By Avner Friedmann
The Parshah begins with the following words,[1] “Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying: Speak to the Children of Israel saying; when a woman conceives and gives birth…” Out of all the creations in the universe, the creation of human life is the most sublime phenomenon of all. By bringing human life into being, man and woman literally become partners with G-d. The children receive the physical body from their father and mother and the soul is given to them by G-d.
Our holy books[2] tell us that all souls from the time of Adam until the end of days, were brought into being during the six days of creation and that until they descend to this world, they are in Gan Eden, the repository of souls. When a man and woman are about to bring a child into the world, the Holy One, blessed is He, informs the angel in charge of pregnancies that a conception is about to take place. HaShem tells the angel everything about this child, whether it will be male or female, strong or weak, rich or poor, short or tall, good looking or ugly, skinny or fat, smart or stupid. He also informs the angel of many other aspects of the life of this soul.
HaShem then commands a different angel, the one in charge of souls, to bring a specific soul from Gan Eden and He instructs the soul to enter the fetus. The soul answers that in Gan Eden it derived great pleasure by being close to Him, and doesn’t want to descend to the physical realm. But HaShem responds that from the moment the soul was created it was meant to reside in the body of this particular baby.
On its journey to the womb the angel shows the soul all the Tzaddikim (righteous ones) in the Garden of Eden, who kept Torah and mitzvot while in this world. It then is shown the suffering of the wicked who did not serve HaShem during their lifetime. He then tells the soul, “Be righteous and don’t be wicked”. The soul takes an oath before HaShem to do His will. The angel then assigns two other angels to guard and protect the unborn baby.
In the womb, the baby learns the entire Torah and perceives the truth of Divine reality. He literally perceives the world “from one end to the other”. At the appointed time, the Angels inform the baby that the time has come to exit the womb, but he wants to stay. The Angel then says,[3] “Against your will were you created, against your will you were born, against your will you live, against your will you will die, and against your will you are destined to give an accounting before the Supreme King of Kings, the Holy One, blessed is He”.
As soon as the child emerges into this world, an angel comes and strikes his lips, causing him to forget all the Torah he learned in the womb.
We might ask, “If the child is made to forget the whole Torah, why teach it to him in the first place?” The answer is that this initial teaching facilitates his Torah learning throughout his lifetime. It grants him a prior understanding of Torah, so that later, his Torah learning is merely to remember what he already knows to be true. It allows him to achieve a true understanding of Torah, this time through his own efforts; something which is so sublime that would have been completely beyond his grasp otherwise.
As mentioned, most things are predetermined for before a person comes into the world. The only thing HaShem does not decree is whether the person will be righteous or wicked. “Everything is in the hands of Heaven, except for the fear of Heaven.” This HaShem leaves to the free choice of the person, as the Torah states,[4] “See, I have placed before you today life and good, and death and evil…blessing and curse; Choose life!”
[1] Tazria 12:1-2.
[2] The drasha is based on Tanchuma Pekudei 3, The Holy Zohar Tazria 43a, and Gemara in Nidah 30b.
[3] Avot 4:22.
[4] Nitzavim 30:15 and19.
