They called her Pearl (Pearl). To me, she is Rebbetzin Pearl. Her father was Rabbi Shmuel Reich. As his name suggests, he was very wealthy. When she was six years old, her parents arranged for her to be married to the son of a poor man named Merod – the Maharal’s father. Her intended son-in-law was only seven years old.
At the age of eighteen, her father asked to hold the wedding, but the Maharal said that the bride was still young and that he should study for several more years before getting married.
The young bride, who did not want her intended son-in-law to be ashamed of her, devoted all her free time to studying Torah diligently. Incidentally, she was the one who edited and prepared for printing the 24 monumental works of her righteous husband, our teacher the Maharal zt"l.
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And another incidental note: This Pearl testified about herself that she studied five hours every day and even had a regular class with her husband, the Maharal, in Halacha, morality, and even in the investigation!
I'm sure you all know about Bruria, the wife of Rabbi Meir. You've probably heard about the wife of Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrkanos. They called her Mother Shalom and she was the sister of Rabban Gamliel. The sages have already elaborated on her greatness in the Torah, and this is not the place for it.
And I haven't even written a word about Deborah the prophetess, who Barak ben Avinoam asked time and again for Torah to be given to him. I have given a total of three examples, and there are many more.
Women were the first to give the Torah.
From the column published here last week, it could be concluded that I intended to protest against the fact that women are not allowed to study Torah as Rebbetzin Pearl, Bruria, and Ima Shalom did.
So no.
That's not what I meant. Women like them are unique in a generation, and men like them are also extremely rare. Their righteousness is unquestionable, and no one thinks that this applies to all Israeli women.
But my words were directed at the same study that is incumbent upon every Jewish woman who wants to maintain a Jewish home. Namely, the study of the laws concerning women and household management and a comprehensive knowledge of the sagas of the Sages that inspire faith, as the women of Israel have done for many generations (by studying the book 'Tzaina Ve Rayna') and many of the great men of Israel encouraged this.
Moreover: in this generation, the last generation, a generation of double and multiplied darkness on the one hand, and an increase in education and knowledge in an amount that has not existed since ancient times, it is imperative to create Torah study frameworks for women that are in keeping with the spirit of Yisrael Saba, so that they will not find it in foreign fields.
More than once I encountered all sorts of "ultra-Orthodox" feminists who cited articles of the Sages as a reference for their statements, and it was clear where the interpretation of those articles of the Sages came from. An interpretation of compromise. An incorrect interpretation. Originating from broken ignorance. This must be stopped as quickly as possible.
Women's study of Torah will not turn them into men and it is not an obligation, but a permission, and still the one who commands and does is greater than the one who does not command and does. This paragraph was written for chauvinistic men who are afraid of a woman who knows how to open a book.
Halacha states that women fulfill and bless (!) even positive commandments from which they are exempt. In the Holy Torah it is written that women preceded men in giving the Torah – "Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob," and only afterwards "and say to the children of Israel." The holy Rashi refers to this and states what has been clear for many generations: "Speak to them first of all things that they can hear.".
So, what happened in the last generation?
Precisely in a generation that needs pure Haredi frameworks for women's Torah study, precisely in a generation where all women study Torah in elementary school and in seminary, have rabbis risen on their own behalf to dispute previous generations?
This was my puzzlement that I chose to share with you.
Straighten the curve
Here are some things that the Lubavitcher Rebbe wrote regarding Torah study for women: "It seems that one needs to study the Sages' statement that teaches oral Torah as if she were teaching it." (The Rebbe chose not to write the word "tefalot" that appears in the original). But it is explained on a website according to the reason, "because through it a cunning one enters into it," and in studying the laws of verses without their reasons - which is the style of the Sefer HaYid and Sefer HaMitzvot - this does not belong at all, and in this matter it is the law of the written Torah.
""And in recent generations, all the great men of Israel have ruled that it is time to do things for the Lord, and they have done practical work and established schools for girls to teach them the written Torah and the necessary laws, including - knowledge of the Lord, love and fear of Him, right views, repentance. And beyond that - a great deal has been done with the consent of the great men of Israel that women teach in schools for young boys, including the laws of the tzitzit and the like.".
The Rebbe addressed this issue extensively, and when the Admor of Belza came to visit him in 1940, the two righteous men discussed the issue, the conclusion of the discussion being that in this generation Must To teach the daughters of Israel Torah. Again, out of necessity and not as an obligation for men to study Torah, and the things are clear.
Interestingly, the very week my previous column was published, I had the opportunity to attend a gathering of women who teach Torah lessons all over the country, from north to south. Sitting next to me were a woman from Eilat and a woman from Kiryat Shmona.
There were women from all walks of life there. Haredi and religious. Ashkenazi and Spanish. A perfect representation of all. And no one doubted the fact that there is a need for Torah study for women and the great power of the Torah to straighten out the crooked and return the whiteness of the women of Israel to their Father in Heaven.
We must learn and grow wiser.
At the end of the eighth grade, I completed my studies at Beit Yaakov. Since then, I have never gone back and read the books of Sarah, may peace be upon her. I certainly have not read her will to her daughters – her students – again.
Even then – in Terza, Schnirer wrote that in this generation we must learn and become wise in order to bring about redemption.
The huge empire that was established as a result of the activities of one woman who wanted to combat the increasing secularism of that generation needs no introduction to anyone of our time. All the great men of Israel supported a movement that saved generations of Jewish girls from destruction. How many of us owe our spiritual lives to her?
The Chofetz Chaim zt"l even ruled this as a halakhic law - that in this generation (and you will agree that the Chofetz Chaim's generation was better than our generation...), the daughters of Israel must be taught Torah. All the more so, and even more so, in our generation, in which women study a variety of professions, there is no doubt that they must study Torah.
It is clear to everyone that the children of our generation come with questions and insights from outside. A mother needs to know how to answer the questions. A mother needs to know Torah. And don't worry, the Torah is the wisdom of God, it has no limit and no end, there will be plenty of it left even for those who fear that the title "sons of Torah" will be taken away from them...
In conclusion: In the past, it was forbidden to teach women the Oral Torah in order to avoid introducing "cunningness" that would harm their natural innocence and pure faith. Of course, there were exceptions, as I wrote at the beginning of the column.
But at the same time, it was clear that women needed to learn the written Torah and the laws necessary for them. In recent generations, even before the terrible war, the situation changed, women learned various wisdoms, so that they could acquire the "cunning" from outside, and all the great men of Israel commanded that they should be taught Torah.
There are seminars in which entire sections of the Oral Torah are taught, especially when it comes to matters related to the laws that must be learned, and it is clear that this is done with the consent and blessing of the great men of Israel and is the need of the generation.
So the critic of some newspaper disagrees. So what?
• Part of the column is based on the talks of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. The writer is the owner of "My Choice", an event host, lecturer and radio broadcaster: [email protected]
