The Mystical Significance of Forty

אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם וְאַרְבָּעִים לָיְלָה. אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן בֶּן זַכַּאי הֵם קִלְקְלוּ אֶת הַצּוּרָה שֶׁנִּתְּנָה לְאַרְבָּעִים יוֹם, לְפִיכָךְ אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם וְאַרְבָּעִים לָיְלָה. (בראשית ז, ד): וּמָחִיתִי אֶת כָּל הַיְקוּם, רַבִּי בֶּרֶכְיָה אָמַר קִיּוּמֵיהּ, רַבִּי אָבוּן אָמַר יְקוּמִינֵיהּ.

“For in seven more days, I will make it rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will obliterate all existence that I made from on the face of the earth” (Genesis 7:4). “For in seven more days, [I will make it rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights]” – Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai said: They violated the Torah that was given in forty days; therefore [the Flood lasted] “forty days and forty nights.” Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Zakai said: They corrupted the human form that comes into being at forty days, therefore [the Flood lasted] “forty days and forty nights.” “I will obliterate all existence [hayekum]” – Rabbi Berekhya said: The living beings [kiyum].

״וַיִּשְׁמַע ה׳ אֵלַי גַּם בַּפַּעַם הַהִיא״. אִינִי?! וְהָא אָמַר רַבִּי חִיָּיא בַּר אַבָּא אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: כָּל הַמַּאֲרִיךְ בִּתְפִילָּתוֹ וּמְעַיֵּין בָּהּ — סוֹף בָּא לִידֵי כְּאֵב לֵב, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״תּוֹחֶלֶת מְמֻשָּׁכָה מַחֲלָה לֵב״.

The Gemara cites other statements in praise of prayer: Rabbi Ḥanin said that Rabbi Ḥanina said: Anyone who prolongs his prayer is assured that his prayer does not return unanswered; it will surely be accepted. From where do we derive this? From Moses our teacher, as it is stated that Moses said: “So I fell down before the Lord the forty days and forty nights that I fell down; and I prayed to the Lord” (Deuteronomy 9:26–27), and it is written thereafter: “And the Lord heard me that time as well, the Lord would not destroy you” (Deuteronomy 10:10).

רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל אוֹמֵר: יוֹם אַרְבָּעִים וְאֶחָד תֵּשֵׁב לְזָכָר וּלְנִדָּה כּוּ׳. תַּנְיָא, רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל אוֹמֵר: טִימֵּא וְטִיהֵר בְּזָכָר, וְטִימֵּא וְטִיהֵר בִּנְקֵבָה. מָה כְּשֶׁטִּימֵּא וְטִיהֵר בְּזָכָר יְצִירָתוֹ כְּיוֹצֵא בוֹ, אַף כְּשֶׁטִּימֵּא וְטִיהֵר בִּנְקֵבָה יְצִירָתָהּ כַּיּוֹצֵא בָּהּ. אָמְרוּ לוֹ: אֵין לְמֵדִין יְצִירָה מִטּוּמְאָה.

§ The mishna teaches that Rabbi Yishmael says: A woman who discharges on the forty-first day after immersion observes both the strictures of a woman who gave birth to a male, and those of a menstruating woman, but not the strictures of a woman who gave birth to a female, as the formation of a male offspring takes forty-one days, whereas the formation of a female offspring takes eighty-one days. It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yishmael says, in explanation of his opinion: In the case of a woman who gave birth to a male, the verse deems her impure for seven days and deems her pure for an additional thirty-three days, for a total of forty days; and with regard to a woman who gave birth to a female, the verse deems her impure for fourteen days and deems her pure for another sixty-six days, for a total of eighty days. It can therefore be inferred that just as when the verse deems a woman impure and then deems her pure for a total of forty days in the case of a male, its amount of time is parallel to the time of the formation of a male embryo; so too, when the verse deems a woman impure and deems her pure for a total of eighty days in the case of a female, its amount of time is parallel to the time of the formation of a female embryo. Accordingly, the formation of a female ends on the eighty-first day after conception. The Rabbis said to Rabbi Yishmael in response: One cannot derive the amount of time of the formation of an embryo from the extent of a woman’s period of impurity after giving birth.

ולא יהיה כספר החתום. נעול וסתום.