💾 Archived View for scholasticdiversity.us.to › scriptures › jewish › t › Steinsaltz%20on%20Leviticu… captured on 2024-05-10 at 12:51:32. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
12 ‎[1] **The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: **
‎[2] **Speak to the children of Israel, saying: If a woman conceives and bears a male child, she shall be impure seven days; like the days, **the duration, **of her menstrual [ *niddat *] **suffering, **the pain that comes with her blood of menstruation, 11 so **she **who gives birth to a male child **shall be impure. **Some commentaries associate *niddat *with *nadad *, **wander, and *nidui *, excommunication, her separation during her sickness.
‎[3] Since the text is dealing with a woman who has given birth to a male child, it adds in passing the
*halakha *that was already stated in the book of Genesis (17:12), which applies after the seven days mentioned here: ****On the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. **
‎[4] After the seven days of impurity, for
**thirty days and three days she shall abide in the blood of purity. **Although it is possible that she might continue to bleed even after the first week, this blood is considered blood of purity. In other words, for the next thirty-three days, until a total of forty days have passed since the birth, she is no longer governed by the *halakhot *that distance a menstruating woman or a woman who gave birth from her husband. Nevertheless, **she shall not touch any consecrated item, and she shall not enter the sanctuary until the completion of the days of her purity. **Only after forty days will she become fully purified from the impurity connected to childbirth.
‎[5] **If she bears a female child, then she shall be impure two weeks as during her menstruation, **when she must separate herself from her husband and from any items they wish to preserve in a state of ritual purity. **And sixty days and six days she shall abide in the blood of purity. **The days of impurity and purity that follow the birth of a female are double the amount of days that come after the birth of a male.
‎[6] **With the completion of the days of her purity, **the end of the forty-day period **for a son or **the eighty-day period **for a daughter, **in order to purify herself fully, **she **or an agent on her behalf **shall bring **to the Temple **a lamb in its first year as a burnt offering, and **either **a young pigeon or a turtledove as a sin offering, to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting to the priest. **
‎[7] **He, **the priest, **shall offer it, **the pair of offerings, **before the Lord, **in accordance with the rites of a burnt offering and a sin offering, **and **he shall thereby **atone for her; and she shall be purified from the source of her blood. **Only then is she purified from her bleeding, which after an ordinary birth would have ceased much earlier. **This is the law of the woman after childbirth of a male child or of a female child. **
‎[8] A burnt offering is generally a voluntary offering, and as stated earlier, there are several types: a large bull, a smaller lamb, or a bird (see chap. 1). A woman who has given birth does not bring her burnt offering voluntarily; rather, it is an obligation following childbirth. Therefore, the Torah provides allowances for a poor woman in this situation:
**If her means do not suffice for **buying **a lamb **for her burnt offering, **she shall take two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, **referred to by the Sages as a nest of birds, 12 **one **bird **as a burnt offering **in place of the lamb, **and one as a sin offering, **which all such women must bring (see verse 6); **and the priest shall atone for her **by sacrificing them, **and she shall be purified **for all purposes. At this stage she is permitted to enter the Temple and partake of consecrated foods.
Version: The Steinsaltz Tanakh - English
Source: https://korenpub.com/collections/the-steinsaltz-tanakh/products/steinsaltz-tanakh
License: Copyright: Steinsaltz Center