Fertility

Lifecycle

In Jewish texts and thought, it is God who grants fertility — whether agricultural bounty or children — through blessings and rain. Jewish texts and traditions include narratives of families struggling to conceive children, God opening wombs, prayers for rain, and more.

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Fertility by Design

TANAKH

The earth's flora and fauna self-perpetuate naturally. The first chapter of the book of Genesis describes how God created the vegetation to bear its own seeds and fruit, to be fertile.

And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation: seed-bearing plants, fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation: seed-bearing plants of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that this was good.

Genesis 1:11-12

Be Fruitful and Multiply

TANAKH

After the flood, only Noah and his family were left to repopulate the earth. The book of Genesis recounts God's commandment to Noah and his children to "be fruitful and multiply," an echo of God's earlier instruction to Adam, the first man.

God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be fertile and increase, and fill the earth.

Genesis 9:1

The Obligation to Procreate

MISHNAH

Given that the Torah requires men to procreate, what happens if a couple is unable to conceive? The Mishnah, the first codification of Jewish law, from the early third-century land of Israel, addresses this question.

A man may not neglect the mitzva to be fruitful and multiply unless he already has children. Beit Shammai say: One fulfills this mitzva with two males, and Beit Hillel say: A male and a female, as it is stated: “Male and female He created them” (Genesis 5:2). If a man married a woman and stayed with her for ten years and she did not give birth, he is no longer permitted to neglect the mitzva to be fruitful and multiply. Consequently, he must either divorce her and marry someone else, or take another wife while still married to her…

Mishnah Yevamot 6:6

Three Partners in Creation

TALMUD

According to rabbinic tradition, there are three partners in creation. The Babylonian Talmud in tractate Niddah explains the specific contributions of the father, mother, and God in the formation of a human being.

§ The Sages taught: There are three partners in the creation of a person: The Holy One, Blessed be He, and his father, and his mother. His father emits the white seed, from which the following body parts are formed: The bones, the sinews, the nails, the brain that is in its head, and the white of the eye. His mother emits red seed, from which are formed the skin, the flesh, the hair, and the black of the eye. And the Holy One, Blessed be He, inserts into him a spirit, a soul, his countenance [ukelaster]…

Niddah 31a:9

Count the Stars

MIDRASH

Among the first promises God made Abraham was that his progeny would be numerous beyond measure like the stars in the sky. Bamidbar Rabbah, a medieval midrash on the book of Numbers, connects God's promise to Abraham to a later prophecy of the prophet Hosea.

“Which cannot be measured and cannot be counted” (Hosea 2:1). After He set a limit: “the number will be” (Hosea 2:1), He then says they have no limit, “which cannot be measured and cannot be counted”? It is, rather, that the Holy One blessed be He showed Hosea, just as He showed Abraham, and said to him: “Look now toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you could count them” (Genesis 15:5). What is this matter; “count the stars, if you could count them”? Does the one who said “and count” then say “if you could count”? It is to inform you that he showed him by number: One, then two…

Bamidbar Rabbah 2:14

God, Giver of Life

TALMUD

Jewish tradition imagines that God has helpers and messengers but that there are certain roles that God keeps for Godself rather than delegating. The Babylonian Talmud in tractate Ta'anit teaches that God does not delegate the power of granting life.

§ The Gemara cites related statements concerning the idea that rainfall provides evidence of God’s might. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: There are three keys maintained in the hand of the Holy One, Blessed be He, which were not transmitted to an intermediary, i.e., God tends to these matters Himself. And they are: The key of rain, the key of birthing, and the key of the resurrection of the dead. Rabbi Yoḥanan cites verses in support of his claim. The key of rain, as it is stated: “The Lord will open for you His good treasure, the heavens…

Taanit 2a:12-2b:1

Bless This Year

LITURGY

In that God is the source of fertility and bounty, Jews pray to God for blessing in the form of rain. The Amidah, the central Jewish prayer recited by many Jews three times daily, includes seasonal insertions asking for rain during the winter and dew during the summer.

Bless for us, Adonoy our God, this year and all the varieties of its produce for good; and bestow From the first say of Pesach until the evening service [Maariv] on December 4, or, on a civil leap year, December 5, we say the following line. blessing From the evening service [Maariv] on December 4, or, on a civil leap year, December 5, until the First day of Pesach, we say the following line. dew and rain for a blessing* upon the face of the earth; satisfy us from Your bounty for you are generous Almighty who bestows goodness and blesses the years…

Siddur Sefard, Weekday Shacharit, Amidah 55-60

Mission Perpetuation

JEWISH THOUGHT

Children raised with their parents' values are set to continue that which their parents started. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, a 19th-century German Jewish philosopher, scholar, and rabbi, emphasizes the importance of raising and educating children in the ways of God so that they will continue to live their parents' Jewish values.

Be fruitful and multiply! From now on, plant the planting of your species in the world. From now on, grow the thread of life at every instance and every time. Raise your offspring for all time so that they will continue to build and establish what you have left still unfinished and not yet sturdy. Plant your vine in the garden of the Lord, your species on the earth, so that it will grow to be a faithful planting in the vineyard of the House of Israel. And do everything in your power for your offspring, to raise them and educate them for God…

Horeb 523:3-4

Sarah and Hagar: Ancient Surrogacy?

MIDRASH

Sarah, like the other matriarchs Rebecca and Rachel, struggled to become pregnant, and in her desperation to have a child, she gave over her maidservant, Hagar, to her husband, Abraham, in the hopes they would conceive and she would raise the child as her own. The medieval midrashic text Sefer HaYashar dramatically retells this biblical narrative, incorporating midrashic traditions.

And it was in the eighty-seventh year of (Noah's)[Abram's] life that Reu the son of Peleg died, and all the ‎days of Reu were two hundred and thirty-nine years when he died. And Sarai, daughter of ‎Haran, wife of Abram was still barren in those days, she had not born unto Abram neither a ‎son nor a daughter; and when she saw that she was barren, she took Hagar, her maid-servant, ‎and gave her unto Abram for a wife. For Hagar had learned all the good ways of Sarai, and she ‎would not omit doing the least from whatever Sarai had taught her…

Sefer HaYashar (midrash), Book of Genesis, Lech Lecha 9

Exponential Fertility in Egypt

MIDRASH

At the very beginning of the book of Exodus, the Torah describes the Israelites' miraculous birth rates: "the Israelites were fertile and prolific; they multiplied and increased very greatly, so that the land was filled with them." Midrash Tanchuma, a medieval collection of midrash, interprets this biblical text.

Our sages said: They bore twins. Others say: Six were formed in a single womb. Others say: twelve were born from one womb. And still other contend six hudred thousand. Those who believed that twins were born explained it by the words: Were fruitful and increased abundantly (Exod. 1:7). Those who contended that six were born based it on the words: Were fruitful and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceedingly mighty (ibid.), that is, six. Those who say that twelve were born argue that the words in this verse are in plural form, thus making twelve in all…

Midrash Tanchuma, Pekudei 9:2

A Child Dedicated to God

TANAKH

The book of Samuel begins with the story of his birth, including that his mother struggled for years to become pregnant and went and prayed to God for a child at the Tabernacle. After God grants her a son, Samuel, she dedicates him to service of the Lord at the Temple.

She said, “Please, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you and prayed to the LORD. It was this boy I prayed for; and the LORD has granted me what I asked of Him. I, in turn, hereby lend him to the LORD. For as long as he lives he is lent to the LORD.” And they bowed low there before the LORD.

I Samuel 1:26-28

A Land Flowing with Milk and Honey

TALMUD

The Torah refers to the land of Israel as a "land flowing with milk and honey." The Babylonian Talmud in tractate Ketubot records rabbis' encounters with the land literally flowing with milk and honey — a sign of its bounty and fertility.

§ Rami bar Yeḥezkel happened to come to Benei Berak. He saw those goats that were grazing beneath a fig tree, and there was honey oozing from the figs and milk dripping from the goats, and the two liquids were mixing together. He said: This is the meaning of the verse “A land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8). Rabbi Ya’akov ben Dostai said: There are three mil from Lud to Ono. Once I rose early in the morning and I walked in ankle-deep honey oozing from fig trees…

Ketubot 111b:22-112a:1

Conceiving Jewish Souls

CHASIDUT

If Jewish souls are conceived at the moment of a baby's conception, when and how are the Jewish souls of converts conceived? Rabbi Chaim Tyrer of Czernowitz discusses, in his Chasidic Torah commentary, Be'er Mayim Chaim.

And there are accordingly two types of procreation: One is in the world's physical dimension, which is sons and daughters, to increase their offspring like the dust of the land, since it was created to be inhabited (alluding to Isaiah 45:18). And the second is the procreation of souls in the higher world through [fulfillment of] the commandments and good deeds. For it is from there that the souls of converts and penitents come, as is known from the words of our teacher, Ari, may his memory be blessed…

Be'er Mayim Chaim, Genesis 11:30:2

Ancient Fertility Treatment?

COMMENTARY

What were the dudaim — usually translated as mandrakes — for which Rachel exchanged a night with Jacob? Rabbi Samuel David Luzzatto, a 19th-century Italian Jewish scholar, explores various interpretations and historical understandings of what the dudaim were, while expressing skepticism about the plant's magical properties.

The translator of Alexendria translated it as mandragorae [mandrake]. And so, too, did Onkelos translate it as yavruchin, which is the Arabic word for mandrakes. And the ancients would do magic with them to bring love from someone else's heart. Hence (according to the testimony of Dioscorides), they would call them circaeeae, from Circe [the mythical enchantress]. And they say that dudaim is accordingly derived from dodim, which has to do with love. But all of this is a very distant possibility in my eyes…

Shadal on Genesis 30:14:1

Chasidic Advice for Conception

CHASIDUT

What if there were spiritual remedies and folk practices to help a person become pregnant? In his early 19th-century collection of ethical teachings, Sefer HaMiddot, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov suggests a number of things to do to increase the odds of conception.

A woman who wants to conceive should carry a small piece of wood from the roof of the tomb built around a Tzaddik’s grave, or carry a magnet. She should also give charity. Eating small fish causes one to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:22). Pregnant and nursing women should avoid eating garlic and onions. A woman who sees the deeds of the wicked as despicable will be blessed with a child. Accepting the hardships of exile is a segulah for conceiving a child. Eating the meat of a lean animal and drinking olive oil are a segulah for conception.

Sefer HaMiddot, Conception; Pregnancy, Part I 2-7

Community Norms

HALAKHAH

The biblical commandment to "be fruitful and multiply" is one factor that contributes to the pressure on halakhically observant couples to have children. Dr. Deena Zimmerman notes other norms that make fertility struggles hard on an observant couple.

Difficulty in conceiving is a trying situation in any marriage. This is true even more for the halachically observant couple, because of the stress in Jewish law on the commandment to be fruitful and multiply (see the section on birth control, pp. 159–161, for further discussion of this issue). Societal norms in the observant community of having children sooner after marriage, more closely spaced and greater in number than is usual in secular society, add to the pressure. While a full discussion of infertility diagnosis and treatment is beyond the scope of this book…

A Lifetime Companion to the Laws of Jewish Family Life, Part Four; Medical Issues, Chapter 2; Infertility 2

A Charm to Have Children

HALAKHAH

Tradition offers hope to women who hope to have children. Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Sperling records a practice thought to contribute to the likelihood of one raising righteous children.

A charm [segulah] for pregnancy and raising children:
A woman who is forlorn about raising [her] children or who doesn't have any at all, God forbid, should say the haftarah of the first day of Rosh Hashanah [the story of Hannah miraculously giving birth to Samuel] after she lights candles [at the onset of Shabbat]. She should also give a few coins to charity before lighting the candles, though every woman should do that. And through this, they will merit to have proper children who are Torah scholars…

Ta'amei HaMinhagim, Segulot 90:1

The Fertility Connection in Niddah Laws

COMMENTARY

The laws of menstrual impurity, in many cases, have the unexpected benefit of promoting fertility. Professor Rabbi Judith Hauptman explores how the mandated period of separation and subsequent reunion align with the most fertile days of a woman's cycle.

It is also possible that an interest in promoting procreation underlies some of the legislation on this topic. The likely result of bringing a couple back together after a one or two week separation, exactly at the time that she is most fertile, is increased opportunity for conception. It is not clear that the rabbis knew these facts in a precise manner, but some of them pointed to a correlation between these biological phenomena.

Rereading the Rabbis; A Woman's Voice, 7 Niddah 102

Kabbalistic amulet for the safe pregnancy and delivery of Esther, wife of Shabbetai Hayyim, son of Bruneta with permutations. 18th c. Wellcome Collection. (CC BY 4.0).

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