“As the Mother, So Is the Daughter” — Jewish Psychosomatics

“As the Mother, So Is the Daughter” — Jewish Psychosomatics

“Behold, everyone who speaks in parables will use this proverb concerning you, saying: ‘As the mother, so is her daughter.’ (Ezekiel 16:44) The Talmud states: “Three partners participate in the creation of a person: the Holy One, blessed be He, the father, and the mother. The father contributes the white substance, ‘lavan,’ from which the bones, sinews, nails, brain, and white of the eye are formed. The mother contributes the red substance, ‘odem,’ from which the skin, flesh, hair, and pupil are formed. The Holy One, blessed be He, gives the spirit, ‘ruach,’ and the soul, ‘neshamah,’ as well as the features of the face, the ability of the eye to see, the ear to hear, the mouth to speak, the feet to walk, and the mind to think and analyze.” In the description of the creation of a person presented here, we can see that the mother’s red color creates the pupil in the child’s eye. Elsewhere, the Sages teach regarding the color black that in fact “it is red, but has undergone a change.” (Babylonian Talmud, tractate Niddah 19a) Thus, from the words of the prophet Ezekiel (16:44): “Behold, everyone who speaks in parables will use this proverb concerning you, saying: ‘As the mother, so is her daughter,’ it may be concluded that the black color of the child’s pupil derives from the inner red color of the mother: ‘As the mother’ (the first letter ‘heh’ of the Name Havayah), ‘so is her daughter’ (the second letter ‘heh’ of the Name Havayah).” The Sages teach that there is a special connection between the father and the daughter—namely, between the white and black colors in the eye. Kabbalah explains that every phenomenon has two dimensions: light, ‘or,’ and a vessel, ‘kli.’ Thus, the inner “light” of the black pupil in the eye (that is, the inner essence of the black color of the daughter aspect) derives, spiritually, from the father’s white substance, while the “vessel” (that is, the external reality of the black color)—“the red color that has undergone a change”—derives, physically, from the mother’s red substance. And so: “As the mother, so is the daughter.”  (Based on the book by Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh, “Body, Mind and Soul”)