Daniel Ettedgui asks:
Why is this word, which normally means grave/burial place, used for womb? One houses the dead, the other the living.
Daniel Ettedgui, Boca Raton, USA
The Kollel replies:
I have two opposite thoughts on the matter, each of which balances the other.
It may well be that Chazal used this wording to bury (pun intended) any incorrect thoughts that one might have when discussing that part of a woman's body. Bear in mind also that Ta'avah (lust) is one of the things that take a person out of this world (and lead him to the grave).
On the other hand, Yechezkel ha'Navi uses the word "grave" as a symbol of life, in connection with Techiyas ha'Mesim (see, for example, chapter 37:12-13).
B'Virchas Kol Tuv,
Eliezer Chrysler