"And Bless the Fruit of Your Womb" | Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu | Beit Midrash

Family and Society
Ways of Redemption

קטגוריה משנית

One of the wonderful things being fulfilled in the prophecies is the fertility index of Jewish women in the State of Israel.

The prophecy of the blessing of fertility is explicitly written in the Torah, after the Jews making aliyah to the Land of Israel and conquer it.
"The Lord your God will again bring you to the land of which your fathers took possession and you shall take possession of it, and He will do good to you, and increase you beyond your fathers" (Deuteronomy 30: 5).
Moses our Teacher promises us that we will be better off and our fertility will increase more than that of our ancestors.

The prophet Jeremiah promised in God’s name: "Behold, I am restoring the returnees of the tents of Jacob, and on his dwellings, I will have compassion; and the city will be built on its mound, and the palace will be inhabited established in its rightful manner. And from them will come thanksgiving and the voice of merry-making and I will multiply them, and they will not be diminished" (Jeremiah 30:18-19).

A Beautiful Dream
In 1898, Simon Dubnow, the leading Jewish demographer and historian of his time, defined Herzl's political Zionism as a "beautiful Messianic dream" totally divorced from reality. He predicted that within 100 years, a maximum of 500,000 Jews "slightly more than the population of Kiev", would come to the Land of Israel.
He made a big mistake. Within 50 years, 500,000 Jews were already in the Land of Israel. And after 100 years, there were 6 million Jews in the State of Israel: a difference of 5.5 million Jews from his projection.
In the 1960s, the birth rate among Israeli Arabs was more than nine children per woman. The birth rate of the Jewish mother was three and a half children per woman. Demographers were concerned that the State of Israel would eventually have an Arab majority.

In those years, demographic experts did not think that any immigrants would come from the Soviet Union and that the maximum number of immigrants to Israel would be 150,000 – 200,000. In reality, they were wrong, and more than a million Jews came from the Soviet Union. This reality should make the demographers realize that the reproduction rate of Jews and Arabs in the Land of Israel is matched with the
prophecies written in all the books of the Torah and Prophets, and not to any other parameter.

Economics and the Birth Rate
Today (2022), the average fertility rate in Israel stands at 3.16 children per woman. This figure is truly miraculous; in all of the countries of the world, either the economic situation is bad and the birth rate is high, or the economic situation is good and the birth rate is shrinking. The State of Israel is the only country in the world that is both in an excellent economic state thank God and has a high fertility rate. This is in addition to the astonishing fact that in Israel the fertility rate is on the rise, while throughout the entire Arab and Western world, fertility is on the decline.

The improvement in fertility in Israel denotes a high level of optimism, connection to our past and responsibility for the future of the nation. Increased fertility brings with it much blessing, among other things, it is fuel for continued economic growth independent on imported foreign labor.
This is truly a prophecy which is enfolding against all odds. "For I will assuredly bless you, and multiply your descendants" (Genesis 22:17). And "He will love you, bless you, and multiply you; He will bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain, your wine and your oil, the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flock, in the land which He swore to your forefathers to give to you" (Deuteronomy 7:13). Blessings both for economic growth and a high birth rate.

Ways of Redemption