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The biblical mitzva to be fruitful and multiply is extraordinarily important. Since it is fundamental to the continued existence of humanity, it is the first mitzva mentioned in the Torah. As it says, “God blessed them and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply’” (Genesis 1:28). Procreating is following in the path of God Himself – just as God created the world and continues to maintain it, so too a person “creates” children and “maintains” them. This also makes people partners of God, as the Sages say, “There are three partners in the creation of a person: God, the father, and the mother” (Nidda 31a).
The Sages go so far as to consider procreating the first and foremost goal of creation, based on the verse: “He did not create it to be empty; He formed it to be inhabited” (Isaiah 45:18). The Talmud declares that whoever sustains one life is considered to have sustained an entire world. How much more admirable are the parents who give birth to children, raise them, and educate them. They truly sustain an entire world.
The mitzva of procreation is so imperative the Sages state that a person who refrains from procreation is comparable to a murderer and diminishes the manifestation of the Divine Presence in the world. This is because every person is unique, revealing an additional aspect of the divine image. Accordingly, refraining from bringing more people into the world reduces the revelation of the divine in the world.
