-The Conundrum of Childbirth

"The Conundrum of Childbirth"

The Torah in parashat Tazria declares that after the birth of a male child, a woman is in a state of ritual impurity for seven days followed by a state of ritual purity for 33 days. After the birth of a female child, the birth mother is in a state of ritual impurity for 14 days, followed by a state of ritual purity for 66 days. Our rabbis are perplexed by the law that a woman should be in a state of ritual impurity at all after giving birth to a child, and why the numbers of days of impurity and purity are doubled for a female child as opposed to the birth of a male child.