Vayikra 12:1-5 (Tazria) – Tumah of a new mother and circumcision on the eighth day

Vayikra 12:1,2 records that if a woman gives birth to a boy she become tamei for seven days. Afterwards, for the following 33 days the new mother is in a quasi-state of tumah, she cannot go to the mikdash but she is considered tahor with regard to her husband, 12:4. On the other hand, if a woman gives birth to a girl, she is tamei for 14 days, and her quasi-state of tumah is for 66 days, 12:5. The ratio of the new mother being tamei and in a quasi-state of tumah is equal for the birth of a boy and a birth of a girl, but why are the absolute numbers different? Why is there a difference in the number of days of tumah for the mother if the child born was a boy as opposed to a girl?

Within the laws of the tumah of the mother, 12:3 records that a newborn boy is circumcised on the eighth day of his life. This verse is a little surprising since from Bereshit 17:10-14 (and Bereshit 21:4) we already know that a male must be circumcised after eight days. It is true that the law of circumcision in Bereshit occurred before the covenant at Mount Sinai, and thus one might argue that the law had to be repeated, see statement by R. Yehuda in Mishnah Hullin 7:6, and comments of the Rambam on the Mishnah. Yet, there are other laws in Bereshit (1:28, 32:33) that are applicable even though they were not repeated after the establishment of the covenant at Mount Sinai. More likely, the reference to circumcision within the laws of tumah of the new mother is because these two concepts are related. What is the relationship?

One possibility is that the tumah and taharah are the independent variables, and the circumcision (the dependent variable) is due to the ending of the tumah. The Talmud (Niddah 31b) quotes R. Shimon Bar Yochai who explains that the circumcision is on the eighth day since everybody is happy at the circumcision, and the Torah desired that the husband and wife should also be happy. If the wife is tamei, then the husband and wife cannot be together, so then they would be sad if the circumcision was before the eighth day. Thus, according to this explanation, the circumcision is on the eighth day since by then the wife is tahor. This is an interesting idea that the Torah was so concerned with the companionship between husband and wife that it delayed the circumcision to the eighth day, but it leaves the question of why the mother is tamei for seven days after the birth of a boy and fourteen days after the birth of a girl unanswered. For other suggestions that also follow the idea that the dating of the circumcision is due to the tumah, see Luzzatto on 12:3.

Hoffmann (on Vayikra 12:1-5, 1953, p. 252) suggests that the causality is reversed. With this understanding, the mother's tumah (the dependent variable) after the birth of a boy is limited to seven days because of the circumcision (the independent variable). Yet, why is the circumcision on the eighth day?

Korman (1998, vol. 2, pp. 290,291) quotes various reasons. One, from Vayikra Rabbah 27:10 that the circumcision is on the eighth day to ensure that the child experiences one Shabbat before the circumcision. It is not clear to me why the child needs to experience a Shabbat not circumcised. Two, from R. Judan ben Pazzi (Devarim Rabbah, 6:1) that the circumcision is on the eighth day to give the child enough strength to undergo the circumcision. This reason is also mentioned by the Rambam (Moreh 3:49, Maimonides, 1963, p. 611) and Korman quotes a study that the child has the most amount of vitamin K which helps the blood coagulate on the eighth day. This answer is certainly possible, but if the issue is the health of the child, would it not be better to wait a month?

I think the timing of the circumcision on the eighth day is related to the question why is the mother tamei after giving birth. In our discussion above on chapters 12-15, "Introduction to tumah," we explain that tumah signifies a separation or potential separation from G-d. In the case of the new mother, the tumah (and the hatta't sacrifice, 12:6) does not relate to any sin but there are two possible reasons why the birth process might have separated the new mother in some ways from G-d. One, it could be that mother's attachment to the new child diminishes her connection to G-d or, more likely, during the time of the labor, which is the most intensive physical action a person goes through, the mother is separated from G-d since she is completely focused on her body. The new mother is then given time when she is tamei to acknowledge that this separation had occurred. The tumah by the birth of a girl is fourteen days, and this is the ideal time that is given to the new mother.

With this idea, the circumcision should be on the 15th day after the birth since then the mother's tumah, which marked her separation from G-d, has ended. However, delaying the circumcision to the 15th day is problematic. Circumcision demonstrates the parents' dedication to G-d that they are willing to have their newborn son circumcised. Based on this rationale, the circumcision should really be on the first day that the child is born. But, the new mother is not in a position to make this dedication on the first day after the birth due to her being in a state of tumah, which signifies her separation from G-d.

Accordingly, performing the circumcision on the eighth day is a compromise between two conflicting values. On the one hand, the circumcision should be on the 1st day after the birth, but the new mother is still tamei and separated from G-d. On the other hand, the circumcision could be on the 15th day after the birth when the new mother's tumah has ended, but then the parents have delayed demonstrating their dedication to G-d. The compromise is to do the circumcision on the 8th day, and then the mother's tumah, and separation from G-d, is shortened to seven days because by circumcising her son on the 8th day, the new mother is demonstrating her closeness and return to G-d.