Hello and blessings.
We continue our study of Brit Shalom, the laws for the Children of Noah, and we have reached Chapter Six. This is, I would say, one of the most significant chapters for our world — the chapter on the laws of family life, what is commonly called the prohibition of incest (giluy arayot), though in fact it is much broader than that.
There is a tremendous appreciation in the Torah of Moses for matters of family and especially for the continuation of life — procreation. Here it is necessary to emphasize the difference between the Jewish approach and that of Christianity. Christianity sees marital relations as a kind of moral decline of man, a consequence of sin. Everything connected to sexuality is viewed only negatively.
In contrast, in Judaism, procreation (“be fruitful and multiply”) is the very first commandment in the Torah, and there is immense respect for the bond of love between husband and wife and for the fertility that results from it.
There is no reason to see physical life as something base. On the contrary — the special covenant between the Holy One, Blessed be He, and the people of Israel (and also with the Children of Noah who are willing to undergo this act) is the covenant of circumcision — Brit Milah. The covenant with God is made precisely upon the organ of generation.
Let us read the verses quoted at the beginning of Chapter Six concerning family matters. Three verses are brought here from the Book of Genesis:
The first:
“And God created man in His image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
This means that from the very beginning, the human being is built from two complementary parts.
“And God blessed them, and God said to them: Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.”
We also see that when the first couple is formed, according to the Torah’s description, man awakens and recognizes himself as composed of two beings:
“And the man said, ‘This time, bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.’”
The Zohar marvels at these words, saying: “See how sweet these words are!” — ‘Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and cling to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.’
How is it possible to both “cling to his wife” and “become one flesh”? The sages explain: by cleaving to his wife, they become one flesh through the child who is born of them.
And also the expression:
“And the man called his wife’s name Eve (Chava), because she was the mother of all living.”
Man stands at the summit of all living beings; therefore, the first wife of the first man is named after all life itself — Chava, “life.”
