We don’t need no education

Here is an article on Vos Iz Neias that cites an opinion of a “world-renowned obstetrician” that husbands don’t belong in the delivery room. I have my opinion about the content of the article, but my opinion is not the point.

Why did this article appear on Vos Iz Neias, which, as the web-site tells us, is “Yiddish: What’s News” (it’s a news site; it’s a dictionary; it’s a cook book...)? I am not a prophet, but I would venture a guess that it’s because there is an inyan in Yiddishkeit that a husband should not be present in the same room his wife gives a childbirth. The Rebbe was certainly strongly opposed to this. As was Rav Moshe. I once had a discussion with someone, in which I cited a story about Tzemach Tzedek who stood in the room in which his wife gave birth; he was facing the wall, and reciting Tehillim. I got in response: “You are not Tzemach Tzedek’’. Fair enough. (The discussion was purely hypothetical, by the way.)

So, what’s the problem? Well, the problem I have is with using sources outside of Torah to validate Torah. Seemingly, I shouldn’t have that problem. I grew up not religious. My whole life has been and is centered on secular knowledge (as one guy said, “academicians live in their head, and then, a little to the side” — that’s me). I constantly encounter contradictions between Torah and science, between Torah and everyday life, between Torah and common sense. So, any time there is an agreement between chochmas chtizoinius and, lehavdil, Torah, I should be happy, right?

Well, the thing is: Torah is bli gvul. It’s infinite. Written Torah is bli gvul; Oral Torah is bli gvul; nigleh and nistar are bli gvul. Torah is Eibeshter’s Will and Wisdom. He invested His Essence in every letter of it, in every halachic decision of every Rav sitting in some backwater village and paskening whether a particular chicken is kosher or not.

So, please, do me a favor: don’t validate Torah with an opinion of a “world-renowned obstetrician” (whose opinion, by the way, may or may not be in minority). Because you don’t know what Torah is. You may learn Gemara 16 hours a day, know all Shas be’al peh, and still you very likely have no idea what Torah really is.


This is not just about the particular article (I know half the people who read the post will think: “chill, Winston!”). It’s about the general philosophy. And regarding the particular issue, to me it makes sense for every couple to research all halachic (and medical) issues, the opinions of Jewish authorities that are important for them, ask a Rav, consider everything (including the wife’s preference) and make a decision. Things are not black-and-white, but that, as I said, is not the point of the post.