"Ishah Ki Tazria v'yaldah zachar. . . " "When a woman who has concieved bears a child . . ."
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According to the Gemara in Horayos 12 and Krisus 5, a high priest becomes
annointed to his position using something which is in the shape of a "ki."
The Talmud questions what a "ki" is and it answers that it is similar to the
foot of the dove. Rashi explains that a "ki" looks like an upside down 'V'
which is narrow on top and wide on the bottom. The reason is that regarding
spriritual matters such as Torah learning which are high matters the high
priest is to see himself as falling short of his potential and as not having
satisfied his obligations. However, with respect to wordly materialistic
matters which apply to the lower realm, he should see himself as 'wide' or as
one who is richly satisfied with his portion. He should not get caught up in
pursuing mundane matters so that he can devote himself entirely to the
spiritual sanctifiction and atonement of Israel. Therefore when he is
annointed for this position, he is annointed in the shape of a "ki" to remind
him of this necessary philosophy he should adopt. This concept is also alluded to in the first verse of Parshas Ki Sisa, "ki sisa es rosh bnei yisroel." It is the high priest who is the head of Israel and he is the one who has been annointed in the shape of a "ki." A woman is similarly compared to the shape of a "ki," because Hashem, in His wisdom, formed her like a granary which is wide on the bottom and narrow at the top. This is so that her constitution is better suited to bear children and our verse teaches us this as well for it says "Ishah ki sisa. . . "
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