Daughters of Israel

By Rabbi Eliahu Leon Levi, shilta
Excerpted from the book, “Mishbatzot Zahav Livusha”

Dear daughter of Israel, more precious than pearls, know that you embody within yourself a reflection of the highest spiritual worlds. Therefore, come and heed the word of G-d. Please be aware that the entire purpose of your marriage is to fulfill the commandment, “Be fruitful and multiply,” to bring children into the world, in order to raise and educate them in the path of the Torah and the commandments, and to lead them on the holy and time-honored path of spiritual elevation fostered by our holy Forefathers. It is precisely in fulfilling these precepts of having children and educating them properly, along with other holy commandments, that you will come to great reward in this world, and will merit the ever-multiplied reward which the Blessed One has prepared for you in the world to come.

Additionally, there have been other couples who tried to have children after refraining for years, who did these same mistakes, and who also ignored the commandments of the Torah, and were accordingly punished by the Heavenly Court, may G-d have mercy, with various diseases, or damaging accidents, or who were wounded in terrorist attacks, in such a manner that they could no longer have children. It is important to understand the punishment that befell these women who made a conscious decision to postpone having children in order to insure themselves greater personal pleasures and joy. One can ask, since joy in marriage is a positive thing, why were they punished by the Heavenly Tribunal?

The answer is that these couples, and many others like them who avoid having children, decide from the start that children will not be born from their marital relations. Thus they perform their marital relations in a spirit of levity, lacking the proper holy intention that the marriage union deserves. In this absence of holy reverence, semen is often carelessly spilled in vain, and this causes great anguish to the souls of the Jewish People, as these souls fall into exile, imprisoned in the realm of spiritual impurity.

Transgressions of this nature bring about a state of exile to our emotional and physical beings, causing severe illnesses. Through these harsh sufferings, the Heavenly Court collects its dues for the pleasures these couples engaged in, turning their ONEG ענג (Hebrew word for pleasure) into NEGA  נגע(Hebrew word for plague). Only after this painful exculpation of suffering and sickness will their fortunes be transformed for the better, in true pleasure and blessing and joy.

Another sorrowful outcome of the decision to postpone having children is that Jewish souls are prevented from coming to this world. This delays the coming of Mashiach and prolongs the exile, bringing upon our people even greater tribulations than we have suffered until now. Therefore, my precious daughter, your mistaken judgment brought you to severe transgression, which damaged all of your physical being, and darkened the ladder of spiritual worlds that you are attached to, causing great anguish in the upper celestial realms, and causing our Father, our King, to sit and weep over his holy daughter, more precious than gold.

All of this came about from a lack of knowledge and some foolish, unthinking behavior, in that you did not seek the counsel of righteous rabbis and genuine Kabbalists who understand these matters, who could have helped you to elevate your thinking to a more exalted level. In this way, you could have come to a proper course of decision-making, and learned how to arrange the turmoil in your head and overcome confusing thoughts. In lieu of this, you brought upon yourself a profound spiritual and moral descent, all because you failed to understand why you have come into this world. For you have been brought into this world to improve the world, and not to damage it. Furthermore, you forgot that there is a Law, and there is a Judge, and all of your deeds are recorded. Thus it was your own doings that caused your fall, in that you did not seek to fathom G-d’s sublime moral way.

Therefore, please, honored women and daughters of Israel, don’t err and fall away from the path of the Torah, specifically in these matters. May it be the will of our Father in Heaven that the Jewish People be fruitful and multiply, and be blessed with good health, and that the Blessed One Holy Be He, in His great mercy, overturn the Heavenly decree that befell these mistaken women and immediately grant them sons who will grow up to serve Hashem, “for all of the people have fallen into mistaken ways.” Amen, may it be G-d’s will.