The contemporary world presents children as a constraint, a brake on our personal fulfillment. Having children calls into question our balance, our comfort, and our preconceived ideas about existence.

This existential upheaval lies at the heart of what the Torah demands of us: "Be fruitful and multiply" is the first word G-d addresses to man, and indeed the Patriarchs never ceased wanting, against all odds, to bring children into the world. How is this commandment fundamental to man being made in the image and likeness of his Creator?

This book is not a practical guide, but an entry point into Talmudic thought through a series of studies on the meaning and fulfillment of this first commandment.