Questions tagged [pregnancy-birth]
laws and customs pertaining to pregnancy, labor, and childbirth
223 questions
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A Baby Too Large?
Apparently there is a gemara which says if a fetus is too large for the mother, then the mother is put in danger. (Heard in a recorded shiur) Where is this gemara?
[As a bonus point, why would Hashem ...
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Old fashioned telephone vs. Uber App on Shabbos
From Rabbi Moshe Heinemann:
Riding to the Hospital
A woman need not spend Shabbos/Yom Tov at a
location close to the hospital or arrive at the hospital before labor
starts to avoid riding on ...
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Source for parable about two twins in the womb
I once heard/read a parable about two babies in their mother's womb. It goes something like this.
Two twins in the womb are speaking of the world to come, one believes it exists, the
other not. ...
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Customs/Habits around having a second child?
Besides the brit milah ceremony, pidyon haben/habat (redemption of the firstborn) or kidush peter rechem (sanctification of the womb's opening) or seder kidushat chaye hamishpacha, (ceremony of ...
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Why human procreation is not voluntary?
Physiologically, the process of procreation is all "out of our control", whether on the side of men or women.
For example, women don't have a choice of deciding whether to get pregnant or not (think ...
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Prayer regarding the dangerous premature birth of gentile friend’s baby
My dear gentile friend gave birth very, very prematurely (at @ 5 months) to her due date. The female baby survived but is
still dependent on a breathing tube and is still very weak and underweight. ...
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Can a pregnant woman go to aquariums?
Some have the custom that pregnant women do not go to zoos. (See here)
Does this custom extend to aquariums too?
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A widow using her deceased husbands semen to conceive?
If a husband has some of his semen frozen/saved and then dies, what halachic and hashkafic issues have to be addressed when deciding if his widow is allowed to/can/should use that semen to become ...
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Earliest source for question on timing of birth control?
I am aware of discussions in the Gemara and Rishonim of the permissibility of various methods of birth control.
What I am looking for is the earliest mention of the modern day practice in which a ...
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Source for R' Soloveitchik's teaching about why we don't stand for a baby in utero?
There's a famous teaching from Niddah 30b that a baby is taught the entire Torah in utero.
Someone once referenced this gemara and asked The Rav, if that's the case why don't we stand for a pregnant ...
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Can a rabbi conduct a marriage if the bride is already pregnant from the groom?
Are there any prohibitions against or stipulations for conducting a marriage between a woman and the man who recently impregnated her, assuming they are otherwise fit for marriage.
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A pregnant woman of a boy kohen baby going into cemetery
The gemara in chullin 71 writes that a tahor baluah cannot become tamei. Meaning something inside someone cannot become tamei from the outside. So it seems from this gemara that a woman who married a ...
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Are Noahide women permitted to undergo a tubal ligation?
Shalom!
I am a non Jewish G-d fearing woman with two children and even though I am still quite young (24) I don't want to have any more children. I have severe depression and anxiety so the two I ...
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Can a Jewish man be a sperm donor?
What are the Halachik issues with donating sperm in a non-Jewish community?
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Shalom Zachar on Pesach Night
Rav Heinemann mentioned during a shiur that there is no shalom zachar on Pesach if shabbos is the night of the seder. Although practically having one would be very difficult, why is this night ...
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Can a pregnant woman enter a cemetery?
I heard that a pregnant woman should not enter a cemetery. I understand this is a minhag and not halacha but would be interested to understand more about this topic.
What is the source of that minhag?...
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Personality traits of being born on certain weekdays
A few years ago I was reading that there are some teachings on the weekdays and their "personality" and also how it influences the person born on one of them.
Could anyone help me to find more ...
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Does a pregnant or nursing woman fast on a postponed Tish'ah B'Av?
According to this answer pregnant and nursing women generally fast only on Tish'ah B'Av and Yom Kippur, but not the other "minor" fasts. (This is certainly the case where fasting would cause them pain....
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At what point in the birth process is the woman's death called a death at childbirth, in regard to not burying her with tachricim (shrouds)?
Shulchan Aruch and R'Ma (YD 364:4):
אִם מָצְאוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל הָרוּג, יִקְבְּרוּהוּ כְּמוֹ שֶׁמְּצָאוּהוּ,
בְּלֹא תַּכְרִיכִין, וְלֹא יַחְלְצוּ בּוֹ אֲפִלּוּ מִנְעָלָיו. הַגָּה:
וְכֵן עוֹשִׂין ...
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Does the Neshama (soul) choose the body?
I think i might have read in various places i just can't find where that the neshama chooses the body based on the life missions that it needs to accomplish so it chooses the most suitable conditions ...
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Aruch Hashulchan's comments about the form of a fetus
In his discussion of the sin of wasting seed, R. Yechiel Michel Epstein writes that scientists using microscopes have found that the drop of semen contains the entire image/form of a person, thus ...
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Was Dan born out of wedlock?
I've heard that Dan was born out of wedlock. Is this true? Could someone provide me with a source for this information?
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A Hebrew prayer upon discovering the news of having a baby?
I've found this book called: The Jewish Pregnancy book; 'A Resource for the Soul, Body & Mind during Pregnancy, Birth & the First Three Months', written by Sandy Falk, M.D., and Rabbi Daniel ...
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Are there any living mainstream orthodox Rabbonim today that permit abortion for Tay Sachs etc
Are there any orthodox rabbis alive today that allow one to abort a fetus that has been diagnosed with a life threatening illness such as Tay Sachs?
I have read the related posts that discuss the For ...
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Are pregnant women forbidden from eating harmful vegetables?
There are many things that we can’t do because of danger - the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch even has an entire Siman on the topic.
Sifrei Bamidbar 87 states that certain vegetables are harmful to pregnant ...
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Why do we cry at shivah houses?
The Midrash in Koheles Rabbah (7:4 in the Warsaw numbering) writes (translation follows Artscroll, chapter 7, page 31):
נולד אדם הכל שמחין מת הכל בוכין. ואינו כן אלא נולד אדם ואין שמחין לו שאין ...
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Does a non-Jew learn in the womb the same way a Jew does?
At every stage of a person’s existence, Torah is part of it.
“When you are sitting at home” (meaning in the womb)
“when you are going on the road,” (meaning the soul descends from the world above to ...
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When is a convert's Hebrew birthday?
Is it their conversion date, the Hebrew date on which they were biologically born, or something else? (For questions of halachic age as well as mystical significance)
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Conception/Delivery Same Time
What is the source that states when Moshiach is here - women will deliver babies the moment they conceive. I heard this in a shiur from HaRav Yitzchak Ginsburg in Israel.
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Finding out the gender of the baby your expecting [duplicate]
I know that in some Jewish circles there is a big taboo regarding finding out the gender of the baby your expecting? What is the reason for this taboo, and does it have any Halachic basis?
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Explaining the parameters of the mitzvah of "Be fruitful and Multiply"
While learning מנחת חינוך last week, I discovered a ruling that if a Gentile had children and he converted afterwards and the children also converted, he does not need to have additional children to ...
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Were Benei Noach chayiv in Priah u'Reviah and Bris Milah before Sinai?
The Gemara in Sanhedrin 59a says that any mitzvah given to Benei Noach and repeated at Har Sinai, generally speaking, was given to both groups. Thus, both groups are given the issur of Avodah Zarah, ...
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Tehilim 51, "in sin did his mother conceive him", What does that mean?
In Tehilim chapter 51 verse 7 King David writes that in sin did his mother conceive him. What does that mean?
I've read a few opinions about this.
Does anybody have anything else?
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When during IVF are the parents' thoughts determining the level of the soul of their baby
I have read that the thoughts of a couple during marital relations does determine and effect the level of the soul they draw down for their baby. What about a couple using IVF to conceive? When ...
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When does the soul enter the fetus?
When during the pregnancy does the soul enter into the embryo or fetus? At conception? At how many weeks or months after conception or before birth? Thank you
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The importance of a name with meaning
What is the importance of a name?
I read this on the Aish website:link
The naming of a Jewish child is a most profound spiritual moment. The
Sages say that naming a baby is a statement of her ...
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does a husband pray for his seed (child until birth)?
in Berakoth 60a it says
Within the first three days a man should pray that the seed should not putrefy; from the third to the fortieth day he should pray that the child should be a male; from the ...
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What is the status of a fetus before it emerges?
Sanhedrin 72B says a fetus becomes a person when its head emerges. But I have heard that abortion is justified based on the permission to kill a rodef (deadly pursuer). But it seems to me that, ...
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Source for not saying Mazel Tov when pregnant
There seems to be a custom of not saying Mazel Tov on hearing news or observing that someone is pregnant (there are even those that correct others that say Mazel Tov). Instead they say Beshaah Tovah, ...
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Women not leaving the home after birth [duplicate]
I have three questions, but they are all related closely.
There appears to be a minhag (widespread among Ashkenazi women) that after childbirth, the first place the yoledes (woman who has given birth)...
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Kiddush for a baby girl
Where does the idea of making a kiddush (party) Shabbos morning when a girl is born come from? How far back does this practice go?
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Under what conditions may a newly married couple go on birth control?
Which halachic conditions may allow a couple to go on birth control upon getting married?
Is the desire to work on building a solid relationship between man and wife before starting a family a valid ...
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Surrogate birth, egg donations and 'Jewishness' [duplicate]
This is a two part question and although nuanced in there difference - I believe there is one.
If a Jewish mother and father donate eggs/sperm to a non-Jewish mother is the child that is born Jewish?...
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Does marrying the woman one got pregnant before the baby is born make a difference?
The non-Jewish world considers any child born out of wedlock a bastard. As such, there is often a rush to get married before the baby is born, once the child is conceived out of wedlock.
In Jewish ...
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Rav Moshe's Psak on Fertility Treatments
I recently read an interview with Rav Dovid Feinstein and he referenced a two year period of Rav Moshe's life that were troubling due to backlash he received following a controversial psak regarding ...
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Are there any halachic issues involved with using jscreen?
jscreen.org is an organization that provides genetic testing for Jews to help potential spouses better know if their children might have the potential to develop different diseases.
The issue is that ...
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Does the grandfather make a blessing on seeing his granddaughter for the first time?
The father of a new girl makes the shehechiyanu blessing on seeing his daughter for the first time.
Does the grandfather make a beracha ? He has not seen the child before and is surely joyful. (See ...
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What do the sources say about when women can reveal they're pregnant
I've heard that women are meant to wait until after the first trimester to reveal that they are pregnant. (One rabbi I heard say they should wait even beyond, if possible.) The idea being to avoid ...
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Haamek Davar's implication that God used childbearing terminology
The Haamek Davar explains Genesis 17:16–19 as follows: In verse 16, God tells Abraham that He "will give [Abraham] a son from" Sarah. Because Sarah is no longer physically capable of ...
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Peru Urevu Halacha question [duplicate]
If a jewish male donates sperm to a jewish couple who cannot have children for whatever purpose. By donating sperm does the donor fulfill the mitzvah of Peru Eruvu?
If the answer is yes, then the ...
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