נשיכת הפיטם כסגולה ללידה קלה

There is a מנהג that a woman who is expecting a child bites a פיטם as a סגולה for an easy childbirth. In this article we will present the source and reason behind this custom and examine its legitimacy.

The earliest source for this idea is the נזיר שמשון quoting a(n anonymous) manuscript, in which the following was written:

"Expectant women have a custom that on הושענא רבה (after their husbands return home from shul) to take [1] the פיטם of the אתרוג (the reason for this being that there is an opinion that the fruit of the עץ הדעת was an אתרוג [2]), and they give money to the poor so that הקב"ה should save them and their baby from death.

They then say the following תפלה:

רבון העולם בשביל חוה שהיא אכלה מעץ הדעת - אותו החטא הוא שגרם מיתה בעולם. ואם הייתי באותו מקום לא הייתי אוכלת ולא הייתי נהנית ממנו, כמו שלא רציתי לפסול אתרוג זה בשבעת ימי החג שעברו, והיום שפסלתי אין בו מצוה. וכשם שיש לי הנאה בפיטם זה כן הייתי נהנית לראות עץ הדעת שאמר הקב"ה לאדם וחוה שלא לאכול ממנו ולא הייתי עוברת את ציוויו, ותקבל ברצון את תפלתי ואת תחנתי שלא אמות מלידה זו. ותושיעני לילד בנחת ובלי צער, ולא יהיה שום נזק לי או לולדי כי אתה האל המושיע

Translation (mine):

Master of the World, because חוה ate from the עץ הדעת therefore death was caused to exist in the world. If I were in her place, I wouldn't have eaten or benefited from it, just as I did not want to פסל this אתרוג during the seven days of יו"ט that just passed by, and today that I did פסל it - there is no מצוה to be done with it anymore. And just as I have pleasure from [eating] this פיטם - so would I have had pleasure from [only] seeing the עץ הדעת that הקב"ה told אדם and חוה not to eat from; and I wouldn't have transgressed His command. In this merit You should accept my תפלה and תחנה - that I should not die from this birth - graciously. Please save me such that I can give birth easily, without pain, and that there shouldn't be harm to me or to my child - for You are the L-rd Who saves."

We will now proceed to enumerate a number of problems inherent in this מנהג:

1) In the original תפלה (found in אלף המגן תרס:ו), there are numerous grammatical mistakes and instances of faulty sentence structure (which I have edited out for easier reading).

2) While there is an opinion that the עץ הדעת was an אתרוג tree, this does not account at all for those opinions which disagreed [2]. Moreover, even if the עץ הדעת was an אתרוג tree, the connection between that fact and biting the פיטם - and not any other part of the fruit - is not entirely clear.

3) To assert that, had one been in חוה's place, one would not have partaken of the עץ הדעת is wildly presumptuous at the very least, and even seems to be full-blown גאוה and עזות; how any sane, rational person could sincerely believe such a statement is not clear.

4) The subject of the תפלה attempts to prove that they would not have committed the חטא עץ הדעת by showing that they did not פסל the אתרוג the entire יו"ט. This is ludicrous as there was no specific temptation to do so, in which case one has a difficult time indeed making this a line of advocacy on their own behalf.

5) The assertion that פסלing an אתרוג on הושענא רבה does not interfere with the מצוה is inaccurate, as the entire day one can still fulfill the מצוה, so the אתרוג still has a use at that point.

6) The subject asserts that she has pleasure from the פיטם. What pleasure is referred to here is unclear, as פיטם doesn't necessarily taste like anything in particular.

7) The assumption of the תפלה seems to be that death from childbirth is a frequent occurrence בר מנן. Today, however, this is not the case 'בחסדי ה.

8) In general, the entire category of סגולות is suspect, [3] as the psychology behind a סגולה is an attempt at forcing G-d's Hand. To this end, the only סגולות that certainly have authentic validity are those that are reliably sourced, which brings us to our next point: one may counter that this סגולה is found in אלף המגן, a reliable source of פסק הלכה.

דרכי חיים ושלום, however, [4] contends that this entire paragraph (which is, in fact, copy-pasted from חיים וברכה אות רכח quoting נזיר שמשון) did not appear in the early editions of אלף המגן, rather it seems to have crept in at some later point, in which case this סגולה does not carry the אלף המגן's stamp of approval.

Conclusion

Biting a פיטם as a סגולה for an easy childbirth would seem to be not much more than an old wives' tale that has no clear basis in הלכה ומנהג and, as such, should be frowned upon.

Appendix

There are those who countered to me, in my discussion of the topic with them, that מנהג ישראל תורה, and, as such, one should keep this (or any) מנהג even where it does not make sense. Although the entire premise of this claim is not palatable to the logical mind, we will בעז"ה address this important principle in a future article.

The information in this article was compiled with the research assistance of members of the Sofrim Google group for writers.

[1] While the specific instructions are only to take, rather than bite, the פיטם, presumably the purpose of taking the פיטם is to then eat it - as is evinced from the accompanying תפלה in which experiencing pleasure from the פיטם plays a role.

[2] בראשית רבה פרשה טו אות ז

[3] For more on this point, see here. Note: the sentiments or opinions held by that author (in that article and elsewhere) are solely his own; I am only מציין to that article specifically as it expresses my point clearly.

[4] אות תשצו. See also מקור חיים סי' תרסד who is also critical of this מנהג.