Shabbat HaChodesh: Tazria-Orthodox

Leviticus 12:1−13:59

By Rabbi Joseph Ozarowski, provided by the Orthodox Union, the central coordinating agency for North American Orthodox Congregations for MyJewishLearning.com

Parental Sacrifice

The burnt offering and the sin offering that a woman brings after childbirth symbolize the dual nature of parenting.

The opening verses of Tazria deal with the various rituals a woman undergoes after childbirth. After the birth of a child she brings two offerings: a year-old lamb or a turtledove or a pigeon as an olah, a burnt offering; and a turtledove or a pigeon as a chatas, a sin offering.

The Talmud questions the order of the offerings as they are described in the Torah, pointing out that when these two offerings are brought as a pair, the chatas is always offered first. Yet in these verses about childbirth, the olah is listed first.

Raba maintains that, in fact, the chatas is brought first. Why, then, is it listed second?

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