Parshas Bereishis - Pru u'Rvu and PUAH fertility

 

In the second chapter of Derekh haShem, Ramchal defines God as a Being Who, by God's very nature, is a Giver of good to others. Indeed, the Torah opens with an account of God's creative act - the formation of our world and all the beauty and diversity that God filled it with. 

As creation unfolds the Torah informs us that God blessed all humans, telling them that they should "be fertile and increase, fill the earth and master it; and rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and all the living things that creep on earth." (1) The Talmud (2) understood this not merely as a blessing but as a proactive obligation that one ought to bring children into the world. 

Just about every major compiler of Mitzvos included "Pru u'Rvu" as a Mitzvah somewhere in their list. (3) The Sefer haChinukh writes that "it is a great Mitzvah through which all other Mitzvos are observed because the Torah was given to people, not angels." (4) There seems to be an interesting latent parallel between the creation of God's world and the Mitzvah/Berakhah given over to people to reproduce. With this juxtaposition, humans were provided the means to emulate God in a very literal sense by engaging in an act of genuine creation of their own. This idea ought to be examined more. 

Of course, the choice to bring a child into the world is not an easy or simple one. Many factors go into the decision including financial considerations, health and psychological risks, and many other personal details. The most extreme position in the Talmud on Pru u'Rvu, taken by Ben Azzai, posits that anyone who doesn't engage in Pru u'Rvu has, in some poetic sense, murdered their potential future children. Furthermore, because human beings were created in the image of God, (5) refusing to engage in Pru u'Rvu symbolically lessens the Divine image in the world. 

Infamously, Ben Azzai never had children of his own and when challenged by contemporary Rabbis on how he could lecture others about a Mitzvah he never fulfilled himself, he responded that his love for learning Torah was too great for him to raise a family; others could populate the world. (6)

Clearly the decision to raise a family is not a simple one. 

Nevertheless, there are many couples who want nothing more than to have a child of their own yet remain unable to do so. Infertility is a problem that affects between 12% and 15% of couples who actively try to conceive. In the Jewish community, where the family unit is seen as one of the most sublime and holy values, this can be extremely painful. 

PUAH is an organization that helps these couples with every aspect of the fertility process - counseling, health, treatments, intimacy, and everything in between - all in the context of a rigorously Halakhic, compassionate, and sensitive manner. 

This week, in honor of the Mitzvah of Pru u'Rvu and the start of this year's Torah cycle, I've donated to PUAH. I encourage you to research their organization and donate as well. (7)

Notes:
(1) Bereishis 1:28. Unless otherwise noted, all Tanakh translations are taken from the JPS translation in the second edition of The Jewish Study Bible.

(2) Mishnah Yevamos 6:6, Bavli Yevamos 65b. See there for an extended discussion on whether this Mitzvah is obligatory on men and women or only on men. 

(3) Sefer haChinukh Mitzvah 1, Rambam Aseh 212, Smag Aseh 49, Smak Siman 284, Bahag Aseh 9, Yere'im Siman 413

(4) Sefer haChinukh Mitzvah 1, original translation

(5) cf. Bereishis 1:26-27

(6) Ben Azzai's position as well as the question posed to him can be found on Bavli Yevamos 63b:46-53 (the last eight lines) 

(7) Learn more about PUAH on their website. 

(8) This week I also interviewed R' Eliezer Krohn, a Rabbinic advisor for PUAH, and you can watch that interview here. I'd like to thank R' Krohn for being so generous with his time and for helping me kick the GivTorah project off the ground. I'd also like to thank my Rebbe and friends who were so supportive of this project when I mentioned the idea to them - specifically R' Jeremy Wieder, Aharon Mirlas, and Raffi Levi. 

(9) As I finished writing this post I heard that Rabbi Jonathan Sacks has been diagnosed with cancer. Let this small contribution to the worlds of Torah and Gemilut Chasadim serve as a merit for the quick and easy Refuah Sheleimah for haRav Ya'akov Zvi ben Liba. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Parshas Vayera - Addiction, Substance Abuse, and Amudim

Image
  Parshas Vayera was an emotional roller coaster of a Parshah. What began with the promise of a new child for Avraham and Sarah (1) ended with the near slaughter of that child on Har Moriah. (2) Along the way Sodom was destroyed, (3) Lot was drugged and raped by his two daughters, (4) Sarah was taken by Avimelekh, (5) and Sarah had Avraham expel Hagar and her young child from their home. (6) Parshas Vayera raises profound theological and religious questions. How is it that Avraham could advocate against the destruction of a city of rapists (7) but not for the life of his own innocent child? (8) How could Avraham so wantonly kick Hagar out of his house just a few chapters after hearing that his own descendants would become an enslaved and oppressed people in a foreign land? (9) How could a kind and loving God test someone by commanding them to kill their child, and how could Avraham have even thought for a minute that passing the test would involve actually going through with that?...
Read more

Parshas Noach - Ever Min haChai and SHAMAYIM: Jewish Animal Advocacy

Image
In Parshas Noach we find the first divine allowance in the Torah for animal consumption: "Every creature that lives shall be yours to eat; as with the green grasses, I give you all these." (1) The very next verse, however, limits this permission: "You must not, however, eat flesh with its life-blood in it." Although a more literal translation would probably forbid blood consumption, the Gemara (2) sees in this Pasuk a prohibition against eating the limbs of living animals.  The clear implication of this Mitzvah (3) is that there's some level of Torah obligation on human beings to engage compassionately with all living creatures. What exactly is that level? Where does the balance lie? What is its floor and what is its ceiling? Alas, these questions are a bit more complicated. The Torah clearly indicates that, in the world's natural hierarchy, human beings are more important than animals. Immediately before allowing Noach to eat meat, God tells him that "...
Read more