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Igros Moshe, Orach Chaim IV #49
Regarding the distinguished (Jewish) ladies who are fighting along with women of the nations of the world in their (social) movement. These (Jewish) ladies are observant of Torah and want to bring their fight to matters of relevance to Jewish law. Some (of these ladies) pray with tallaisim and so on. They seek my view in this matter and how the rabbi of the shul should handle the matter.
Firstly, you must know that it is an essential matter of faith in our Torah that the written and oral Torah was given by The Holy One Himself at Mount Sinai through Moshe Rabbanu, o”h. It is impossible to change even one point (of the Torah) whether to be more strict or to be more lenient. But we were commanded that when there is a time to establish precautionary measures, it is incumbent on the Sanhedrin and the sages of the Torah to do so, by prohibiting certain things. They also may obligate others. They (the sages) must make it very clear that these are rabbinical obligations. Since our dispersion to foreign lands, we lack the power (to make such enactments). However, the wise men of every region (have the power) to make enactments only for their region and only for a short time.
In view of this, the exemption of women from positive time bound commandments is a (decree) of the Torah. Also, the Rabbis never obligated women (in these commandments) since there is no reason to do so. Indeed, there is a reason to exempt women from these commandments specifically for the reasons that the Torah exempts them.
And besides the reasons for the Torah which are unknown to regular people and to the great scholars, and we are required to believe that there are great reasons of Hashem who gave the Torah, (besides this), there are (non-ultimate) reasons revealed to everyone. (In the matter of the exemption of women from positive time bound mitzvahs) the average woman is not wealthy and has responsibility to raise sons and daughters. This (task) is most important work for Hashem and His Torah and so Hashem made each species so that the woman should raise the offspring. Humans are no exception. The nature of women enables them to raise children. Along those lines, it (the burden) was made easier on the women by not requiring them to learn Torah and to perform positive time bound mitzvahs.
(However) even if the order of the world were to change and all women were wealthy all the time and it were possible to give over the children to men and women (to raise them as is done) in our country, the Torah’s law cannot change and neither can that of the Rabbis. It is useless to fight this. Even with the agreement of the entire world, there is no power to change (the Torah) one iota. The women who stubbornly wage war to make such changes are committing heresy.
The Rambam, in chapter three, law number eight, of the Laws on Repentance, says the following: “Three (people) are called heretics: The one who denies even one word spoken by Moshe Rabbainu, the one who denies the explanation of the oral Torah, and the one who switches one word (of Torah) for another. These are heretics and their judgment shall be a forfeiture of their place in the next world.” According to the words of the Rambam, to say that the Creator switches around commandments and all the more so that men can switch around the commandments — is to say that the Torah is not eternal. And the whole reason (it is called heresy) is that they are rebelling against many verses which teach us of the eternity of the Torah, and so writes the Kesef Mishnah.
Women are permitted to perform (certain) commandments for which they are not obligated and receive divine reward for such performance. And also according to the view of Tosfos, (women) are permitted to make a blessing (on such commandments) as is our custom. (It is our custom also for women to be permitted) to fulfill the commandments of shofar and luluv and to make blessings (on these). Therefore, concerning tzitzis, a woman who wants can dress in a garment not designed for men, as long as this garment has four corners to it, and attach tzitzis to fulfill this commandment.
Concerning the wearing of tfellin, Tosfos writes in Eruvin 96, divray hamaskil: myachal, that (this commandment) should not be performed (by women). Tfellin requires tremendous care to keep the body in (halachic) cleanliness and to focus one’s attention. For this reason even men who are obligated in tfellin limit their wearing (of tfellin) from all day to during morning prayers. The Rema holds similarly (Choshen Mishpat, 98:3). Targum Yonason, on the verse: “There should not be a man’s clothing on a woman” (holds) that (women should not wear) tzitzis or tfellin since they are garments of men. Tosfos does not believe there to be such a Targum Yonason. This (performance of non-obligatory commandments by a woman) applies only if her soul yearns to perform the commandment even though she is not commanded. (It is another matter) if her intention is to protest against the Holy One and His Torah. Such a posture is not congruent with the performance of a commandment. Indeed, it is a forbidden act and an act of apostasy. Since (such a woman) is trying to amend Torah law.
You should know that all of this (the exemption of women from positive time bound commandments) is not because women are on a lower level of holiness than are men. While obligation in commandments results strictly from one’s having holiness, men and women, in that sense, are equal in holiness. All the verses in the Torah regarding holiness refer also to women. (This applies from) the beginning (with) the arrangement to receive the Torah (at Sinai). “You’ll be to me a treasure and you’ll be to me a holy nation.” Exodus 19:6. (The subject of this verse is all of the nation of Israel) as it says “house of Jacob” in referring to the women and “tell to the house of Israel” in referring to the men. Exodus 19:3.
(The references to men and women of all verses regarding holiness extends also after Sinai with) “You’ll be for me a people of holiness,” parshas Mishpatim, “you’ll be holy,” parshas Shimini, “holy you’ll be and you’ll be holy,” parshas Kedoshim, and “and a nation of holy people you are to Hashem” parshas Re’eh. Women also (as well as men) are referred to in every mention of holiness.
Therefore women also include in their blessings the words “you have sanctified us with your commandments.” (Women do this) even when performing commandments for which they are not obligated. (The exclusion of women from positive time bound commandments) is a leniency made by Hashem for his own reasons and not because of any diminution (regarding the women) Heaven forbid. We explained this earlier.
And concerning the obligations between husband and wife, a husband is obligated to treat his wife with respect and a wife is obligated to treat her husband with respect. (Furthermore) many women were prophetesses and subject to the same laws concerning prophets as were the men (prophets). In many matters, women were praised more than the men by the (written) Torah and by the Rabbis. There is no denigration in their (women’s) respect in their exemption from the learning of Torah and positive time-bound commandments. There is no reason to have any gripes.
The distinguished rabbi (of the congregation in question) should explain this every time and be strong and firm in his knowledge that this is all a matter of the Torah and he should correct these women. And after all this if (these women) still stand in their incorrect and stubborn view, (the rabbi) should not allow a single change in the holy customs of Israel.
I end with a blessing for true peace and a good writing and sealing for a good year for the distinguished rabbi and to all that is his, to the whole holy congregation, the men, the women, and the children.
In the word איש and אשה. [man and a female man – Editor, Isaac Levy] lay the guarantee for the equality in rank and mutually complementing calling of Man and Woman. As long as man and woman were איש and אשה. there was no need for man to be emancipated from woman nor woman from man, neither could make the other into a slave nor yet into a god or goddess. The first who altered this designation – as indeed our sages remark, in no other language are man and woman designated by words coming from the same root and so regarded from the same trend of thought – brought it about that one man would yoke his woman to the plough while the other would throw himself at her feet.
R’ Samson Raphael Hirsch
Genesis 11 :58“The change from singular to plural, which we have tried to reproduce in our translation of this first mention of man and woman in the story of the creation, already indicates the full equality of status, nay, the inner unity between man and woman in the conception and the destiny of “man formed in the image of God.” This term embraces both sexes. Only man and woman together make up the idea of “man”, and God created both of them alike without intermediary, and with the same conscious effort of will power.”
R’ Samson Raphael Hirsch
Judaism Eternal II, p. 51“The foremost distinguishing characteristic bestowed upon
man is his Divine image, his tzelem Elohim, which denotes
particular qualitative endowments, such as a moral sense, free
will, and intellect. Man partakes of these attributes within
human limitations, while God’s representation of these qualities
is absolute. Maimonides embodied man’s likeness to God pri-
marily in terms of his intellect (Guide 1: 1). This Divine gift was
given to both men and women. “And God created man with His
image. In the image of God, He created him; male and female
He created them” (Gen. 1:27).7 In their spiritual natures, they
were equally worthy.”R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik
Man of Faith in the Modern World, p. 84Q. Why Don’t Girls Wear Yarmulkas?
A. Let me ask you: Why do men wear yarmulkes? The answer is because Hakadosh Baruch Hu declared, “Atem tehiyu Ii mamleches kohanim ve’goy kadosh,” the Jewish people is to be a nation of exalted Kohanim. As we are well aware, a cap was among the four begadim that the Kohanim were required to wear; it was called a para hamigvaos. It is for this reason that we, too, wear yarmulkes and hats on our heads – to remind ourselves that we are a nation of Kohanim. In ancient times, it wasn’t necessary to wear a yarmulke, for little time had elapsed since Hashem had uttered His eternal declaration. Each and every Jew identified fully with this concept and viewed himself as a Kohen. But as the generations progressed and hundreds of years passed by, there were some Jews that began to forget their status as Kohanim. On account of this, Jews began to place yarmulkes on their heads as reminders. In the morning, we recite the berachah “Oter Yisrael be’tifarah,” thanking Hashem for crowning us with splendor. This berachah refers to the head coverings worn by Jewish men. Notice that the words tifarah and “para” migvaos share the same root. This is because the yarmulkes and hats that we don each day are meant to be reminders of our status as Kohanim and servants of Hashem! By wearing a yarmulke we show that we are yirei Shamayim and loyal servants of Hakadosh Baruch Hu.
It is important for girls to know that leadership rests in the hands of their husbands. This is a very important lesson! Let us think about this for a moment: As we know, men are commanded to perform mitzvos asei she’haz’man grama, time-bound mitzvos. Women, on the other hand, are not required to perform these mitzvos. What is the reason for this difference? The answer is that women have other important obligations to tend to, which exempt her from these commandments. A woman must know that she is a briah shel chessed, she has been created for the purpose of performing chessed. Being a wife and mother is a very significant role, and it requires her to be selfless and totally dedicated to performing chessed! It takes a woman’s entire effort to succeed in being an efficient mother and wife. Investing her abilities in raising children is very time consuming but is a tremendous zechus for her! The Gemara goes so far as to tell us that the zechus of a woman is greater than the zechus of a man. Why is that? Because on occasion a man will do a certain mitzvah for the sake of kavod, in order to gain prestige. Women, however, don’t have any chance to show off, as they are always in their homes and tending to important things. It is for this reason that the zechus of a woman is greater than that of a man, and it therefore stands to reason that a man has to work much harder in order to be found zocheh in the eyes of Hashem. Now, of course, a woman is considered kadosh, holy; every Jew is a kadosh. But she has a different role than a man, and she must realize that. Don’t try to be an Orthodox feminist and do all of the same things that men do! Your job is to be a kosher Jewish woman who serves Hashem in the way that He intended! You must get married, have children, and raise them in the derech haTorah that they should grow to be decent frum Jews! What a tremendous accomplishment that would be! If you do this, you will one day sit on a golden throne in Gan Eden and reap a reward that is no less than any man! Just do it the way a woman is supposed to do it, that’s all. Just remember: A man puts on a yarmulke or a hat in order to resemble a Kohen who served Hashem in the Beis Hamikdash. A woman also has a beis hamikdash – her home. In that beis hamikdash, she needn’t wear a yarmulke – her snood is good enough! This is a woman’s role in mamleches kohanim, and it is Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s assurance that if a woman serves Him like she is supposed to, she will receive as great a share in Olam Haba as any man.
Rabbi Avigdor Miller Speaks, pp. 271-3
על מה שפירש רש”י שאשה שפחה לבעלה כעבד
]ועיין ברש”י [מנחות מג:] שפירש בפירוש ראשון על הקושיא היינו אשה, דאשה נמי שפחה לבעלה כעבד לרבו. ולולא דמסתפינא הייתי אומר שצריך למחקו דח”ו לרש”י לומר דברי הבל כזה, דמן התורה הא ליכא שום שעבוד על האשה לבעלה חוץ מתשמיש, ולענין תשמיש הוא משועבד לה יותר דהא עליו איכא גם איסור לאו, ורבנן שתיקנו שמעשה ידיה לבעלה הא כנגד זה חייב במזונות ואינה מחוייבת לעשות רק עניני הבית ולא עבודת שדה ומעט עשיה בצמר שהיא מלאכה קלה ממלאכות שדרכן של בנות העיר בזה, עיין בש”ע אהע”ז ריש סיי פ,’ והמזונות מחוייב שלא לגרוע מכפי דרך משפחתה ודרך משפחתו ובכל אופן לא פחות מכפי שהוא אוכל, וכן שמחוייב בכסות לפי מנהג בנות העיר ולפי דרך המשפחות שלו ושלה דעולה עמו ואינה יורדת עמו ומחוייב לכבדה ואינו יכול לילך מביתו בלא רשותה רק למלאכתו הידוע לה, והבעל אדרבה מחוייב לעשות כל המלאכות שצריך האדם לפרנסה כלשון שתיקנו לכתוב בכתובה, ואף להשכיר עצמו סברי התוסי בשם רי אליהו בכתובות דף ס”ג ד”ה באומר שהוא מחוייב, ונמצא שאדרבה הוא יותר עבד לה מכפי שהיא שפחתו
Who Leads?
“This will-subordination of the wife to the husband is a necessary condition of the unity which man and wife should form together. The subordination cannot be the other way about, since the man as zachar has to carry forward the divine and human messages which through every marriage are to be a living force in the household, and to which the husband and wife are in union to devote their forces. Just as the first command of God though addressed to the man was given through him for the woman as well, just as in consequence Adam should not have thrown over the command of God for the sake of Eve but Eve ought to have subjected her desire to the will of God as expressed to her though Adam, so thenceforward the husband was to be responsible for the task imposed upon man by God and to carry it out in his marriage and household.”
R’ Samson Raphael Hirsch, Judaism Eternal, vol. II, p. 58
Q: If tzitizis and teffillin are so beneficial, why don’t women use them? And what do they have instead?
A: The truth. is women do have it, because when men put tzitzis and tefillin, they’re not putting it on for themselves. That’s absolutely not true. Every father puts on tzitzis and tefllin for all of his children and for his wife, too. There’s no question that tzitzis and tefillin are the property of the Am Yisroel. But, more precisely, the family shares in all the mitzvos. So while he’s putting on tzitzis and tefillin in the shull, let’s say, and his wife is taking care of the children at home, somebody has to remain at home – he couldn’t go to the synagogue if she weren’t home. There’s no question that it’s her tzitzis and her tefillin. That’s the way to understand it. It’s silly otherwise! And when he comes to study Torah in the evening, who will babysit? And, therefore, she has one hundred percent partnership in all that the does.
Q&A: Thursday Nights with Rabbi Miller, pp. 189-190.
“The Gemara asks a question, if a blind man should wear tzitzis on his garment. He has a four corner garment, does he need tzitzis? Because it says uri’isem oso, ‘you should see it’ and a blind man cannot see it. So maybe it’s patur from tzitzis. So the Gemara says, no that’s no reason because sha’ani tzitzis sh’yeshnah b’riah etzel acharim (Menachos 43a) other people should see his tzitzis. So a blind man should wear tzitzis not really for himself, (but) for other people to see. Now that’s a remarkable thing we are hearing now. It means the tzitzis that you are wearing are not only for you to see, it’s for me to see too. So let’s say a woman thinks I’m not wearing tzitzis so it doesn’t apply. No, it applies to her too. As she sees her boys going around with tzitzis she should see the tzitzis uri’isem oso, you should see the tzitzis uzachartem, ‘you should remember’. And oso doesn’t mean only tzitzis, oso means you see Hashem when you see the tzitzis.”
R’ Avigdor Miller, Lecture, “Forever and Ever”, #952
R’ Kook on Shelo Asani Ishah
“There are two kinds of souls. Those that make an imprint on life, on themselves and on existence and those that carry that imprint and cause it to grow. There are those that grow through their undertaking of making an impression on themselves and their world and there are those that grow through inspiration which is received from outside themselves. Man is superior in his yearning to create and impress and therefore recites the blessing “Blessed is He … that He did not make me a woman.
“Man however has the distinct disadvantage of being limited to the narrow limitations of his spiritual and physical makeup, which can lead him astray from G-ds ultimate plan. Woman is superior by virtue of her receptivity. This superiority allows her to be impressed and inspired by the all encompassing bounty which G-d created in this world. She therefore recites the blessing “Blessed is He … who has made me according to His will. She can aspire to fulfill G-ds will without turning astray.” (Rabbi A.Y. Kook, Olas Rayah, pps 71-72)
Translation from R’ Yaakov Haber’s TorahLab
“Step down a step to marry a wife (Yevomos 63a) as follows: “It means it’s advisable that your wife should always look up to you.” That’s why Hakodosh Boruch Hu made women shorter than men, that’s the truth. Now, in order that your wife should look up to you, you have to be superior to your wife. Suppose your wife comes from a big, aristocratic family, and you’re from a family of nobodies, it’s going to haunt you all your life; she might bring it up too. Therefore it’s better to marry somebody who is less aristocratic.”
Thursday Nights with Rabbi Miller, Vol. 2, p. 336, tape #491.
Woman is freed from a number of positive commands the observance of which depends on a certain time of the day or season of the year. The Jewish man thanks the Lord for having a much greater platform of duties. But woman has an excellent argument. She is willing to recognize the larger quantity of her husband’s obligations. Her major duties have to do with the spirit of the home and the education of the children which are decisive for the welfare of the family and the future of the nation. What she loses in quantity, she more than regains in quality. It is therefore that with a smile on her lips and deep satisfaction in her heart, she blesses the Lord, “Who has made me according His will.”
Rabbi Leo Jung , Between Man and Man p. 22
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YWN Coffee Room » Inspiration / Mussar
Women’s Bina Yeseira (77 posts)
Started 1 month ago by Joseph
Latest reply from Joseph
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Joseph
MemberMaharal on Who Was Created Last
The Maharal says that, though created simultaneously, the asynchronous formation of the first man and woman does have bearing on their relative spiritual makeup. However, the male was formed last.
“There is to conclude that, just the opposite, the woman was created first. Even though concerning the matter that [Hashem] took the bone from [Adam’s] bones [to create Chava], and this occurred after the creation of Adam, in the final analysis [we can conclude] that Chava was created first. Behold, it is written, “Male and female [He] created them” and “[He] called their name Adam.” It appears that immediately before this [the formation of Chava], the female was created as a pair [with the male]. And then the female [as a distinct entity] was formed [before the male was]. The order of the creation is given as first the mammal, then the woman, and then the male. One sees that the working of the creation is always that the one at a higher level comes last. So here, the male is last since he is more chashuv. In this is the reason behind the saying of the Rabbis that the woman matures more quickly than the man – the girl at twelve and a day and the boy at thirteen and a day. This is the completion of their maturity. This all follows from the principle that each thing with more completeness, its completion comes last.”
Maharal, Gur Aryeh, Vayikra 12:2, beginning of parshas Tazriah.
Posted 1 month ago #
Joseph
MemberThe Maharal says men have chochman yesayrah. He also says men are more spiritual in general (Tiferes Yisroel 4 and 28).
Other authorities that either explicitly or implicitly contradict the notion of generally higher spirituality in the female include Rambam, Mishnah Horarios 3:7; Tur, Orach Chaim 46; Akeidas Yitzchak, Bereishis 6; Bartenura, Mishnah Horarios 3:7; Taz, Orach Chaim 46; Zies Ra’anan (Magen Avraham), Yalkut Shemoni, Shmuel 1:1; Vilna Gaon, Even Shelaima 1:8; Baal Shevet Musar, Midrash Talpiyos, Ohs Aleph, Anaf Isha; Rav Tzadock Rabinowitz, Dover Tzedeck, p. 119; R’ Avraham Yitzchak Kook, Olas Re’iah, Birchos Hashachar; R’ Moshe Feinstein, Igoros Moshe, Orach Chaim IV, 49; R’ Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Man of Faith in the Modern World, (Hoboken, NJ: Ktav, 1989), p. 84; Lubavitcher Rebbe, Sichos in English, Iyar-Tammuz 5744, Vol. 21, pp. 69-72; R’ Avigdor Miller, Rabbi Avigdor Miller Speaks, (Brooklyn, NY: Mesorah), pp. 245-246.
As we know, men are commanded to perform mitzvos asei she’haz’man grama, time-bound mitzvos. Women, on the other hand, are not required to perform these mitzvos. What is the reason for this difference? The answer is that women have other important obligations to tend to, which exempt her from these commandments. A woman must know that she is a briah shel chessed, she has been created for the purpose of performing chessed. Being a wife and mother is a very significant role, and it requires her to be selfless and totally dedicated to performing chessed! It takes a woman’s entire effort to succeed in being an efficient mother and wife. Investing her abilities in raising children is very time consuming but is a tremendous zechus for her! (Rabbi Avigdor Miller Speaks, pp. 271-3)
Posted 1 month ago #
gavra_at_work
cautionWoodchucks can chuck wood.
Posted 1 month ago #
Joseph
MemberA woodchuck would chuck as much wood as a woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood.
Posted 1 month ago #
gavra_at_work
cautionA woodchuck would chuck as much wood as a woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood.
That’s the spirit! Now Let’s have a little talk about tweetle beetles….
When tweetle beetles fight,
it’s called a tweetle beetle battle.Posted 1 month ago #
Joseph
MemberWhen beetles fight these battles in a bottle with their paddles and the bottle’s on a poodle and the poodle’s eating noodles…
…they call this a muddle puddle tweetle poodle beetle noodle bottle paddle battle.Posted 1 month ago #
gavra_at_work
cautionWhen a fox is in the bottle where the tweetle beetles battle
with their paddles in a puddle on a noodle-eating poodle,
THIS is what they call……a tweetle beetle noodle poodle bottled paddled
muddled duddled fuddled wuddled fox in socks, sir!Posted 1 month ago #
Matan1
MemberI’m confused. Doesn’t the pasuk clearly say that Chava was created after Adam?
Posted 1 month ago #
HaLeiVi
Plays the aeolian harp by airIt probably means that both were created together as one being. Then, first was ויבן את הצלע and after that was ויסגר בשר תחתינה which, according to the Shita of דיו פרצופים, means that Hashem closed up the male.
Joseph, is this title of חשוב יותר your source of pride? The Maharal actually stresses in other places that this is not a matter of who is better then whom. It is about a position and status.
In a normal, healthy marriage, the husband brings in a certain pride and status. This is what the Gemara is referring to when it says in Kesubos 75:
דאמר ר”ל טב למיתב טן דו מלמיתב ארמלו אביי אמר דשומשמנא גברא כורסיה בי חראתא רמי לה רב פפא אמר דנפסא גברא תיקרייה בסיפי בבא ותיתיב רב אשי אמר דקלסא גברא לא בעי טלפחי לקידרא
In short, even if the husband is a midget, a cheap laborer, or from an uncertain background he is still a source of pride and status for his wife.
Nevertheless, these days this a charged topic, and people can’t understand nuance and detail when they are busy fighting the other end of the same cause. But since you brought it up it should be put in perspective. I’m still not sure, though, what you try to accomplish with these color-war style male cheers.
Posted 1 month ago #
Joseph
MemberNo, HaLeiVi, I simply quoted the Maharal. My point was in response to a frequently heard misconception (for which there is no actual Torah source – and the above sources contradict) that females are more spiritual than males. What they are trying to do is use it to say that women are more spiritual in general when binah is but one form of spirituality. Men excel in others. Rav Nachman Bullman said the practice of telling women they are more spiritual than men is actually subtly condescending.
And whether or not being spiritual should mean anything to anybody, it is taken to do what TV commercials do, show the man as the fool and the woman as the capable and mature party. This has an effect on marriages, shiduchim, and even mitzvos. When the woman (or man) thinks, there goes the man, off to put on that tefillin that he needs because he is so low – this has a terrible effect on people. Our grandmothers had enormous respect for their fathers and husbands. Not so the women of this generation or even the last generation. If someone doesn’t think that feeds into divorce and confusion among the youth, then they aren’t thinking.
The world today, lead by America, values money and career success – male domains historically. It does not value family, love, community – all the stuff women are good at. It glamorizes career, when most people hate their jobs. The college professors have interesting and easy jobs and they brainwash the youth about the glory of career. So then of course women will want to have one. Talk to the women of the 60s and 70s, how career turned out to be a bust. Many that gave up child bearing years for career and they hate their careers and wish they had more children. The contemporary woman (speaking of general society, not necessarily frum society) is a train wreck. She has lost her binah and her modesty and her warmth and everything that is so special about women.
Posted 1 month ago #
Joseph
MemberHaLeiVi: “In short, even if the husband is a midget, a cheap laborer, or from an uncertain background he is still a source of pride and status for his wife.”
“Step down a step to marry a wife (Yevomos 63a) as follows: “It means it’s advisable that your wife should always look up to you.” That’s why Hakodosh Boruch Hu made women shorter than men, that’s the truth. Now, in order that your wife should look up to you, you have to be superior to your wife. Suppose your wife comes from a big, aristocratic family, and you’re from a family of nobodies, it’s going to haunt you all your life; she might bring it up too. Therefore it’s better to marry somebody who is less aristocratic.”
Thursday Nights with Rabbi Miller, Vol. 2, p. 336, tape #491.
Posted 1 month ago #
Joseph
MemberMaharal Deroshos Al Hatorah 27:
“However, from this aspect the men need to toil and struggle in Torah without rest night and day. This is why the verse says “tell the sons of Israel,” a phrasing harsh like sinews (the root of the word sinew is related to the word to tell) that invokes the great toil (of Torah study). However, the women are spoken to in a gentle language because they don’t need this so much. Nevertheless, they (the women) are better fit for the divine reward due to their tranquility.”R’ Avigdor Miller, Q&A 2 (Columbus Publications, 2013) p. 265:
“You have made me according to Your Will. That means I have a great function in life. Someday I’ll be a mother, I’ll raise up Jewish children, I’ll be a creator of human lives to serve Hashem.”R’ Samson Raphael Hirsch, Judaism Eternal, vol. II, p 58:
“This will-subordination of the wife to the husband is a necessary condition of the unity which man and wife should form together. The subordination cannot be the other way about, since the man as zachar has to carry forward the divine and human messages which through every marriage are to be a living force in the household, and to which the husband and wife are in union to devote their forces. Just as the first command of God though addressed to the man was given through him for the woman as well, just as in consequence Adam should not have thrown over the command of God for the sake of Eve but Eve ought to have subjected her desire to the will of God as expressed to her though Adam, so thenceforward the husband was to be responsible for the task imposed upon man by God and to carry it out in his marriage and household.”R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Family Redeemed, p. 72:
“Man and woman are both worthy of communing with God, the highest form of human perfection and self-fulfillment. However, the Halakhah has discriminated between axiological equality pertaining to their Divine essence and metaphysical uniformity at the level of the existential personal experience. Man and woman are different personae, endowed with singular qualities and assigned distinct missions in life.”Posted 1 month ago #
RebYidd23
Not what I meant and you know it!Were male animals created before female animals or females before males?
Posted 1 month ago #
HaLeiVi
Plays the aeolian harp by airקלוס
Posted 4 weeks ago #
coffee addict
having withdrawal symptomsjoe,
+1
i actually had this arguement with my wife, that women aren’t special, they just have a different role than men, i gave an example of a fast food worker making minimum wage, since they have minimal responsibilty they don’t make as much, whereas the manager (men) have more responsibility and therefore get paid more
which explains why women only got not working on rosh chodesh, because they didn’t do the cheit ha’egel whereas shevet levi got working in the mishkan (more of a reward)
Posted 4 weeks ago #
Matan1
Member“it is taken to do what TV commercials do, show the man as the fool and the woman as the capable and mature party”
Do you have any examples?
“Our grandmothers had enormous respect for their fathers and husbands. Not so the women of this generation or even the last generation”
Really? Do you have any evidence?
“The world today, lead by America, values money and career success – male domains historically. It does not value family, love, community – all the stuff women are good at.”
Are you saying that men are not good at valuing family, love, and community? If so, that is very insulting to all men. I see no reason why men and woman would be different in this regard.
“The college professors have interesting and easy jobs and they brainwash the youth about the glory of career. So then of course women will want to have one. Talk to the women of the 60s and 70s, how career turned out to be a bust”
First of all, being a professor is not easy. I have several family members who are, and they have worked very hard to get to where they are, and continue to put in maximum effort into their careers.
Second, there are plenty of women who excel in both being a mother, and having a career. Speak to any kollel wife.
Posted 4 weeks ago #
Matan1
Member“It means it’s advisable that your wife should always look up to you.”
And a husband should always look up to his wife.
“Nevertheless, they (the women) are better fit for the divine reward due to their tranquility.”
This contradicts your point that woman are lower than men.
“However, the Halakhah has discriminated between axiological equality pertaining to their Divine essence and metaphysical uniformity at the level of the existential personal experience. Man and woman are different personae, endowed with singular qualities and assigned distinct missions in life.”
No one is denying that men and women have different jobs. Rav Soloveichik is just saying that they have different jobs, not different levels of holiness.
And it is quite disingenuous of you to quote Rav Soloveichik, when in numerous threads you have disparaged and insulted him.
Posted 4 weeks ago #
RebYidd23
Not what I meant and you know it!I thought there was a rule against females are inferior threads.
Posted 4 weeks ago #
Joseph
MemberFemales certainly are not inferior. The point is they aren’t superior. (Which is an often claimed* apologetic when some folks are trying to explain away various mitzvos and/or halachas that feminists deem sexist.) *i.e. the notion that women have a higher level of spirituality.
Posted 4 weeks ago #
newbee
MemberI remember a rabbi saying they got it backwards on the titanic- the men should have been saved before the women- because men have more kedusha since they are chiuv in talmud torah.
Posted 4 weeks ago #
newbee
MemberMen are saved before women are (all other variables being equal) because men have more kedusha since they learn Torah. Its a gem in horayos.
Posted 4 weeks ago #
Joseph
Membernewbee: It is a befeirush Mishna that’s paskened as halacha l’maaisa in Shulchan Aruch.
Posted 4 weeks ago #
newbee
MemberI have yet to find one Rabbi tell me l’maaisa we save a man before a woman in an emergency, or that we follow any of that hierarchy when it comes to saving a life l’maaisa.
But I thought we were not allowed to say these things, and are only allowed to say that women have more kedusha than men, and the only reason they are pattur from talmud torah is because they have so much kedusha to begin with, they dont need to learn.
Posted 4 weeks ago #
Joseph
Membernewbee: No rabbi told you that since, Baruch Hashem, you’ve never had such a sakanos nefoshos shaaila. But Shulchan Aruch clearly paskens like that (based on an open Mishna and Rambam). Do Shulchan Aruch, the Mishna and Rambam cut it for you?
Posted 4 weeks ago #
Joseph
MemberRav Avigdor Miller: Is there a difference between the Neshama of a man vs. a woman?
“In neshamos there is no difference. Hashem gives people different ways different opportunities to perfect their neshama. When a woman is married and she dedicates her life to others, she’s doing something that transforms her nature. It’s impossible for her to function successfully and to remain selfish.
Her main achievement is transforming her neshama by doing chesed (kindness) to Hashem’s people for the sake of Heaven.
She has all the functions of other people upon her. She has to carry children with in her, and then she has to nurse the child. She has to worry about children at night; sometimes they’re not well. She has to think about preparing food for everybody. Everything is for others.
She does it selflessly like a busy Jewish mother usually does. It’s an extremely important achievement for her neshama, and she gains perfection in that way. We don’t expect her to devote hours to Torah learning. Her main achievement is transforming her neshama by doing chesed (kindness) to Hashem’s people for the sake of Heaven. (If it’s done properly, it’s not merely done like gentiles do, but it’s done with the intention of serving Hashem.)
A man has other opportunities. A man is not limited; he doesn’t carry a child within himself. He doesn’t have to nurse babies. Nevertheless he has to do many things. He has to go out to the marketplace, make a living. And there are many nisyonos (tests) in making a living. All the laws of choshen mishpat (business dealings) apply when you have to compete with other people for parnassa (livelihood).
Therefore a man gains his perfection other ways, and is expected also to give part of his efforts to learning Torah and doing more mitzvos than a woman is able to do because she is busy. Each one gains perfection in a different way. (#791, 10 Aspects of Shabbos)”
Maharal Deroshos Al Hatorah 27:
“However, from this aspect the men need to toil and struggle in Torah without rest night and day. This is why the verse says “tell the sons of Israel,” a phrasing harsh like sinews (the root of the word sinew is related to the word to tell) that invokes the great toil (of Torah study). However, the women are spoken to in a gentle language because they don’t need this so much. Nevertheless, they (the women) are better fit for the divine reward due to their tranquility.”
R’ Avigdor Miller, Q&A 2 (Columbus Publications, 2013) p. 265:
“You have made me according to Your Will. That means I have a great function in life. Someday I’ll be a mother, I’ll raise up Jewish children, I’ll be a creator of human lives to serve Hashem.”
R’ Samson Raphael Hirsch, Judaism Eternal, vol. II, p 58:
“This will-subordination of the wife to the husband is a necessary condition of the unity which man and wife should form together. The subordination cannot be the other way about, since the man as zachar has to carry forward the divine and human messages which through every marriage are to be a living force in the household, and to which the husband and wife are in union to devote their forces. Just as the first command of God though addressed to the man was given through him for the woman as well, just as in consequence Adam should not have thrown over the command of God for the sake of Eve but Eve ought to have subjected her desire to the will of God as expressed to her though Adam, so thenceforward the husband was to be responsible for the task imposed upon man by God and to carry it out in his marriage and household.”
R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Family Redeemed, p. 72:
“Man and woman are both worthy of communing with God, the highest form of human perfection and self-fulfillment. However, the Halakhah has discriminated between axiological equality pertaining to their Divine essence and metaphysical uniformity at the level of the existential personal experience. Man and woman are different personae, endowed with singular qualities and assigned distinct missions in life.”
The Maharal says men have chochman yesayrah. He also says men are more spiritual in general (Tiferes Yisroel 4 and 28).
Other authorities that either explicitly or implicitly contradict the notion of generally higher spirituality in the female include Rambam, Mishnah Horarios 3:7; Tur, Orach Chaim 46; Akeidas Yitzchak, Bereishis 6; Bartenura, Mishnah Horarios 3:7; Taz, Orach Chaim 46; Zies Ra’anan (Magen Avraham), Yalkut Shemoni, Shmuel 1:1; Vilna Gaon, Even Shelaima 1:8; Baal Shevet Musar, Midrash Talpiyos, Ohs Aleph, Anaf Isha; Rav Tzadock Rabinowitz, Dover Tzedeck, p. 119; R’ Avraham Yitzchak Kook, Olas Re’iah, Birchos Hashachar; R’ Moshe Feinstein, Igoros Moshe, Orach Chaim IV, 49; R’ Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Man of Faith in the Modern World, (Hoboken, NJ: Ktav, 1989), p. 84; Lubavitcher Rebbe, Sichos in English, Iyar-Tammuz 5744, Vol. 21, pp. 69-72; R’ Avigdor Miller, Rabbi Avigdor Miller Speaks, (Brooklyn, NY: Mesorah), pp. 245-246.
As we know, men are commanded to perform mitzvos asei she’haz’man grama, time-bound mitzvos. Women, on the other hand, are not required to perform these mitzvos. What is the reason for this difference? The answer is that women have other important obligations to tend to, which exempt her from these commandments. A woman must know that she is a briah shel chessed, she has been created for the purpose of performing chessed. Being a wife and mother is a very significant role, and it requires her to be selfless and totally dedicated to performing chessed! It takes a woman’s entire effort to succeed in being an efficient mother and wife. Investing her abilities in raising children is very time consuming but is a tremendous zechus for her! (Rabbi Avigdor Miller Speaks, pp. 271-3)
Maharal on Who Was Created Last
The Maharal says that, though created simultaneously, the asynchronous formation of the first man and woman does have bearing on their relative spiritual makeup. However, the male was formed last.
“There is to conclude that, just the opposite, the woman was created first. Even though concerning the matter that [Hashem] took the bone from [Adam’s] bones [to create Chava], and this occurred after the creation of Adam, in the final analysis [we can conclude] that Chava was created first. Behold, it is written, “Male and female [He] created them” and “[He] called their name Adam.” It appears that immediately before this [the formation of Chava], the female was created as a pair [with the male]. And then the female [as a distinct entity] was formed [before the male was]. The order of the creation is given as first the mammal, then the woman, and then the male. One sees that the working of the creation is always that the one at a higher level comes last. So here, the male is last since he is more chashuv. In this is the reason behind the saying of the Rabbis that the woman matures more quickly than the man – the girl at twelve and a day and the boy at thirteen and a day. This is the completion of their maturity. This all follows from the principle that each thing with more completeness, its completion comes last.”
Maharal, Gur Aryeh, Vayikra 12:2, beginning of parshas Tazriah.
Kuvult: Reform and Conservative do not have Shuls. They have some kind of Chapel that is closer to a Church than to a Shul. They have nothing to do with Judaism.
AAQ: We Jews don’t decide “according to your view” (our view); we do as the Gedolei HaDor (such as in this Kol Korah) and our Rabbonim shlit”a instruct us.
Why wasn’t the wealthy bochor paying you per session (rather than a small one time tip at the end of the zman)?
Vice President-Elect J.D. Vance will be an excellent future President of the United States.
The Torah answers this question. Dovid HaMelech, in Tanach, told us what to do. Halacha also, explicitly, addresses how to discipline your children. It can be learnt anywhere you have a Shulchan Aruch.
Go to a local seminary.
The main thing is that you shouldn’t talk during leining. Everything else is commentary.
The Wolf: Why isn’t it possible currently?
CTL: Why is it any less appropriate than discussing the weather, the crime rate, health foods or sports?
Melech: What is the issue regarding meat that people who are not someach on OU for are concerned with, that’s also applicable to this product?
Menachem: Was it Chabad ‘s minhag to remove shoes already in prewar Europe?
Former federal prosecutor Rudy Giuliani should be appointed by President Trump’s new Attorney General as an independent Special Prosecutor in the Justice Department to investigate and prosecute all government officials within the Department of Justice and all other government agencies and officials who abused their government positions for political purposes beginning with the Russia Hoax in 2017 through the politically motivated persecutions of Donald Trump by federal, state and local officials.
This newly created Special Prosecutor’s office led by America’s Mayor Rudy Giuliani should be open ended, with no end date, to follow all leads these investigations and prosecutions lead to.
The Trump supporter in this story sounds like the average Yiddishe Trump supporter.
Hopefully Dictator Trump will round up all the leftists and other anti-American self-hating cranks and deport them all to Guantanamo Bay on Day One of the second Trump Administration.
Following that, we expect Dictator Trump to outlaw the Democrat Party and dissolve all far-left extremist groups such as Antifa, J Street, the ACLU and anything related to George Soros.
Multiple generations.
AAQ: European Jews never dressed like the local gentiles. (I’m not as familiar with Sephardic attire, but I believe the same can be said for them.) Not even like the upper-class goyim. The Jews *always* dressed differently, obviously excluding secularized Jews.
The 2020 polls were badly mistaken. They overestimated the Democrats.
Agreed that polling in general has overestimated Democrats compared to the election results. This has been the case for a long while, already. Especially the non-final polls; IOW all the polls until the last one was really skewered in favor of the Democrats. By time their final poll before election day comes out, and they know that’s what they’ll be judged on, they become slightly more honest. Which is why you’ll usually find in the last polls before the election Republicans usually see improvements.
BTW, how did polling do any better before telephone landlines became almost universally owned by Americans? As far as today, I understand polls started calling mobile telephones over the last number of election cycles.
P.S. I believe the polls will, for the third time in a row, prove to have under-counted Trump voters; and he will have a convincing win on election day (especially in the Electoral College, but he’ll most very likely win the popular vote as well.)
You could ask similar questions regarding Shmitta.
Y’all saw the signs on the stores; “No shoes, no service.” Now we need our own signs saying “No hat, no quorum.”
How do out of towners manage without a minyan factory?
Neville: I was thinking of answering him, as well, but I realized (as usual) it wasn’t worth the effort. Since you addressed his nonsensical comments, you could also point out that when he wrote “men wrote seforim about what they want women to wear” is that he must be under the impression that G-d is a man or that men are G-d, because the Gedolei Poskim who write the Shailos U’Teshuvos seforim on Halacha do not pasken “what they want women to wear” but rather the pasken what Hashem wants women to wear.
But something so obvious needn’t even be stated.
Trump.
CA: In Sephardic countries when it was the norm to come to Shul in a turban, indeed coming to Shul without a turban would be disrespectful and warrant being asked to leave until the turban is put on.
How do you want to it transmitted? Posting it here might not be the best idea.
The software is buggy. Somethings are outside the control of the moderators. And the programmers don’t often update the underlying code.
MadeOf: Struggling doesn’t necessarily define one as OTD or, even, at-risk.
Who said there is any minimum shiur?
I don’t know the numbers, but from what I’ve heard from multiple sources is that the vast majority of Lubavitchers believe that the last Lubavitcher Rebbe will return as Moshiach.
Coming to Shul without a hat and jacket is like going to a fancy restaurant wearing a sleeveless T-shirt, shorts and sandals with no socks. (Actually, coming to Shul without a hat and jacket is worse.)
You wouldn’t complain about a dress code to come into a store or restaurant or the White House. Coming into the House of the King of King’s demands a high level of respect.
Just because society has gone to pot, with anyone or everyone thinking dressing down is okay, does not mean a Shul needs to get with the times and welcome you with your sandals, shorts and t-shirt. They appropriately demand you dress befitting meeting the King of King’s.
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