Chapter
12 of Leviticus, the beginning of Parshat Tazria, is terribly
perplexing. Above and beyond the general confusion of a modern reader in
understanding the meaning of purification rituals, three questions stand out
when reading this chapter.
In the course of presenting the
purification procedure of a postpartum mother who has given birth to a boy, the
presentation is interrupted by mentioning that on the eighth day of the baby’s
life he must be circumcised. While the command of circumcision is not
surprising in itself, it seems out of place in the context of a mother’s
purification process. Indeed, there is no obvious connection between the two
topics other than temporal conjunction. Why, then, is circumcision mentioned in
this chapter?
The disparity in days of impurity
imparted to the mother of a female child over and above a male is also terribly
troubling. While the ancient world treated men and women unequally, I would
hope that the God of Israel would not act in kind. Why should giving birth to a
daughter impart a double dose of impurity to her mother?
While circumcision is not only discussed
in Leviticus, its mention here evokes a third question. Why is it that only
males have a commandment representing their covenant with God but not women?
While circumcision of women would be out of the question, is there not some
other way for them to symbolize their covenantal relationship with God?
The answers to these three questions are
interwoven. Before looking outside the text in front of us, we notice that male
circumcision is the only other difference, besides the disparity of impure days
imparted to the mother, between the presentation of the birth of male and
female children in this chapter. Could it not be that circumcision of her male
son accomplishes the same goal as doubling the days of her impurity at the
birth of a woman’s daughter? If this hypothesis is indeed correct it would
explain the placement of circumcision in this chapter as well as the need to
double the impurity of a mother in absence of the circumcision of a son.
At first blush the connection between
circumcision and the purity laws of women is not at all obvious. While both
involve blood, circumcision is a covenantal act whereas purity laws are not
generally seen as such. Rabbi Joseph ben Isaac Bekhor Shor, a 12th
century Tosafist and Bible commentator, makes a wonderfully wild and innovative
claim about the parallel between the two. In commenting on Genesis 17:11, which
describes God commanding Abraham regarding circumcision, Bekhor Shor
writes:
‘And that shall be the sign of the
covenant between me and you’: A mark and a sign that I am the master and you
are my slaves. The seal of the sign of the covenant is in a hidden place that
is not seen, so that the nations of the world should not say concerning Israel: they are maimed. Since God commanded
the males, and not the females, we may deduce that God commanded to seal the
covenant on the place of maleness. And the blood of menstruation that women
observe by telling their husbands of the onset of their periods—this for them
is covenantal blood.
In
the above passage, Bekhor Shor, explicitly equates the blood of
circumcision of males and the blood of menstrual impurity of females,
specifically the laws pertaining to this blood. Both represent the covenant
between God and Israel. In answer to our third question we see
that there is indeed a female analogue for circumcision: the laws concerning
menstrual impurity[1].
Before returning to this week’s parsha,
we add a final piece to the puzzle. In describing the covenant God is entering
into with Abraham through the act of circumcision, God declares:
I will make thee exceedingly fruitful, and I will make
nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. I will establish My covenant
between Me and thee and thy seed after thee throughout their generations for an
everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee... As
for thee, thou shalt keep My covenant, thou, and thy seed after thee throughout
their generations. This is My covenant, which ye shall keep, between Me and you
and thy seed after thee: every male among you shall be circumcised. Ye shall be
circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin; it shall be a token of a covenant
between Me and you. He that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you,
every male throughout your generations.[2]
The
covenant of circumcision relates to Abraham’s descendants twofold: they are the
reward for his maintenance of the covenant, and the covenant is to be performed
through Abraham’s reproductive organ which is the physical source of Abraham’s
seed. For dedicating his reproductive organ and offspring that issue from it to
God through circumcision both of Abraham and his descendants’ reproductive
organs, God promises Abraham that multitudes will issue forth from those
organs. We hypothesize that just as the
circumcision functions as a covenant between God and Abraham by symbolically
dedicating his reproductive organ and that which issues from it to God, so too
does a woman’s observance of the laws of menstrual purity—which concerns her
respective reproductive organs.
We can now satisfactorily answer all of the above questions. Circumcision is mentioned in this chapter for it is integrally related to a mother’s own purification process. In general a woman’s observance of the laws of purity and impurity is an expression of her covenant with God. However, upon the birth of a child, a mother must also bring that child into God’s covenant with the Jewish people in order for the mother to maintain her own covenantal relationship. Upon the birth of a son her covenantal relationship is dependent upon circumcising her son’s reproductive organ. However, at the birth of a daughter circumcision is not possible and the infant girl is, as of yet, unable to observe the laws of menstrual purity. In order to bring her daughter into the covenant, and achieve purity herself, God doubles the mother’s period of impurity, having her act as proxy for her daughter.
We can now satisfactorily answer all of the above questions. Circumcision is mentioned in this chapter for it is integrally related to a mother’s own purification process. In general a woman’s observance of the laws of purity and impurity is an expression of her covenant with God. However, upon the birth of a child, a mother must also bring that child into God’s covenant with the Jewish people in order for the mother to maintain her own covenantal relationship. Upon the birth of a son her covenantal relationship is dependent upon circumcising her son’s reproductive organ. However, at the birth of a daughter circumcision is not possible and the infant girl is, as of yet, unable to observe the laws of menstrual purity. In order to bring her daughter into the covenant, and achieve purity herself, God doubles the mother’s period of impurity, having her act as proxy for her daughter.
Thus, the laws of purification of a
postpartum mother discussed in Tazria reflect the covenantal nature of
the laws of menstrual impurity and circumcision and the unique role of mothers
in bringing their children into God’s covenant.
No comments:
Post a Comment