לרפואת אבי מורי ר' יצחק יונה בן חנה ור' מרדכי דוד בן קריינא בתוך שח"י
1] The Gemara [פסחים ע"א] says that there is no mitzva of simcha on the first night of Yuntiv. But the Chazon Ish says that there is a special simcha on the first night of Pesach. What is the nature of this unique simcha?
2] A Bechor is only sanctified if he is the firstborn of his mother which is straaaaange b/c מכת בכורות upon which the קודשה of the בכור is predicated upon, affected all בכור's of the Egyptians - both from the mother AND father. So why are our בכור's only from the mother?
3] A בן נח is liable to capital punishment for performing an abortion whereas a Jew is not. Why this distinction? The source for the חיוב מיתה is the pasuk "שופך דם האדם באדם דמו ישפך" - Who is the person within a person for whom one's blood is spilled? A fetus. The pasuk concludes "כי בצלם א-להים עשה את האדם". Man is created in the image of G-d. Shouldn't that apply to Jews as well??
4] Why is a stillborn called a נפל? Since the fetus wasn't viable, it "falls" out. When there is a birth of a viable child, it is a יציאה - an active exit.
5] The pasuk says about Chava "הרבה ארבה עצבונך והרונך בעצב תלדי בנים" - To the woman He said, "I will greatly multiply the pain [lit. sadness] of your pregnancy; with pain [lit. sadness] will you bear children. We see two things in this pasuk: a] We distinguish between pregnancy and birth. b] When it comes to pregnancy the pasuk says "עצבונך" - YOUR sadness but when referring to birth it say "תלדי" - not "your", but a more general reference.
6] The Mishna [Eduyos 2-9] says that the Geulah is based on the מספר הדורות - number of generations. "ודור רביעי ישובו הנה".
7] The Mishna in Avos [3-14] says that man is beloved b/c he was created in the Image of G-d - בצלם א-להים. The Jews are beloved b/c they are called sons of Hashem. בנים אתם לה' א-להיכם. People mistakenly think that the Mishna is saying that the בני נח are created בצלם and we are even better b/c we are בנים. Not true. There is NOTHING greater than the מעלה of the צלם. The Mishna is saying something else, as we will explain.
8] Adam was in Gan Eden, created by Hashem Himself. Very holy. But then he sinned and his spiritual stature was significantly diminished. The Jewish people have the capacity to restore man's original glory which we work towards until that happens at תחיית המתים. That is what Chazal say "אדם אתם" - only YOU the jews are אדם. We will restore the splendor of man's original glory. The only way the בני נח can be part of this is if he converts - either becoming a גר תושב or גר צדק. We are called בנים b/c we are an advanced, heightened form of צלם א-להים b/c we will restore the צלם of אדם הראשון.
9] We have a tradition that the מספר הדורות that brings the גאולה [see #6] only counts when a viable child is actually born. A נפל - stillborn, doesn't count for this count.
10] Back to Chava: The reason the pasuk distinguishes because pregnancy and childbirth is b/c pregnancy alone does not impact the ultimate Geulah. Only childbirth does b/c that is a link in the Geulah. מספר הדורות.
11] We also understand why pregnancy is referred to as עצבונך והרונך - YOUR sadness, YOUR pregnancy, while when referring to birth it say "תלדי" referring to the birth but not "your" birth. The discomfort of pregnancy belongs to the woman alone. It is HERS. The birth relates to the entire world b/c that birth [in Klal Yisrael] is a link in the chain of Geulah.
[עפ"י תורת מרן ראש הישיבה זצ"ל]
Hopefully - to be continued!
