When a woman conceives…” (Vayikra 12:2)
The pinnacle of a mother’s life is when she gives birth and cradles a newborn in her arms. There is no greater joy. She is euphoric. I heard from Rav Yitzchok Fingerer shlita, that Rav Menachem Mendel of Kotzk asks that it seems so inconsistent and incongruous. Just when the woman is at the zenith of her life, she’s precipitously demoted from her glory. Why does the Torah ordain, precisely at the time of birth, Tumah, ritual impurity, for the mother?
The Gemara in Taanis (2a) says that the key to childbirth is exclusively in Hashem‘s domain. The Kotzker Rebbe says a phenomenal idea. He explains that throughout the gestation period, the Shechina, Hashem’s presence, is manifest, nurturing the pregnancy. When the baby is born, the Shechina departs. The woman is now bereft and devoid of the Shechina. The consequence of this vacuum is the impurity. This means that the impurity is not a punishment or condemnation. Rather, it is a reflection of the greatness and holiness of the woman. It is precisely because she is so holy that the impurity seeps in.
Life is not easy. There are so many challenges and tribulations. We fall. We mess up. We feel low. We feel down. We feel dirty. We are at the brink of giving up. Listen to the Holy Kotzker: Do you know why you feel so low and dirty? It is because you are so holy! If you weren’t holy, you’d feel absolutely no void, emptiness, longing, or pain. You are feeling impure, precisely because you’re so holy. You are almost there. With a loving Rebbe and supportive friends, you will propel yourself to ever greater heights and realize your holiness. Too often, we don’t appreciate or recognize how intrinsically special each and every one of us is.
