What are Some Underlying Causes Why Israel’s Fertility Rate is Rising?

Parashat Ekev
 
Hashem Can Override the Prognosis of the Fertility Expert

Mazal tov! Finally, after three unsuccessful attempts, our fourth hen who sat on eggs had chicks! How wonderful to see these cuties with their soft, shiny yellow feathers peck with their tiny orange beaks at the grain in the coop. I don’t know what the problem was with the three prior hens, who sat on eggs this summer, without bringing forth new life. What a disappointment for the hens and for me! It reminds me of my infertile years when the onset of each period would bring not only its regular expected discomfort but also the deep disappointment of potential life being expelled. I was not alone, and the infertility rate in the Western world continues to rise. In the United States, 10 to 15% of couples are infertile. The sperm counts among men have more than halved in the past 40 years and are currently falling by an average of 1.4% per year, leading to an overall drop of just over 52%. “The results are quite shocking,” said Hagai Levine, an epidemiologist and lead author of a study from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Humanity is threatened by extinction.  https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/jul/29/infertility-crisis-sperm-counts-halved. However, the essence of a Jewish person is to never give up. We learn from Avraham and Sarah, the first Jews, never to give up on anything. Their emunah bore fruit, and they were able to conceive a holy seed in their old age. After having suffered secondary infertility for 14 ½ years, I experienced the reward of emunah within my own body. In 1990, I received the disappointing prognosis – that I was unlikely to conceive, and therefore not a candidate for fertility treatments, by one of the greatest fertility experts at Mt. Sinai hospital, New York. Nevertheless, less than a decade afterward, in 1996, I was cradling my own baby in my arms. The prophet teaches us to “Look at the rock from where you were hewn… Look to Avraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you. For when he was one, I called him, and I blessed him and made him many” (Yesha’yahu 51:1-2). This reminds us, that the beginning of building the Jewish people took place only after despair. Avraham and Sarah are the first to teach humanity that even after giving up, there is still hope. Hashem, the Healer of all, is there for us, and He can override the dark prognosis of any fertility expert (Rav Tzaddok of Lublin, Divrei Sofrim 16). 

Fertility Blessing in the Merit of Torah
In the beginning of Parashat Ekev, Hashem showers us with the most beautiful blessings, which we merit through keeping the mitzvot of His covenant:
 

:ספר דברים פרק ז פסוק יד בָּרוּךְ תִּהְיֶה מִכָּל הָעַמִּים לֹא יִהְיֶה בְךָ עָקָר וַעֲקָרָה וּבִבְהֶמְתֶּךָ

“You shall be blessed above all peoples: There will be no sterile male or barren female among you or among your livestock” (Devarim 7:14). 

Ba’al HaTurim notices that this verse begins with the letter בּ/beit with the numerical value of 2 and ends with the letter ךָ/chaf with the numerical value of 20. These two letters together correspond to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, through which the Torah is given. Thus, in the merit of the 22 letters of the Torah “…There will be no sterile male or barren female among you.” This part of the Torah verse also shares the numerical value of בְּדִבְרֵי תּוֹרָה/be’divrei Torah – “by means of the words of Torah.” 

The Unique Fertility Blessing for the Jewish People
The Chatam Sofer points out, that our verse mentions, that there won’t be among Israel a barren male and female, in one breath. Among the nations, it is a blessing if a sterile male marries a barren woman, so that their infertility will only affect one family, rather than causing two families to suffer infertility. Yet, among Israel, the opposite is true. It is preferred that the infertile man marries a fertile woman and vice versa, rather than that both parents of the same family are barren. This is because the merit of Hashem’s blessing removes infertility among Israel and overrides their infertility. However, it is always best not to rely on a miracle, in order to not use up our merits. Therefore, Hashem brings a sterile man together with a woman, who is not barren, and He causes a barren woman to marry a man, who is not sterile, in order that they won’t need a double miracle. This is the meaning of “You will be blessed above all the nations…” Your blessing is opposite that of the nations – in that there will not be among you a  sterile man and a barren woman together in a couple. The Maharil adds, that if both of them would be barren, it would be very difficult for prayers on their behalf to be effective. This is as our sages teach, that prayer accomplishes half. Therefore, if only one in the couple is barren, prayers can bring about healing, so the couple will be able to give birth. 

Israel’s Exceptional Fertility Rate

I was happily surprised to learn, that it is widely known, that fertility levels in Israel exceed fertility levels in all other developed countries, and that this is the main factor affecting Israel’s unusually high rate of population growth. Despite rapid fertility decline in the rest of the Western world, Israel’s fertility is not only exceptional because it is high. It is exceptional because the fertility rate in Israel is reflected by all educational classes and levels of religiosity. In the rest of the world, rising levels of women’s education have affected their fertility negatively, imposing a fertility ‘cost’ on society. For non-Charedi Jewish men, the number of children among academics and those with lower levels of education is the same. Charedi women, with an academic degree, do give birth to their first child at a relatively late age, but by their late thirties, their fertility rates converge with those of Charedi women with lower levels of education. Israel’s Total Fertility Rate (TFR) in 2015 was 3.1, which is the highest among the Western countries, and is almost one full child above the next highest fertility countries, Mexico and Turkey. Whereas every other country with a TFR greater than 2.0 in 1995 experienced a reduction in fertility by 2015, Israel’s TFR has never dropped below 2.8 children, and actually increased by 0.2 children between 1995 and 2015. Within Israel, it is specifically the Jewish population that experienced an increased TFR. Between 1960 and 2016, the TFR of Israeli Christians dropped from 4.7 to 2.1. Druze fertility fell from 7.3 to 2.3 between 1970 and 2010 and Muslim fertility also dropped drastically from an estimated TFR of 9.2 in 1965 to 3.3, fifty years later. Even as Muslim and Druze fertility has fallen and Christian fertility has remained stable, national fertility levels in Israel have risen since 2005, because of an increase in the fertility of Israeli Jews. The fact that Israeli fertility has been increasing alongside higher education and increasing age at first birth is an atypical pattern, from an international perspective. https://www.taubcenter.org.il/en/research/israels-exceptional-fertility/  These remarkable statistics seem to indicate that the fertility blessing of the Children of Israel in Parashat Ekev has begun to go into effect.

Spiritual Remedies for Infertility
Based on the astounding facts presented above, it is not surprising, that while I was rejected by one of the best fertility departments in New York, a small clinic in Israel succeeded to help me conceive and give birth to a healthy baby. My personal experience has made me see that part of my personal mission is to impart hope and chizuk to couples struggling with infertility. Below are some spiritual remedies to help merit Hashem’s blessing of fertility:

1. Never give up hope! Keep praying and keep trying.

    a.  Pray for other women to bear children

    b.  Pray for children at Kever Rachel (The Tomb of Rachel)

    c.  Pray for children at the Machpelah (Cave of the Patriarchs)

2. Go to get blessings!

    a. Get brachot for children from great rabbis and tzadikkim

    b. Get brachot from a woman who is exceedingly old

    c. Get brachot from other women who have struggled with infertility

    d. Get blessings from non-Jews (see explanation below).

3. Recite special prayers for those struggling with infertility

              a. Pray Friday night for children after lighting the Shabbat candles.
              b. Recite Friday night I Shemuel Chapter 1- Chapter 2 verse 10. (Best in Hebrew).
              c. Recite the following Torah verses after intimacy:

ספר במדבר פרק כח 

יא) וּבְרָאשֵׁי חָדְשֵׁיכֶם תַּקְרִיבוּ עֹלָה לַהָשֵׁם פָּרִים בְּנֵי בָקָר שְׁנַיִם וְאַיִל אֶחָד כְּבָשִׂים בְּנֵי שָׁנָה שִׁבְעָה תְּמִימִם:

יב) וּשְׁלשָׁה עֶשְׂרֹנִים סֹלֶת מִנְחָה בְּלוּלָה בַשֶּׁמֶן לַפָּר הָאֶחָד וּשְׁנֵי עֶשְׂרֹנִים סֹלֶת מִנְחָה בְּלוּלָה בַשֶּׁמֶן לָאַיִל הָאֶחָד:

יג) וְעִשָּׂרֹן עִשָּׂרוֹן סֹלֶת מִנְחָה בְּלוּלָה בַשֶּׁמֶן לַכֶּבֶשׂ הָאֶחָד עֹלָה רֵיחַ נִיחֹחַ אִשֶּׁה לַהָשֵׁם:

יד) וְנִסְכֵּיהֶם חֲצִי הַהִין יִהְיֶה לַפָּר וּשְׁלִישִׁת הַהִין לָאַיִל וּרְבִיעִת הַהִין לַכֶּבֶשׂ יָיִן זֹאת עֹלַת חֹדֶשׁ בְּחָדְשׁוֹ לְחָדְשֵׁי הַשָּׁנָה:

טו) וּשְׂעִיר עִזִּים אֶחָד לְחַטָּאת לַהָשֵׁם עַל עֹלַת הַתָּמִיד יֵעָשֶׂה וְנִסְכּוֹ:A

“And on the beginning of your months, you shall offer up a burnt offering to Hashem: two young bulls, one ram, and seven lambs in the first year, [all] unblemished. Three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour as a meal offering, mixed with oil for each bull, and two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour as a meal offering, mixed with oil for each ram. And one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a meal offering for each lamb. A burnt offering with a spirit of satisfaction, a fire offering to Hashem. And their libations: a half of a hin for each bull, a third of a hin for each ram, and a quarter of a hin for each lamb wine; this is the burnt offering of each new month in its month, throughout the months of the year. And one young male goat for a sin offering to Hashem; it shall be offered up in addition to the continual burnt offering and its libation” (Bamidbar 28:11-15).

            d.      Pray Tefilat HaShela on the eve of Rosh Chodesh Sivan (Preferably at his tomb in Tiberias, next to Rambam’s Tomb  https://www.shearim.com/Tefilat%20HaShela.pdf
 
            e.      Recite the following prayer daily or whenever you are able (Preferably three times a day by both husband and wife for a period of 40 days:

”...וְתִתֵּן לִי זֶרַע אֲנָשִׁים, וּתְּבָרְכֵנִי בְּשְּׁמֶךָ, וּתְבָרֵךְ אֶת בֵּיתִי בְּזָּכְרֶךָ, וְאֵדַע כִּי שָׁלוֹם אֹהָלִי. 

וְתַשְׁפִּיעַ בּוֹ נֶפֶשׁ רוּחַ וּנְשָׁמָה מִמַחְצָב טָהוֹר.“ 

…Grant me a male seed, …and bless my home with Your remembrance, and I will know that shalom is in my tent. And influence within him a soul, spirit and Divine soul hewn from a place of purity…

Email me for the full prayer and its translation in English director@berotbatayin.org

 

Other Nations’ Blessings of Israel Will be Fulfilled

Our Torah verse mentions, “You shall be blessed above all peoples” In Hebrew it statesמִכָּל הָעַמִּים/mi kol ha’amim – “from all the peoples.” From here, we can extrapolate, that it is especially beneficial to receive a blessing from someone who is not Jewish. We can further explain the phrase to mean, that the blessing from the other nations of Israel will be fulfilled!  Rabbeinu Bachaya explains our verse to mean “you will be blessed from the mouth of all the peoples.” It is not such praise to be blessed by those with which we are close. However, being blessed by our opponents is a much greater accomplishment. The Talmud brings many stories of righteous Jews, who – as a result of keeping Hashem’s mitzvot meticulously – were blessed by non-Jews. For example, Rabbi Shimon ben Shetach bought a donkey from a gentile and found a precious stone on its neck, which he returned to the gentile. The gentile exclaimed: “Blessed is the G-d of Israel, Who commanded you to return the lost object, and you trust Him and keep His mitzvot!” In another story, Rabbi Shmuel found precious jewelry that was wanted by the queen. An announcement had gone out saying, that whoever would return the lost jewelry within three days would be rewarded, but if he brought it only after 30 days, he would be killed. When Rabbi Shmuel returned the jewelry 30 days later, the queen asked, “didn’t you hear the announcement?” He answered, “Sure I did, but I don’t want you to think, that I’m only returning the lost object because of fear of you. I am returning it only now, because of fear of G-d, Who commanded me to return lost objects!” She thereupon exclaimed “Blessed is the G-d of Israel” (Jerusalem Talmud, Baba Metzia 2:5).

Blessed Hope for the Barren

Finally, I would like to share with you a Torah message of hope, from Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen z”l, for people who are unable to have children. May his message be a soul elevation for him! Although the Torah teaches that we are to serve Hashem by getting married and bringing children into the world, there are some people whose circumstances in life, prevent them from serving the Creator in this way. Singles may often feel like a barren tree that produces no fruits. Rabbi Judah Ben Shalom, the Levite, said that when a person departs from the world without children, he is troubled and weeps. The Holy One, Blessed Be He, says to him: “Why do you weep? Is it because you did not leave fruits in this world? You have left fruits more valuable than children!” The person then asks: “Master of the Universe, what fruits have I left?” The Holy One, Blessed Be He, answers: “The fruits of Torah – the Tree of Life, as it is written ‘The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life’” (Mishlei 11:30); (Midrash Tanchuma, Noach 2). In this vein, we can also regard the blessing in our verse, “There will be no barren among you” to refer to raising students. Since the previous verse already stated, “He will bless the fruit of your womb,” our pasuk adds an additional blessing, that our home will not be barren of students (male), and our prayers will not be unheeded or barren (female) (Babylonian Talmud Bechorot 44b). Students are considered the main children because they are the children of the world-to-come. As it states, if the Rabbi sinned and was supposed to go to purgatory, his students save him, since it is not right that they should be in paradise while their teacher goes to purgatory (Babylonian Talmud Yoma 87a). Furthermore, the prophet comforts the barren, with the following words: “Let not the barren one say, ‘Behold I am a shriveled tree’ For thus said Hashem to the barren, who observe My Shabbats and choose what I desire, and tightly grasp My covenant. In My house and within My walls, I will give them a place of honor and renown, which is better than sons and daughters; eternal renown will I give them, which will never be terminated” (Yesha’yahu 56:3-5).