Halakha 6), that Eve’s sin is the source of menstrual blood. Therefore, it says: And she becomes purified from the source of her blood, because all women need purification for the primordial sin, from which impurity and contamination spread throughout the world, causing a seven-day impurity for all who are born. For if Adam had not sinned, he would have been like an angel of God, above the influence of the seven planets, but through his sin, his spirituality was removed, and he fell under the dominion of the celestial system, from which impurity is drawn to man. For every physical thing falls under the number seven — the seven planets and the seven days of creation — and everything on the eighth day is spiritual, for it is above the seven, as explained above in Parashat Shemini (9:1).

And this is the reason for the seven days of impurity for a woman who gives birth: All of this stems from the primordial sin, and from her the impurity was transmitted to the male child. Since when a woman emits seed first, she gives birth to a male, and therefore the woman’s seed is primary in the male child, and we are not concerned with the father’s seed because it is secondary to the woman’s seed. Accordingly, the seven days of impurity from the mother are also transmitted to the male child, namely through the foreskin which contains impurity, as our Sages said (Pesachim 92): “One who separates from the foreskin is like one who separates from the grave.” Therefore, specifically on the eighth day the newborn is circumcised, because the purification of the child mirrors the purification of his mother, as he cannot be without the seven days of impurity like his mother who has seven days of impurity, and their purification is on the eighth day which is spiritual. However, regarding a female child, where the man’s seed is primary [since when a man emits seed first, a female is born], just as the male has no seven days of impurity — because it was specifically on Eve that the serpent cast its impurity and not on Adam — so too the female child has no impurity. This is a good response to the heretics who ask: If the male is corrected through the removal of the foreskin, how is the female purified?

The reason for the two-week impurity for the woman herself after giving birth to a female: It is logical that a woman should have twice the impurity period, corresponding to two females, because each female individually inherits a seven-day impurity from the primordial sin affecting all females in the world. Therefore, it is appropriate that she be impure for 14 days — seven for herself and another seven for her daughter, as she has added impurity to the world beyond her own impurity. For this same reason, the formation of a male takes 40 days, while a female takes 80 days. As it is known that when seed is very hot, it ripens more quickly and becomes an embryo in the full womb. And it is known that a woman’s seed is hotter than a man’s seed, because a woman contributes the redness in it, and all redness tends toward greater heat, while the father contributes the whiteness in it, and all whiteness tends toward greater coldness. Blood and snow prove this, as do fire and water. Therefore it is said, And your desire shall be for your husband (Genesis 3:16), and our Sages said, “A woman desires to be married more than a man desires to marry,” because women have more natural heat which inclines toward desire. Therefore, a male born from the woman’s seed, which is very hot, completes his formation quickly within 40 days. But the female is born from the man’s seed, which is cold and does not ripen quickly, so the formation of the female is not completed until 80 days. This is the reason for the 40 days of impurity for a male and 80 for a female. However, according to our Sages, both male and female formation takes 40 days, and the reason for 40 versus 80 [days of impurity] is because every female is cold and moist. Therefore, her mother needs a long time to cleanse herself from the abundance of moisture imparted to her by the female, which is not the case with a male.

And the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean. This atonement is for the primordial sin of Eve that caused her the pain of childbirth, and in her pain perhaps she spoke harshly toward Heaven saying, “’If so, why am I’ pregnant with toil and suffering?” And proof of this is from what is written, and she shall be clean from the source of her blood — from that source that was opened for sin and impurity, for it [the sin] caused her all this, namely the sin of Eve as mentioned. Also, the language of damehah [her blood] includes the sin, from the expression their blood is upon them (Leviticus 20:27).

And some say that this atonement is for the oath, which she swore not to be intimate with her husband from the moment she kneels to give birth (Niddah 31b). Therefore, a woman who gives birth to a male quickly regrets [the oath] due to her great joy, thus her atonement comes quickly. But a woman who gives birth to a female suffers and does not regret quickly, therefore her atonement is delayed. And even though the oath is not valid at all — for if it were, how would she be permitted to her husband after seven days for a male and 14 days for a female without atonement, since the bringing of the atonement is after 40 days for a male and 80 days for a female? Because in truth there is no oath here, as the matter is not in her hands since she is obligated to her husband, and it is similar to one who swears that he does not want to pay his debt. Nevertheless, she needs atonement for uttering the oath with her mouth and for harboring thoughts in her heart to complain against God out of her pain. Therefore, her offering is a sin-offering to atone for the sin of the action, as the contortion of her lips is considered like an action, and a burnt-offering for the thoughts of the heart. And there is a hint to this from what is written, and she shall be cleansed from the source of her blood, for if she swore in her anger, certainly the boiling of the blood was the cause for this, as it is the cause for all anger, and all anger originates from the blood and its boiling. Therefore it says, and she shall be cleansed from the source of her blood.