SIX BABIES AT A TIME

Exodus 1:7 uses six words of "increase," to which Rashi comments that the Jewish women in Egypt gave birth to six babies at a time.

The Oznayim L'Torah recounts that a Jew once approached Rabbi Eliezer Gordon, the Rav and Rosh Yeshiva of Telz in Europe. He argued that he although he believed whatever is explicitly written in the Torah, how could he, a modern and sophisticated intellectual, be expected to believe in apparently exaggerated Midrashim, such as Rashi's comment that the Jewish women in Egypt miraculously gave birth to six children at a time?

Without batting an eyelash, Rabbi Gordon answered him with a beautiful mathematical proof of the Midrash's claim. In Parshas Bamidbar, the Torah records the results of the census conducted approximately one year after the Exodus from Egypt. The total number of first-born males was 22,273 (Numbers 3:43), and assuming that there were an equal number of first-born females, there were a total of 44,546 families.

The total number of men between the ages of 20 and 60 was 603,550 (Numbers 1:46), and doubling this number to account for the men under 20 and over 60 yields a total of 1,207,100 men. Assuming that there were an equal number of men and women results in a total of 2,414,200 Jewish people. Dividing 2,414,200 by 44,546 yields an average family size of approximately 54.

It takes a woman almost one year to conceive and give birth to a child. In those times, it took a woman two years after giving birth until she was able to conceive again (Talmud - Niddah 9a), meaning that each child required roughly three years. A woman normally has 27-30 child-bearing years during her life. If each child takes three years, she will be able to give birth a maximum of 9-10 times during her lifetime. Dividing the 54 children the average woman had by the roughly nine times she gave birth yields a result of exactly six children per delivery, a proof which left the questioning Jew stunned and speechless.