How can one guarantee giving birth to a boy?
(12,2) Speak to the children of Yisrael, saying: if a woman conceives and gives birth to a male, she shall be unclean seven days.
Chazal asked why the Torah specifically mentions “if a woman conceives”, and they answered that it teaches that when a woman gives seed initially she gives birth to a male, but if the male gives seed initially then she gives birth to a female.
If not for their holy words we could answer in a different way, according to Chazal’s teaching that there is no reward given for a mitzvah in this world. However, this applies specifically to a mitzvah which we have been commanded to do, because to this is applicable the posuk Iyov (41,3) “Who preceded me and I will pay them? Everything under the heavens is mine”, from which we learn that Hashem has already prepaid us in this world for the mitzvos that we perform. Therefore, a person does not justly deserve to be rewarded for doing the mitzvah except as an act of loving-kindness, and so Hashem does not reward him in this world. But when he does a good deed even though he has not been commanded to do it then he does deserve reward, and receives his reward immediately in this world. I have spoken at length about this principle in several places.
Now, it is well known that a man is commanded in the mitzvah of procreation, but a woman is not. Therefore, even if a man does not intend in the act of procreation for his personal pleasure but rather his intention is for the creation of offspring, he is not guaranteed that he will father a male because there is no reward for a mitzvah in this world. But if a woman intends that her actions will be for the sake of heaven, to bring about the creation of offspring, then since she is not commanded in this mitzvah, she will be rewarded in this world and give birth to a male.
This is what our posuk is saying: “if a woman conceives” - if her intention is only to conceive, and not for her pleasure, then she “gives birth to a male” - I guarantee that she will be rewarded for this by giving birth to a male.
How does Hashem encourage us to keep the Torah?
(12,2) Speak to the children of Yisrael, saying: If a woman conceives and gives birth to a male, she shall be unclean seven days.
The Midrash says that our posuk is explained by Iyov (36,3) “I will take up my knowledge from afar, and to my Maker I will ascribe righteousness”. We can explain the meaning of this Midrash with that which is written in the Midrash Tanchuma - Said Adam: After Hashem created all the animals and birds and the creeping and crawling creatures He then created me. So too a baby before he exits his mother’s womb is commanded by Hashem: From this you can eat, and from this you cannot eat. And one who accepts upon himself all the mitzvos of the Torah in his mother’s womb is born. Therefore it is written, “If a woman conceives”.
The simple explanation of the Tanchuma is that it had a difficulty with the juxtaposition of the beginning of this week’s parsha which deals with a woman giving birth, and the end of last week’s parsha which warned about what was pure and what was impure. Therefore, it explained that Hashem warned the foetus in its mother’s womb what to eat and what not to eat, and then the Torah continued with “if a woman conceives”, to teach us that if the foetus accepts upon itself all this then it will be born, and if not it will be stillborn, and this is why there are stillborns. This is the simple explanation of the Midrash Tanchuma.
But thus still leaves us with a difficulty because it is clear in the above Tanchuma that he is obligated to promise that he will keep all of the Torah. If so, why does Hashem warn him specifically about eating forbidden animals more than the rest of the Torah. Therefore, it seems to me that we should explain the Tanchuma according to the Midrash Rabbah on Koheles, which says: Why is the kingdom of Edom called (symbolised by) the chazir (the swine)? Because in the future Hashem is going to return (lehachazir) greatness to the rightful owners. That is, in the future Hashem will announce: Anyone who has not eaten pig meat, let him come and take his reward. And many people from the nations who have never eaten pig meat will come to take their reward. And Hashem will further announce: Anyone who has not eaten carcasses and creeping and crawling creatures let him come and take his reward, etc. Therefore he is called chazir, because in the future Hashem will return the greatness to the owners.
Behold, the actual explanation of this Midrash I explained elsewhere in my writings, but at the very least it is clear from this that by refraining from eating chazir and creeping and crawling creatures, Yisrael will merit to have greatness returned to them. Now, the foetus, before his exit into the world is in a situation of great difficulty, because he has to separate from the upper world to this lower, murky world, where there lurks a great danger from the seduction of the evil inclination which wishes to destroy him forever. And therefore it says in Pirkei Avos, “against your will you were born”, and Chazal taught that it would have been better not to have been born. Therefore, lest a person ruins himself by his actions, Hashem shows him that just by something as simple as refraining from eating chazir and creeping and crawling creatures, through this alone a person can merit the world to come. And since this is so, he should not be distressed that he was created, and it is in fact better that he was created.
This is the meaning of the above Midrash - since the Torah juxtaposed the section concerning a woman conceiving and the warning against eating forbidden creatures, it is evident that the foetus is warned in particular about eating these things more than the rest of the Torah. And this must be to show that through this he can merit the world to come. This is why the Midrash brings the posuk from Iyov “I will take up my knowledge from afar” - I will set my mind to the time of my formation, before coming into this world, to what Hashem informed me at that time. And because of this, “to my Maker I will ascribe righteousness” for creating me, because it is better that I was created than not created.
Why did Adam HaRishon not need to be circumcised?
(12,3) And on the eighth day he shall circumcise the flesh of his foreskin.
The juxtaposition of the previous posuk which discusses a woman who gives birth and this posuk can be explained with the Midrash on parshas Bereishis, which says that a philosopher asked R. Hoshaya that if circumcision is so beloved, why was it not given to Adam HaRishon?
The answer to this question is that the main purpose of circumcision is to rectify a person by removing from him the evil and uncleanliness that is in him. And this is true only for someone who was born from a putrid drop, since he came to the world through something which is very material and contains much uncleanliness, especially as a male is born because the woman gave seed first, as Chazal taught. But Adam HaRishon who was formed by Hashem's hands and was completely holy, even his foreskin, did not need any rectification at all. This is how we could answer that heretic.
With this we can understand the rest of the Midrash, which says that R. Hoshaya answered him that everything that was created needs rectification, and even a person needs rectification. All the commentaries wearied themselves to understand R. Hoshaya's intention, but we can easily understand his words with what I have written. Because there is a dispute in the gemara Nedarim whether circumcision is required because the foreskin is something loathsome or because circumcision is great. Accordingly, the distinction that we wrote is relevant only if the reason for circumcision is because the foreskin is something loathsome because the birth was very materialistic, and so one who was formed by the handywork of Hashem and thus has in him nothing evil does not require circumcision. But if circumcision is something great then this distinction is irrelevant, and Adam should also require circumcision.
Therefore, we must explain that the philosopher held that circumcision was something great, and this can be seen from his choice of words - "if circumcision is beloved, why was it not given to Adam HaRishon?". But R. Hoshaya answered him that the reason for circumcision is not because it is something great, but because the foreskin is loathsome and therefore also man requires rectification. But since the reason for circumcision is to rectify and to remove the filth, it follows that Adam HaRishon who was formed by Hashem's hands did not require rectification.
This is what the Torah is saying: "if a woman conceives and gives birth to a male" - if from a woman comes the formation of the male, and thus contains much uncleanliness, "on the eighth day he shall circumcise the flesh of his foreskin". But Adam HaRishon who was not born from a woman did not require circumcision.
