Tehillim 127 – How to Be Blessed with a Son

Tehillim 127 – How to Be Blessed with a Son

Tehillim 127:3                                                                      

 - "Hinei nachalat Ad-nai banim" – (Children are a heritage from the L-rd).                

What must a person do in order to be blessed specifically with sons?

He must sanctify himself at the time of intimacy (that is, conduct himself modestly during intimacy).

But many people acted in this way—and saw no results?

One must ask for mercy from the One who grants sons, as it is written: “Children are a heritage from the L-rd.” If so, why is it necessary to “sanctify himself” (if everything depends not on man, but on G-d)?

For it is written: “The reward is the fruit of the womb.” Rabbi Hama son of Rabbi Hanina said: “As a reward for a husband exercising self-restraint at the time of intimacy, so that his wife experiences pleasure first, the L-rd grants him ‘the fruit of the womb.’”

(Babylonian Talmud, Niddah 70b–71a, with Rashi’s explanation)