Populating - How We Are Similar
Peru u’revu, the commandment to have children, is the Torah’s first mitzvah and, in fact, Hashem’s first words to man. It is no surprise, therefore, that it carries great significance.
We see this from the fact that the heavenly tribunal asks us about our fulfillment of specifically this mitzvah when we stand before it posthumously. The mitzvah’s importance also drives the halakhah that forces the owner of a half-slave to free the slave so he can marry and have children. The Mishnah explains that we do this because “the world was created ‘only’ for piryah v’rivyah [the action of peru u’revu].”
To explain the importance of peru u’revu, the Mishnah cites a pasuk from Sefer Yeshayah: “Lo tohu v’ra’ah; la’shevet yetzarah - Hashem did not create [the world] to be void, but formed it for habitation.” Hashem does not intend for the world to lie desolate; He expects fish to fill the seas, birds to populate the skies, and animals and man to inhabit the land.
During the first four days of Creation, G-d formed the world’s frameworks: light, sea and sky, land, the sun, moon, and stars, and vegetation. On the last two days, He added the living beings: fish, birds, animals, and man. These living beings are unique in that they have a soul and need to reproduce. The world’s frameworks are naturally consistent; living beings need to sustain their own populations.
This is why the commandment to procreate was not limited to humans; it is a universal principle that applies to all living beings. In fact, Hashem charged the birds and fish with this mission before creating man. When He eventually fashioned man, Hashem tasked him with the responsibility He had already given other living beings.
Peru u’revu’s goal to populate the world explains why Hashem repeated the mitzvah to Noach after the flood. Like at the time of its initial creation, the world once again needed to be populated. Just as He had commanded Adam HaRishon, Hashem now tasked Noach and his family with this responsibility.
We, too, have this responsibility. Though we live in a world with billions of people, each person is responsible for doing their part to maintain and increase the world’s population. Lo tohu v’ra’ah; la’shevet yetzarah.
Perpetuating Godliness - How We Are Unique
Though man shares the responsibility to populate the world with all living beings, his responsibility is more significant because only he creates others in G-d’s image. Creating human life is of more significance than propagating other life forms because we humans embody Godliness. Bringing another human being into the world is the highest form of imitatio dei because it is how we emulate G-d’s crowning achievement - the formation of a god-like creature.
This explains why, after the flood, Hashem linked the peru u’revu commandment to man’s embodiment of the image of G-d. Though Hashem had already given Noach the mitzvah to procreate in pasuk aleph, He repeated it in pasuk vav to juxtapose and link it to His mention of man’s godliness (in pasuk heh).
Hashem’s restatement of the mitzvah of peru u’revu to Noach was part of His postdiluvian effort to get men to appreciate their godliness. Hashem created Adam HaRishon and all his descendants in His image, but did not reveal this fact to them. Not appreciating their uniqueness, men lived like animals, selfishly focused only upon themselves. They stole, raped, murdered, and trampled one another to the point that Hashem needed to destroy them and the entire world.
After the flood, Hashem restarted civilization by telling man about his creation in G-d’s image. Men needed to see themselves and other human beings as holier and greater than animals; they should respect and, of course, not murder other godly human beings. To reinforce this distinction, Hashem permitted man to kill and consume animals. Animals do not embody godliness; man does.
After emphasizing man’s creation in G-d’s image as the basis for the prohibition against murder, Hashem restated the commandment of peru u’revu. An appreciation of man’s godliness should both deter murder and inspire us to bring more human life into the world.
Partnering With G-d
The action of peru u’revu not only emulates G-d; it also partners with Him. A man and a woman cannot bring a child into the world alone. We need Hashem as a third partner. This dependency explains why the mitzvah of peru u’revu appears, both times, as a berachah rather than as a commandment. The mitzvah is not one we can fulfill on our own; we need Hashem’s blessing and participation.
U’Revu - Guidance
It is noteworthy that Hashem formulated the mitzvah of peru u’revu as two words. What does the second word, “revu,” add to the word “peru”?
Rashi explains that “revu” adds the element of multiplying. It is not enough to have one child. We need to create more than one child in order to increase the world’s population. The commandment is to “be fruitful and multiply.”
Rav Hirsch explains the word “revu” differently. He sees it as similar to the word “roveh,” which means “to shoot.” By using the word “revu,” Hashem taught us that the mitzvah includes not only birthing a child but also giving him direction - raising him properly. Just as a “rav,” another similar word, teaches and guides his disciples, so parents need to teach their children how to live correctly. The mitzvah is not just to replace ourselves with physical offspring, but to ensure that our offspring replace us spiritually as well. We need to sustain not only our biological species but also our ideological one.
Our next piece will focus on this responsibility - the mitzvah of chinuch habonim.
Rav Reuven Taragin is the Dean of Overseas Students at Yeshivat Hakotel and the Educational Director of World Mizrachi and the RZA.
His book, Essentials of Judaism, is available at rabbireuventaragin.com.