Tazria, Prenatal Influences

There are two similar but separate things that were said regarding the end of Shmini and the beginning of Tazria.  They are often erroneously commingled or interchanged.  It's not that big a deal, because it's not a matter of halacha, and also because neither can be found in any sefarim that the alleged sources printed.  But this is the version I've heard from responsible ba'alei mesorah, and which is also found in some sefarim, albeit always "mipi hashmu'ah."  More importantly, it's worth thinking about what they really mean, so at the end of the post I've added some points that deserve attention.

Both of these Divrei Torah are resonant with the story of the woman that came to the Rebbe and said, "Rebbe, I had a baby a month ago, and I want to know what I can do to make sure he will grow up to be a great tzadik."  The Rebbe answered, Rebbitzen, you are coming to me ten months late.

There are no guarantees in life, and certainly not when it comes to raising children.  But there are things that do make a difference.


The first discussion is from  Reb Akiva Eiger (as brought in Tallelei Oros and Iturei Torah):

The beginning of Parshas Tazria talks about childbirth.   The end of Parshas Shmini describes which species of animals we may eat (the Tahor) and which we may not eat (the Tamei).  The Torah sums up the parsha of kashrus with the passuk (11:47)

  לְהַבְדִּיל בֵּין הַטָּמֵא וּבֵין הַטָּהֹר וּבֵין הַחַיָּה הַנֶּאֱכֶלֶת וּבֵין הַחַיָּה אֲשֶׁר לֹא תֵאָכֵל

To separate the impure from the pure and between the living beings that may be eaten and the living beings that may not be eaten.

Why, in this passuk, does the order change.  In other words, the first phrase lists the non-kosher first- tamei/tahor, and the second phrase reverses that order- may be eaten/may not be eaten.  

To answer this question, Reb Akiva Eiger directs us to the Gemara in Yoma 82b.  The Mishna says that a pregnant woman that has a tremendous craving for a food may eat on Yom Kippur, because denying the craving might cause mortal harm.  The Gemara says that one Yom Kippur, two pregnant women smelled cooking food and were overwhelmed with a  need to eat immediately. The Sages suggested that somebody whisper in the ear of each woman a soft reminder that it was Yom Kippur. One woman calmed down and was able to complete the fast.  The other continued to insist that she desperately needed to eat the food she had smelled, and she was permitted to eat. The Gemara says that the first woman gave birth to the tzadik Rebbi Yochanan, while the second woman gave birth to the wicked Shabsai Otzar Peiri, a notoriously venal profiteer who harmed the community by manipulating the grain markets.

The Gemara says regarding Rebbi Yochanan the passuk in the beginning of Yirmiahu, 

בְּטֶרֶם אֶצָּרְךָ בַבֶּטֶן יְדַעְתִּיךָ, וּבְטֶרֶם תֵּצֵא מֵרֶחֶם הִקְדַּשְׁתִּיךָ

before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you came out, I made you holy.

Regarding Shabsai the gangster, the Gemara applies the passuk in Tehillim 58,

זֹרוּ רְשָׁעִים מֵרָחֶם;  תָּעוּ מִבֶּטֶן, דֹּבְרֵי כָזָב

The wicked go astray from the womb; they err from birth, speaking lies.

Reb Akiva Eiger says that this Gemara answers his question.  When the passuk says בֵין הַחַיָּה הַנֶּאֱכֶלֶת וּבֵין הַחַיָּה אֲשֶׁר לֹא תֵאָכֵל, the word "chaya," whose literal meaning here is  "living being," has a dual meaning, because the same word also can mean "a pregnant woman."  So "Hachaya hane'echeles" is a remez that a pregnant woman that insists on eating when it really isn't necessary, is like a t'mei'ah, in that what she eats has a negative effect on both her and her child.  A "Chaya asher lo sei'acheil" is a remez to a pregnant woman who calms down and controls herself and avoids eating treif, and thereby avoids damage to herself and to her child.  Thus, the order in the two halves of the passuk does not change.  In both parts, we start with the assur and end with the muttar.

Separately, the Vilner Gaon points out that when the Gemara brings the passuk from Tehillim about "The wicked go astray from the womb,", the Gemara is also referring to the passuk later in that chapter, that says 

 חֲמַת-לָמוֹ, כִּדְמוּת חֲמַת-נָחָשׁ;    כְּמוֹ-פֶתֶן חֵרֵשׁ, יַאְטֵם אָזְנוֹ.

ו  אֲשֶׁר לֹא-יִשְׁמַע, לְקוֹל מְלַחֲשִׁים

Their poison is like the poison of a serpent; they are like a deaf adder that stops its ear;

Which will not listen to the voice of charmers....

because the second woman, and her fetus, were not calmed by the whispered voices, just as some snakes are so dangerous that they cannot be controlled by charmers.  The words Lachash, whisper, and Melachashim, charmers, are the same.

The other story, which is all about the Vilner Gaon, is this:  He was asked, when he was six years old, what the connection is between Parshas Shmini and Parshas Tazria.  He pulled out the Gemara we mentioned above, in Yoma, and showed that what a woman gives birth to is very much influenced by what she eats during pregnancy.  So it is very understandable why the Torah follows the laws of Kashrus with the laws of Childbirth.  The last passuk in Shmini is לְהַבְדִּיל בֵּין הַטָּמֵא וּבֵין הַטָּהֹר, and the Torah is pointing out that eating those two kinds of food can influence what kind of child a woman will have.  Not only does the food a child eat affect him, as the Gaon says in YD 81:7, even the food he eats before he's born affects him.  (The main interest of the story is that the Gaon said it when he was six.  The idea itself was said long before then.  The Pardes Yosef in the beginning of the parsha brings it from Igeres HaRamban.)

Now the similarity and the difference between what Reb Akiva Eiger said and the story about the Gaon said should be clear.

I want to point out several things on this topic.

1. The Gemara is full of examples of early childhood influences on spiritual development.  There is the famous Yerushalmi that Reb Yehoshua's mother used to bring his crib into the Beis Medrash so he should soak up the cadence and kedusha of the words of Torah.  We know that Shimshon's parents were warned to avoid wine until their child was born, because of his nazirite holiness.  And recent studies seem to reiterate this idea:  Here is a paragraph from a paper I came across.

A recent study in Korea examined music’s influence on spatial learning ability in developing rats to show that Mozart Effect is strongest during neurogenesis, specifically in the hippocampus where spatial reasoning is most active.  Their procedure was similar to that of CNLM’s spatial task study, however, their focus was on prenatal music exposure, rather than exposure after birth.  Impregnated female rats were randomly divided into three groups; Noise-applied Group, Music-applied Group, and a control group, Undisturbed Group which was left in silence.
Twenty-one days after the rats gave birth, the pups were subjected to a spatial learning ability test which involved the pups finding water in a radial arm maze.  The music-applied pups had the highest number of correct choices in the radial arm maze.
The results of this study suggest that prenatal exposure to classical music in pups does help facilitate brain development in the hippocampus.  They also support the idea that, when applied during neurogenesis, the Mozart Effect is longer lasting, and may even be permanent. However, results with human participants are subject to variability (Department of Physiology Kyung Hee University 2006).

2.  The Gemara in Yoma might be read to mean that Reb Yochanan was a tzadik before he was born, and Shabsai the mobster was a rasha before he was born.  This is not true.  This would contradict every elementary concept of schar ve'onesh, and would provide an excuse for any kind  of bad behavior.  Sorry.  It doesn't.  What we do see from the Gemara is either A or B.

A. That Hashem knows the future, and knows that Rebbi Yochanan was going to be a tzadik.  Since Reb Yochanan was going to be a tzadik, Hashem protected him from food that was assur, like Hashta be'hemtam (Gittin and Chulin 7a). 

In light of the comments that came in, I need to expand a little on this point.  Please note that the passuk in Yirmiahu goes like this:
 בְּטֶרֶם אֶצָּרְךָ בַבֶּטֶן יְדַעְתִּיךָ, וּבְטֶרֶם תֵּצֵא מֵרֶחֶם הִקְדַּשְׁתִּיךָ
There are two halves in the passuk.   
I knew you before I formed you.  
Before you came out of the womb I sanctified you.
I believe that these two halves involve totally different concepts.  The first half means "I, Hashem, knew that you would be a holy man and a navi.  This knowledge is like any knowledge of nevu'ah, the simple fact that Hashem knows what the future holds.  The second half of the passuk means "Knowing that you  were going to be a tzadik and dedicated to My service, I protected you from unholy experiences."

Again, in the original post, I wrote that "This is the pshat we see in the Radak in the passuk in the beginning of Yirmiahu:  the Radak says that Hashem prepared Yirmiahu for his task from the moment he was conceived.  This preparation included whatever influences were necessary for a person particularly adapted for tzidkus and nevuah.  The Radak adds that 

. אביו ואמו נזהרו בקדושה וטהרה בעת ההריון שיהיה הנביא מקודש והחכם גדול"  

But now I see that what I am suggesting is different than the Radak.  The Radak is saying that his parents did all they could to ensure that he could be a tzadik.  What I'm saying, and what I believe the Gemara in Yoma is saying, is that since Hashem knew that Reb Yochanan and Yirmiahu would be tzadikim, Hashem protected them from things that were tamei.

B.  That people are born with tendencies, both physical and spiritual.  What we make of those tendencies is the difference between an Eisav and a David Hamelech.  Both were warriors, both were redheads, but one was Eisav and one was David Hamelech.

3.  Here's an interesting coincidence.  We just saw in the Gemara in Yoma, above, about Reb Yochanan, how his mother was calmed down by the whispered reminder of the kedusha of Yom Kippur.  There is a Gemara in Taanis 21 that echoes this story line.

Reb Yochanan and Ilfa were chavrusos, and both were great talmidei chachamim.  The time came when both had to admit that that they were starving, and they couldn't continue to learn unless they went to seek their fortune.  As they walked, Reb Yochanan heard a voice saying that one of these two would become Rosh Yeshiva.  Reb Yochanan asked Ilfa, "Did you hear that?"  Ilfa said "Hear what?"  So Reb Yochanan decided that the voice must have been meant for him.  He turned back, and was, indeed, made Rosh Yeshiva.  Ilfa, though he remained a great man, went into business and was very successful.  But of course, Ilfa is mentioned in the Gemara only twenty or thirty times, while Reb Yochanan is the pivot of Shas, Bavli and Yerushalmi.

Did you notice, though, that Reb Yochanan and a contemporary, once again, were about to leave a state of purity, and they both heard a whispered voice, and Reb Yochanan listened, and the other did not, and Reb Yochanan turned back while the other went on?  Exactly the same story line, with different words.  אותה הגברת, בשינוי אדרת

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