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4. Baby being taught the Torah in the womb 5. וחכ"א אחד בריית הזכר ואחד בריית הנקבה "זה וזה" מ"א 6. נדה ל. שיטת ב"ש
7. אחד זה ואחד זה... המחודש או הפשוט ראשון?
DAF DISCUSSIONS - NIDAH 30

Yehonasan Gefen asks:

The Gemara says how a baby boy learns all the Torah in the womb - does this also apply at all to a female baby?

Yehonasan Gefen, Israel , Ramat Beit Shemesh

The Kollel replies:

1. Rav Tzvi Yabrov, a talmid of Rav Chaim Kanievsky shlit'a, writes in Kuntres Chanoch l'Na'ar (which deals with the Mitzvah of Chinuch), page 29, that he asked Rav Kanievsky your question. Rav Chaim answered that in one respect it is likely that the girl also is taught Torah inside the womb since, after she is born, she will be obligated to learn the Halachos that are relevant to her (see Beis Yosef OC end of #47, cited by the Bi'ur Halachah 47:14, DH Nashim). However, Rav Chaim added that, on the other hand, since women are not commanded to learn Torah "l'Shem Limud" (to fulfil the Mitzvah of learning Torah) but rather for the practical necessity of knowing how to observe the Halachah, it is likely that women do not learn Torah inside the womb.

2. Rav Chaim added that according to what people say that the indentation above our lips is from the touch received by the Mal'ach so that the baby will forget his learning, since women also possess this mark it would seem that they also learned Torah inside the womb.

3. In seems that Rav Kanievsky is in doubt about this matter. I would like to cite a source which appears to suggest that women do learn Torah in the womb. I saw this source in Yalkut Me'am Lo'ez, in his intoduction to the Book of Devarim (volume 1, page 28, DH v'De'u) in the name of the Zohar, Parshas Shelach. The Zohar states that just as men merit great levels in the World to Come as a reward for the Mitzvos and good deeds that they perform in this world, women who occupy themselves with Mitzvos and good deeds merit in Gan Eden, in the places which are appropiate to them, that they can enjoy the goodness of the World to Come. Batya, the daughter of Pharaoh, sits and is occupied with words of Torah with all the women there. Serach, the daughter of Asher, also dwells there and and sits and learns Torah with all the woman there.

4. It seems to me that the fact that women learn Torah in the World to Come suggests that they also learned Torah before they were born. See the notes of the Ya'avetz (Rav Yakov Emden) to Nidah 30b, at the back of the Gemara. He writes that because the baby learns Torah in the womb, he receives Kedushah. This is the reason why a child who died before he learned Torah in this world also merits the life of Olam ha'Ba. Therefore, if women possess the Kedushah necessary to learn Torah in the next World, it is likely that they need to learn Torah in the womb. The reason why women should not learn Torah in this world other than the Halachos necessary for them to know, is that in this world the Yetzer ha'Ra rules over people and it can cause women to use their Torah studies in the wrong way. In contrast, in Olam ha'Ba there is no Yetzer ha'Ra, so women may learn Torah. It is necessary for them to possess Kedushah to be capable of learning Torah, and this Kedushah can be acquired only by their learning Torah previously in the place where they are allowed to do so, namely the womb. According to this argument, women are also taught Torah in the womb.

Kol Tuv,

Dovid Bloom