Torah and Science
Where Is Semen Formed in Kabbalah and Science
Kabbalistic Sources and the Meaning of Semen Extending from the Brain
Question
Hello, honored rabbi.
Sorry for the question, but could you answer me? I saw a film called Seed of Holiness, which deals with safeguarding the covenant, and there it says, according to the Zohar, that semen is formed in the brain and passes to the spinal column, and from there is processed somewhere else. Scientifically, they say something different, supposedly. Could you answer me? I am confused by this.
Answer
With Hashem's help
Hello and blessings,
As is known, semen is produced in the testes, but it is also quite possible that brain activity is what stands behind the production of semen, the determination of its quantity, composition, timing, and so on. In addition, the brain secretes various substances into the body to regulate its activity, and perhaps some of them also join the seminal fluid. But the whole idea above is theoretical, and there is no point in proving it before a Torah source is presented that claims this.
To the best of my checking, there is no source in Midrash or the Gemara for the claim that semen is formed in the brain, and it also does not appear in the Zohar.
However, there were kabbalists and later authorities who wrote that semen extends from the brain, but a close reading of their words will show that they intended a deeper idea, not physical semen in the literal sense. The kabbalists, as is known, dealt with the inner dimension and the hidden, and did not try to describe processes in the human body but rather in the soul. We will now present the quotations one by one, and explain the meaning of the concept in their words.
--- Ben Yehoyada, Sotah 35:
"And it seems to me, with Hashem's help, that according to what Rabbi Moshe Cordovero wrote, a man's semen extends and comes out from his brain, and therefore a man's brain is weak and he cannot carry a heavy load on his head but rather on his shoulder, whereas a woman's semen is from between her shoulders, and therefore her shoulder is weak and her head is strong, for she carries the load on her head and not on her shoulder. And this resolves why they attributed the deficiency of children that comes through semen to the head, when they said, his head was severed, meaning that he does not beget seed of children."
Ben Yehoyada writes in his words: "but a woman's semen is from between her shoulders" - from this it is clear that he is not speaking of semen in the literal sense.
--- Ben Yehoyada, Sotah 35:
"And it seems to me, with Hashem's help, that according to what Rabbi Moshe Cordovero wrote, a man's semen extends and comes out from his brain, and therefore a man's brain is weak and he cannot carry a heavy load on his head but rather on his shoulder, whereas a woman's semen is from between her shoulders, and therefore her shoulder is weak and her head is strong, for she carries the load on her head and not on her shoulder. And this resolves why they attributed the deficiency of children that comes through semen to the head, when they said, his head was severed, meaning that he does not beget seed of children."
Ben Yehoyada writes in his words: "but a woman's semen is from between her shoulders" - from this it is clear that he is not speaking of semen in the literal sense.
--- Avodat HaKodesh of the Chida, Part 2:
"For the semen extends from the brain and comes to the opening of the organ and empties through its sheath, and this is the secret of producing fruit, in the secret of true unification and union, and the cause of all this is the deeds upon the righteous who ascend in the completeness of intention, whereby they are formed and impressed."
The Chida writes explicitly that the meaning of the expression semen extending from the brain is not literal, אלא that the deeds and proper thoughts of the righteous make an impression upon the newborn, and that is the meaning of this concept.
--- Shlah, Shaar HaOtiyot:
"The Name, and everything a person sees and hears, is afterward recorded in thought and he reflects upon it, and likewise speech emerges from the power of the intellect from the soul, for external speech comes from inner speech, which is the intellect in the brain. Smell too is something on which the soul depends. And just as it is a severe prohibition to emit semen that comes from the brain in vain, so too it is a great prohibition for one who emits vision, which is the chariot of the brain, in vain. Therefore Rabbi Shach was careful not to look neither before him nor to the sides, only within his four cubits. Not only must one shut his eyes from seeing evil, but even one who looks at a permitted thing outside his four cubits is comparable to one who emits semen in vain. And so it is written in Reshit Chochmah. It is known that semen is the light of a person's eyes, as the Rambam wrote (Hilchot De'ot 4:19) regarding one who increases marital relations, that his eyes grow dim, and to this the hint applies, I have made a covenant with my eyes, that he held to the measure of the eyes as he did to the measure of the covenant. And so we find speech, which is also a chariot of the brain, which is the covenant of the tongue; thus there are three covenants: the covenant of the organ, the covenant of the tongue, and the covenant of the eye. And Reshit Chochmah wrote in chapter 17 of Shaar HaKedushah that just as with the lower covenant one may not emit semen in vain, so too one may not emit speech in vain. Likewise, one should be careful in hearing, not to hear any speech that is in vain, for the halacha has already been decided: one who hears is like one who answers. And so too the smell must be fragrant, with no trace of wrath at all, not at all and not even a little, and concerning this it is said (Isaiah 2:22), cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils."
As can be seen, the holy Shlah blends spirit and matter in his words, that thought creates reality, to the point that there is no distinction between them, and even the gaze of the eyes is considered semen in vain. Thus the essence of his words concerns spirituality, which is cast into emptiness.
--- Pardes Rimonim of the Ramak:
"And we wish to explain this matter in a way from which this teaching will be clarified. It is known that the reality of the soul, the spirit, and the nefesh, when they are attached to their root before their emanation, are not limited in the reality of being, but their existence is by virtue of their expansion and influence in the female, in the manner of light, water, and firmament, as we explained in Shaar HaOtiyot chapter 27. That is to say, that it has no existence at all except in the manner of semen that comes into being by means of the subtle power extending from the brain, where there is no reality of semen, אלא only like the likeness of light, meaning a power fit to bring forth semen until its descent to the place of maturation, and along the way of its descent it becomes blood, and in the place of maturation it matures and is transformed into semen, and when it is in the fully populated womb that form comes into being from it. And so is the way of the soul: in binah it is like light, and so too the influence fit for the spirit in tiferet, and the influence fit for the nefesh in malchut, and through unification that influence comes into being as the form of soul, spirit, and nefesh. The matter of unification was explained in Shaar Mahut VeHanhagah, and through the holy and pure union, a form comes into being from nothing into the existence of form."
The Ramak writes in his words: "that comes into being by means of the subtle power" - it is possible to understand that these words are speaking of the thought that imbues the newborn with traits, and not of physical semen.
And he also writes: "from the brain where there is no reality of semen, but only like the likeness of light" - meaning that there is no semen in the brain; rather, according to his words, the brain sends the command for the creation of semen, or the thought, like the likeness of light, imbues the newborn with traits through the semen. And regarding these matters, much is concealed and little revealed.
--- Ohev Yisrael, Parashat Pinchas:
"For father is an expression of thought, because the semen of the son extends from the thought of the father, which is the brain. Therefore father is a dimension of thought. And therefore the destruction was in this month"
Ohev Yisrael writes: "the semen of the son extends from the thought of the father" - the emphasis is on thought, which imbues the newborn with traits, and this is a known tradition in the faith of the Sages that the father's thought during marital relations can influence the traits of the newborn (as the Gemara says in Nedarim 20: "Why are the deaf born? Because they speak during marital relations"). And the intention is not physical semen in the literal sense, but rather the spirit that is infused into the substance of the semen, just as the soul infuses life within the body.
From all these matters we have learned that the true meaning of the concept "semen extending from the brain" is that thought and intention in a person's actions root traits in the newborn. Semen is the power that brings forth offspring, and therefore this expression became a term for the spiritual thought that influences spiritual traits in the newborn.
"For the semen extends from the brain and comes to the opening of the organ and empties through its sheath, and this is the secret of producing fruit, in the secret of true unification and union, and the cause of all this is the deeds upon the righteous who ascend in the completeness of intention, whereby they are formed and impressed."
The Chida writes explicitly that the meaning of the expression semen extending from the brain is not literal, אלא that the deeds and proper thoughts of the righteous make an impression upon the newborn, and that is the meaning of this concept.
--- Shlah, Shaar HaOtiyot:
"The Name, and everything a person sees and hears, is afterward recorded in thought and he reflects upon it, and likewise speech emerges from the power of the intellect from the soul, for external speech comes from inner speech, which is the intellect in the brain. Smell too is something on which the soul depends. And just as it is a severe prohibition to emit semen that comes from the brain in vain, so too it is a great prohibition for one who emits vision, which is the chariot of the brain, in vain. Therefore Rabbi Shach was careful not to look neither before him nor to the sides, only within his four cubits. Not only must one shut his eyes from seeing evil, but even one who looks at a permitted thing outside his four cubits is comparable to one who emits semen in vain. And so it is written in Reshit Chochmah. It is known that semen is the light of a person's eyes, as the Rambam wrote (Hilchot De'ot 4:19) regarding one who increases marital relations, that his eyes grow dim, and to this the hint applies, I have made a covenant with my eyes, that he held to the measure of the eyes as he did to the measure of the covenant. And so we find speech, which is also a chariot of the brain, which is the covenant of the tongue; thus there are three covenants: the covenant of the organ, the covenant of the tongue, and the covenant of the eye. And Reshit Chochmah wrote in chapter 17 of Shaar HaKedushah that just as with the lower covenant one may not emit semen in vain, so too one may not emit speech in vain. Likewise, one should be careful in hearing, not to hear any speech that is in vain, for the halacha has already been decided: one who hears is like one who answers. And so too the smell must be fragrant, with no trace of wrath at all, not at all and not even a little, and concerning this it is said (Isaiah 2:22), cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils."
As can be seen, the holy Shlah blends spirit and matter in his words, that thought creates reality, to the point that there is no distinction between them, and even the gaze of the eyes is considered semen in vain. Thus the essence of his words concerns spirituality, which is cast into emptiness.
--- Pardes Rimonim of the Ramak:
"And we wish to explain this matter in a way from which this teaching will be clarified. It is known that the reality of the soul, the spirit, and the nefesh, when they are attached to their root before their emanation, are not limited in the reality of being, but their existence is by virtue of their expansion and influence in the female, in the manner of light, water, and firmament, as we explained in Shaar HaOtiyot chapter 27. That is to say, that it has no existence at all except in the manner of semen that comes into being by means of the subtle power extending from the brain, where there is no reality of semen, אלא only like the likeness of light, meaning a power fit to bring forth semen until its descent to the place of maturation, and along the way of its descent it becomes blood, and in the place of maturation it matures and is transformed into semen, and when it is in the fully populated womb that form comes into being from it. And so is the way of the soul: in binah it is like light, and so too the influence fit for the spirit in tiferet, and the influence fit for the nefesh in malchut, and through unification that influence comes into being as the form of soul, spirit, and nefesh. The matter of unification was explained in Shaar Mahut VeHanhagah, and through the holy and pure union, a form comes into being from nothing into the existence of form."
The Ramak writes in his words: "that comes into being by means of the subtle power" - it is possible to understand that these words are speaking of the thought that imbues the newborn with traits, and not of physical semen.
And he also writes: "from the brain where there is no reality of semen, but only like the likeness of light" - meaning that there is no semen in the brain; rather, according to his words, the brain sends the command for the creation of semen, or the thought, like the likeness of light, imbues the newborn with traits through the semen. And regarding these matters, much is concealed and little revealed.
--- Ohev Yisrael, Parashat Pinchas:
"For father is an expression of thought, because the semen of the son extends from the thought of the father, which is the brain. Therefore father is a dimension of thought. And therefore the destruction was in this month"
Ohev Yisrael writes: "the semen of the son extends from the thought of the father" - the emphasis is on thought, which imbues the newborn with traits, and this is a known tradition in the faith of the Sages that the father's thought during marital relations can influence the traits of the newborn (as the Gemara says in Nedarim 20: "Why are the deaf born? Because they speak during marital relations"). And the intention is not physical semen in the literal sense, but rather the spirit that is infused into the substance of the semen, just as the soul infuses life within the body.
From all these matters we have learned that the true meaning of the concept "semen extending from the brain" is that thought and intention in a person's actions root traits in the newborn. Semen is the power that brings forth offspring, and therefore this expression became a term for the spiritual thought that influences spiritual traits in the newborn.
Special thanks to Rabbi Binyamin Shmueli shlit"a, who helped bring the important quotations and proofs.
With blessings,
Daniel Bels
Daniel Bels
