Don Isaac Abravanel, sometimes spelled Abarbanel (1437-1508) was a probing and penetrating Jewish thinker, as well as a prolific
Biblical commentator. In Leviticus 12, we read about the laws of women who give birth, and their
ensuing obligation to bring sacrifices to the Tabernacle.
“And God spoke unto Moses, saying: Speak unto the Children of Israel
saying, If a woman gives birth to a boy…gives birth to a girl…And when
the days of her [spiritual] purification are fulfilled…she shall bring a lamb
of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtle dove
for a sin offering unto the door of the Tent of Meeting unto the priest.”
Abravanel asks: Why do moms bring burnt offerings and sin offerings? And secondly, he questions the
order or sequence of the two sacrifice types. Generally, sin offerings precede burnt offerings and not
the other way around. Finally, Abravanel wonders about a mother’s need to bring a sin offering
altogether. What was her misdeed that necessitates atonement?
Abravanel has the following to say. For brevity we omit what Abravanel writes on topic, according to the Talmudic
sages. SeeAbravanel’s World.
Abravanel’s straightforward explanation follows. Post birth, moms have a wait period to restore their
spiritual cleanliness. After that time frame elapsed, they ascended the Holy Mount to bring sacrifices.
Burnt offerings are meant to foster closeness with the Creator. Obviously, a woman who experiences
excruciating and perilous childbirth, has gone through much. She feels close to God for surviving the
ordeal, hence a burnt offering.
But what about her sin offering? Why must she bring it? Abravanel assumes, that a person does not
suffer in this world for naught. Trial and tribulation transpire as a result of transgression. In our context,
Abravanel believes that somewhere, mother erred – though the Torah is mum as to her sin. A sin
offering atones for her past misdeed, whatever it was.
In closing, Abravanel discusses the order of both sacrifices, and teaches Bible students the significance
of the sequence. Beginning with a burnt offering illustrates the birth mom’s first or main intent in going
to the Temple; it is to spiritually attach to the Creator. Next, she brings a sin offering. Although she can’t
recall or put her finger exactly on what she did, she intuitively understands that nevertheless, some sin
took place. A sin offering serves, if you will, as a divine safety net or insurance policy for past and
inadvertent wrongs.
