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The best example for this is the impurity of a dead person. This impurity happens due to the removal of the person’s life from its body. When a person is alive, he or she can sanctify Hashem in this world, which creates kedusha and thus purity, but once the neshama leaves, the kedusha leaves and so impurity becomes inevitable. The inability to serve Hashem results in a lack of holiness and therefore causes impurity.
The Maharal explains that the amount of impurity is a direct factor of the level of holiness of the deceased creature. The human being has a much higher level of holiness than an animal, as the human being has a mission to sanctify Hashem in this world, while an animal doesn’t have that same mandate. Therefore, only a deceased Jewish person is considered an “avi avoth hatumah,” which is the highest level of tumah.
A woman that gives birth becomes impure. We explained that impurity is a result of “lack of life.” If so, then why does a woman become impure from giving birth to a new life – the opposite should be true! It can be explained that when a woman gives birth, the mother feels at a certain level a loss of life. Until that point, the baby was an integral part of her, but now the child became independent and separated from the mother’s body.
When a baby girl is born, the mother becomes impure for twice the amount of time than when a boy is born. What is the reason for this differentiation? Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu explains that the first woman (Chava) was created twice. First, man and woman were created together, and afterwards, Hashem built the woman from the side of the man. This double creation results in a double capacity for the woman to bring purity and impurity to the world. A woman can become “doubly impure” (14 days), but also “doubly pure” (66 days).
May we merit to see all our children bring much life, holiness, and purity to our world!
Shabbat Shalom,
Morah Chana Bril
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