The Torah portion of Tazria opens with the laws of childbirth; in the Messianic era, “A woman will give birth every day.” / Nine hours instead of nine months. / The inner significance of gestation.

The prophet Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah) describes the future ingathering of the exiles as follows: "Behold, I will bring them from the north and gather them from the ends of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and the woman giving birth together; a great company shall return there" (Yirmiyahu 31:7). In Tractate Shabbos (30:b) our Talmudic Sages interpret the words "the pregnant woman and the woman giving birth together" as alluding to one of the miracles of the Messianic era: "Rabban Gamliel taught that in the future, a woman will give birth every day, as it is written, ‘the pregnant woman and the woman giving birth together.'" That is to say, "the pregnant woman" and the "woman giving birth" are not two separate women, but the same individual woman conceiving and giving birth on the same day.

[Note: As the Rebbe has explained in a handwritten letter, "a woman will give birth every day" means that the birthing process will be quick and effortless, not that women will have to give birth every single day (!) in the literal sense.]

In his work Netzach Yisroel (Chapter 3), the Maharal of Prague writes that the above prophecy will be fulfilled even according to the opinion that "There is no difference between this world and the Days of Moshiach except for the subjugation of the nations," i.e., the world will continue to operate under natural law in the era of the Redemption. To explain:

There are many things in existence that were created in a certain way at the beginning of creation, but were altered after man transgressed and introduced sin into the world. In the Messianic era, when all mankind will turn to G-d in repentance, the world will return to its original, natural state.

Giving birth after a gestational period of one day is not a new phenomenon; it already existed in the times of Chava, who gave birth to Kayin and Hevel on the same day she herself was created. The sin of the Tree of the Knowledge, in addition to various other sins, brought the world down from its original spiritual level to its present state. In the future, when the world will be spiritually rectified, the phenomenon of conception and birth will go back to the way it once was.

The Tzemach Tzedek adds (see Sefer Halikutim) that according to the Midrash (Bereishis Rabbah 286), a gestational period of only one day existed even later in history, up until the time of the Flood.

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Nine Hours vs. Nine Months 

According to the Tzemach Tzedek, the present gestational period of nine months will be reduced to nine hours in the Messianic era.

To explain:

In the Messianic era, the entire world will be on a higher spiritual level. In the upper spheres, "time" is different, less divisible than it is down here; a period of time in an upper world is equal to a much longer period of time in a lower one. In the future, the world will be elevated to the level known as "Arich Anpin," literally "long image." (Incidentally, this is consistent with our Sages' description of the Messianic era (Kiddushin 39b) as "the day that is entirely long," i.e., a time when the attribute of Arich Anpin will be openly revealed.) Accordingly, a pregnancy that takes nine months at present will take only nine hours in the future, after the world has become more rarefied.

This also explains why the gestational period before the Flood was one day, as at that time the world still operated on the level of Arich Anpin. The typical lifespan was also much longer than it was after the Flood.

The Tzemach Tzedek explains the prophecy of "a woman will give birth every day" in the metaphysical sense as well, relating to the "birth" of souls:

According to Chasidus, in the same way a person must undergo a period of "ibbur" (gestation) before he is born, so too must the soul undergo a preparatory phase of ibbur before it can come down into this world. The source of all souls is the world of Atzilus, where G-d's unity is revealed and all entities are completely nullified in the intensity of the Divine light. Before the soul can descend through the worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah and ultimately into Asiyah, levels on which G-dliness is progressively concealed and hidden, it must prepare for its journey by remaining a certain amount of time on the spiritual level of "Malchus of Atzilus."

At present, because the discrepancy between Atzilus and all of the lower worlds is so huge, the soul must endure a long and protracted period of preparation. In the future, however, G-dliness will be revealed in the worlds of Beriyah, Yetzirah and Asiyah to a much greater extent than it is now. Because the gap between Atzilus and everything below it will have been lessened, and all spiritual levels will have a greater measure of G-dly revelation, the "gestation" period of souls will be much shorter. At that time, "a woman" (an allusion to the feminine aspect of "Malchus of Atzilus") "will give birth every day."

Chasidus notes that an intrinsic connection exists between the number nine and the process of gestation: In order to be actually incarnated within a physical body, the soul must descend downward from Atzilus through the nine lower sefiros until it reaches the sefirah of Malchus.

The number nine is also significant in Chapter 20 of Tehillim, "To the chief musician, a Psalm for Dovid," which consists of nine verses, and concludes with the words, "The King Who hears us on the day that we call." This is an allusion to the Messianic era, when a pregnancy will no longer require nine months but nine hours, and birth will take place "on the [same] day that we call."

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Adults and Children

Till now we have focused on the inner meaning of pregnancy and birth. But the era of Redemption will also see changes in the newborn itself:

One of the Torah's prophecies about the Messianic era is as follows: "And they will teach no more every man his neighbor and every man his brother...for they will all know Me, from the smallest of them to the greatest" (Yirmiyahu 31:33). In other words, the awareness of G-d will be so common and widespread that it will no longer be necessary to educate others, as young and old alike will be suffused with G-dly knowledge.

The Rebbe has explained (Sefer Hasichos 5751, Volume I) that in the Messianic era there will still be differences between young and old people; spiritual perfection will not be instantly attained upon birth. Nonetheless, when it comes to intrinsic knowledge of G-d's Essence, a level that supercedes intellectual understanding, everyone will be equal, despite the fact that distinctions between "small" and "great" will continue to exist in both chronological age and spiritual stature.

Elsewhere (Likutei Sichos, Volume 29) we find evidence that the nature of newborn babies will change in the Messianic era, and that a day-old infant will be able to perform actions that are impossible today.

The Rebbe cites the famous story in the Midrash (Eichah Rabba 1:51) that when the cow of a certain Arab bellowed, it was a sign that the Beis Hamikdash had burned. When the cow bellowed a second time immediately afterward, it was sign that the savior of Israel had been born. As the Rebbe explains, this means that the "savior of Israel" was born at the exact moment the Temple was destroyed, for we know that if the Jewish people were to repent properly, "they would be redeemed immediately." In other words, there must always be one individual in the world who is ready to redeem the Jewish people at any moment. 

A question is asked: If the "savior of Israel" drew his first breath at the exact moment of the destruction, this obviously implies that an infant was born. But how could a one-day-old infant be Moshiach?

One answer is that the birth of the "savior of Israel" is not meant in the literal sense, but that at that moment, one particular individual became worthy of redeeming the Jewish people. However, the Rebbe offers another explanation according to which newborns will be much more mature in the Messianic era than they are now, and thus even a one-day-old infant would be able to reveal himself as Moshiach.

As an example of this phenomenon the Rebbe quotes a story in Bereshis Rabbah about a one-day-old infant who went to fetch a candle for his mother, and on the way encountered a mazik (evil sprit) who wished to harm him. "You're lucky my mother hasn't cut the umbilical cord yet," the infant told him, "otherwise I would destroy you."

It is possible that a similar situation will exist in the Messianic era.

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No discussion of birth in the Messianic era would be complete without mentioning that the Final Redemption itself is analogous to the birthing process, as it is written (Yeshayahu 66:8): "For as soon as Zion prevailed, she brought forth her children." During the Exile the entire Jewish people is likened to a fetus yearning to be born, to open its eyes and ears to the underlying G-dliness in all creation. When Moshiach comes, even the physical eye will be able to perceive G-dliness, as it states, "And the glory of the L-rd will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together."

In his commentary on the verse "If a woman conceives (tazria) and gives birth to a male child," the Ohr Hachaim explains the analogy as follows:

"This is an allusion to the Jewish people...the ‘conception' referring to the sowing of mitzvos and good deeds in the same way as the expression (Hoshea 10:12), ‘Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy, break up your fallow ground.' The ‘male child' is an allusion to the superior aspect of ‘maleness' over the feminine aspect; the Torah is thus reassuring us that if the Jewish people ‘sows' properly, these higher levels will be achieved. This is also in accordance with our Sages' teaching that the Jewish people will earn the tremendous wonders and miracles of the Redemption through their good deeds and merit.

"Nonetheless, a distinction should be made between the future Redemption with Moshiach and the redemption from Egypt, at which time the Jewish people were ‘naked and bare' [of mitzvos]. For even though the text states that G-d took ‘a nation from the midst of another nation,' the redemption from Egypt did not endure, as we see that the Holy Temple was subsequently destroyed and the Jews were exiled. The first redemption from Egypt thus lacked the quality of ‘maleness,' in the sense of permanence. In the future, however, even if the Jewish people will not be entirely deserving, the Redemption will be lasting and permanent by virtue of the length of the Exile and the Jews' involvement in Torah, as it states (Devarim 31:21), ‘For it shall not be forgotten in the mouths of their seed.' The Final Redemption will thus be ‘male' and endure forever."

May it be G-d's will that we merit the immediate "birth" of the Final Redemption, the "birth" of the Jewish people and the "birth" of Moshiach, as it states in Tehillim 2:7: "You are my son; this day have I begotten you."