Why women shouldn't study Torah and how women have an easier life.

 Why women shouldn't study Torah and how women have an easier life. 

947 - Skill of Silence, Rabbi Miller, around 1:26:26

Do women get a separate Olam Haboh or do they share it with their husband? Rav Avigdor Miller

 

Do women get a separate Olam Haboh or do they share it with their husband?

 Q:

Do women get a separate Olam Haboh or do they share it with their husband?

A:
The answer is, Olam Haboh is never the same for any two individuals. It’s not the same for any two individuals. מלמד שכל צדיק וצדיק יש לו חופה לפי כבודו – Each tzadik has a canopy according to his glory, according to what he deserves. Nobody is the same in Olam Haboh. 

Now the question is, women in general, will they have a lesser kind of glory than men? And the answer is certainly not. Each person has opportunities and will be rewarded exactly according to the way he or she utilizes those opportunities.

The truth is that women have a promise that men don’t have. It says גדולה הבטחה – Greater is the promise that Hakodosh Boruch Hu gave to women. And that means as follows: Women are not subject to the difficulties that men have – and they don’t have all the opportunities that man have. 

One example: Men have opportunity, and also a drive, for more arrogance. A man has a beard; a beard makes the chin look bigger, you have to know that. A beard gives you a big chin; it makes you look more authoritative. Whereas women are humble; they more resemble young people, they more resemble children. They are more modest, more retiring than men by nature.

Everybody knows, if you have boys and girls among your children you know that the boys are the ones that you get the most Olam Haboh for raising. A woman with a lot of boys, it’s said about her that will not see the pischo shel Gehenom. She won’t see even the entrance of Gehenom because she has it already in this world.

Now, I suppose it’s fun too – finally you’ll marry off all your sons and the other party will have to make the chasuna and give the dowry if you have sons. But it’s a few years till you marry them off and raising sons is a big job because sons are more pugnacious. No question about that boys have a fighting spirit that girls don’t have. 

Boys however, because of this drive, they can accomplish more than girls and that’s why they’re given more opportunities than girls outside the home.  Women are loaded down with responsibilities of a home; you can’t leave your children and run to shachris – you have to stay home and take care of the children. And that’s their nature – Hashem gave them certain instincts that are best utilized in the home. The instinct of rachmonus, pity. The word rachamim comes from the word rechem; that’s a womanly instinct, to have pity. And also a love for children and so on. So women can become great in the sphere of her home – but they don’t have the opportunities and dangers that men have. 

Men go out in a conflict. Sometimes there is a machlokes even between chachomim, between sages. And sometimes the machlokes leads to other things besides pure Torah machlokes, and there’s a big responsibility there. Shaul and Dovid were both big tzadikim but Shaul was misled to some extent by his manliness, by his desire to remain a king. He felt it was his responsibility and to a certain extent he was misled by that. The queen of Shaul and the queen of Dovid didn’t have any fights between themselves. Neither of them were pugnacious; they didn’t have the arrogance that Hakodosh Boruch Hu gave to males. So גדולה הבטחה – greater is the promise that is given to women. 

It says נשים שעננות בוטחות – Quiet daughters, daughters who are trusting. It means Hakodosh Boruch Hu said, “You can trust in Me because your reward is more guaranteed.”

However, men can achieve more greatness, because if they utilize their more violent natures, their drive, they can become greater. But it’s a bigger danger too.

However, in a certain sense women and men are partners in the reward of Olam Haboh. Because in addition to the first principle of each one being rewarded according to his opportunities – a woman can become great in her life just like men become great in their lives – but there is also another area where they share their reward. And that’s when a woman is married to a man who forges ahead in serving Hashem and she serves in the background; with encouragement and he needs also a home, he needs all the wherewithal of life to enable him to continue. And certainly if she is the one to inspires him to even more effort, then surely. So therefore here is an opportunity for women to be sharers even in the achievements of men.

Woman also can achieve by means of their sons or if they marry off their daughters to sons in law. It’s a greatness for women when their children, or their grandchildren, or their sons in law pursue da’as Hashem and are oisek in Torah and in mitzvos; it’s all credited to the parents, men and women.

So therefore we’ll sum up now in two ways the answer to this.

Women on their own are rewarded according to their opportunities and nobody is going to lose because he wasn’t made a man or wasn’t made a woman; each person will be rewarded according to his or her opportunities.

But in addition, there are some things that men and women share together because they are partners. Like Rabbi Akiva. When Rabbi Akiva came back after twenty four years and he became a national Torah leader, and everybody came to pay homage to him, so Rabbi Akiva said (Nedarim 50a), “My Torah and the Torah that you learnt from me, is all hers,” and he pointed to this woman Rochel, his wife whom he hadn’t seen in twenty four years. He said, “This woman is responsible for all the Torah that I have, and all the Torah that you learnt from me.”

So now you when you look back on our history, the gemora says about Rabbi Yehuda, Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Elazar ben Shamua and Rabbi Yosi, that all of them were talmidim of Rabbi Akiva. And the Gemara says that all of our Torah comes from these five sages who were disciples of Rabbi Akiva. But Rabbi Akiva himself was the result, he was the creation that was brought into being by the spirit of one woman, Rochel. So here now Rochel, the wife of Rabbi Akiva, is actually the rebbe of the Jewish nation.

So it’s possible for women to attain that second form of greatness in addition to her nature and instincts and characteristics that give her opportunity to gain perfection of her own.

TAPE # 382, Rav Avigdor Miller

daas torah blog on binah

 

Maharal - Women have binah yeseira - they have extra primordial intellect as opposed to the abstract intellect of man

The Maharal is often cited as a rabbinic authority that recognizes the equality or even superiority of woman over man. It is important to understand what his views actually are. Here is an example of the Maharal's understanding of gender differences regarding "binah yeseira" (extra understanding) - which is often cited to indicate that woman has superior intellectual powers.

However it is clear that the Maharal does not understand it that way. He comments are similar to those found in the Ibn Ezra and Ralbag as well as the Rambam and other Rishonim - that there is a coarser more primitive nature to women's intelligence and it is primarily useful in dealing with material rather than spiritual issues. There is a problem in that bina yeseira does not just mean practical or mundane wisdom

Peskita Zutrasa[1](Lekach Tov Devarim Zos Habracha):Yehoshua ben Nun – Why was was his name ben Nun? Because he had bina yeseira and similar we see in Bamidbar (34), Because Moshe placed his hands on him. G-d had only said to Moshe to place one hand on him and yet he placed both hands. From here we learn that a teacher is not jealous of his students....

Malbim(Divrei HaYomim 2:26.5):  
מלבי"ם דברי הימים ב כו

(ה) ויהי לדרוש אלהים. שר"ל שהיה אז העת המוכן לדרוש אלהים, כי היה בימי זכריה המבין בראות אלהים, שהנביאים ובעלי רוה"ק היו צופים במראות אלהים כמו יחזקאל שראה המרכבה, ויתר מחזות שראו הנביאים. והיה ביניהם מדרגות, שיש מהם שלא הבינו כל המראה על אמתתה, כי המראות הם ציונים מושכלים שעל ידם יציינו להם ההשגות הנוראות, כמו העולמות וההיכלות והפרצופים והספירות שרואים הנכנסים בפרדס, שיש מהם שהציץ ונפגע, ומעשה בתינוק שיצא אש מחשמל, כי צריך בינה יתירה להבין דבר מתוך דבר כר"ע שנכנס בשלום ויצא בשלום, וזכריה היה מבין המראות, ובדור שנמצא איש כזה היה העת לדרוש אלהים ממנו, ובימים שדרשו את ה' הצליחו. עתה יתחיל לספר הצלחותיו, א] נגד האויב החיצון:

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Maharal[1](Nida 45b): This teaches that G-d gave bina yeseira (extra understanding) to the woman The explanation is G-d gave primordial (hayulani) intelligence to the woman because she is extra prepared for this. However the man has intelligence (seichel) and wisdom (chochma) in extra measure which is abstract intelligence. Primordial intelligences enables the woman to accept more. And thus our Sages say (Bava Metzia 59a), If your wife is short bend down and listen to her. According to one view this is referring to household matters while according to another view it is talking about worldly matters. That is because the woman’s intelligence comes from primordial intelligence which is more relevant to her than the man. Consequently regarding heavenly matters one should not listen to the advice of his wife because a woman has no connection to wisdom which requires abstract intelligence. It is important to understand clearly what our Sages hint at when they say woman was given extra binah (understanding). This is based on the language “vayiven” (build) where G-d builds  woman from the side of man. That is because the woman completes the building of man and from this aspect she has wisdom because completion produces this. Nevertheless the level of man is that he has abstract intelligence. It is important to understand this.

https://daattorah.blogspot.com/2017/01/maharal-women-have-binah-yeseira-they.html

Secret to Jewish Femininity

Tehillah Abramov says in "Secret to Jewish Femininity" p. 32 that "The Kabbalists add that the fact that women do not ask for the opportunity to perform more mitzvot is a reflection of their unique nature. What is the intent of the mitzvot? to train our human natures to be attuned to God's will. Men are given more mitzvot because they require more training. Women by nature do not require as much 'training' because they possess a natural, intuitive connection to God's will." However, she doesn't give a source. Where in the Kabbalah is this said? The Gemara in Avodah Zarah says kohanim have more mitzvos because they have more kiddusah. The Baal Magen Avraham says women are exempt from positive time bound commandments because their yetzer tov is smaller than that of men. (Zies Rananan on Yalkut Shimoni, Shmuel 1:1) If women are more attuned to God's will, shouldn't the women be the rabbis? Shouldn't the wives be in charge at home? But the Gemara in Baba Matzia 59a says the man who goes about in the counsel of his wife goes to gehennom. So if you have a source for the comment in "Secret to Jewish Femininity," can you please share it? You might offer Rav Hirsch on Vayikra. But that is not the kabbalah. And Rav Hirsch chocks it up more to the environment and says women don't need those mitzvos for "their job." 

Why is it that Hashem is referred to as “He” or “Him”? Why don’t we say “She” or “Her”?

 Q: 

Why is it that Hashem is referred to as “He” or “Him”? Why don’t we say “She” or “Her”?

A:
Because we’re not completely meshuga yet. We didn’t get there just yet.

Look; here’s a man and he has a beard. A woman has no beard, right? You’ve see many women in your life and you’re yet to see a woman with a beard. And a man is taller than a woman. A woman is the shorter of the two. That’s how Hashem made this world; the man is the more powerful. He’s stronger, bigger, and he instills more fear.

So, if you’re going to choose a model, a model for one who’s in charge of the world, are you going to choose the model of a soft, sweet woman?! Isn’t that being ridiculous?!

And that’s why we have a government today that takes our money to pay women to be policewoman. Because people are stupid. People are ridiculous. I’m walking down Kings Highway, and here’s a policeman, six feet high, and standing next to him is a policewoman who is up to his belly-button! It’s a joke, a waste of our money. It’s just liberal window-dressing that costs us money for nothing.

The whole idea of elevating women to places of power, is nothing but the insanity of the liberals. Women are dignified and are to be honored and the Jewish women are a treasure; they are the foundation of our nation. But do they represent strength and power and control? Does the woman signify might?! And therefore, there is no question that when you speak of Hakodosh Boruch Hu, we speak of Him as a man.

Rav Avigdor Miller TAPE # 990 (December 1994)

Rabbi Shloma Majeski

Regarding Why don’t girls need to wear a yarmulke? by Rabbi Shloma Majeski, see Sichos in English, Iyar-Tammuz 5744, Vol. 21, pp. 69-72, N’shei Convention. The Rebbe says: "We shall resolve this difficulty by first explaining why in general there are certain mitzvos which women are not obligated to carry out. It is not because women are inferior to men. It is because G-d has given each Jew a mission uniquely suited to the individual: A task for men and a separate task for women – and a mission common to both men and women." He doesn't say it's because women are superior, just that they aren't inferior.        ----    Your explanation appears to be feminist apologetics. Women cover their head with a sheitel or scarf. In fact that's a requirement from the Torah. Men's head covering is a custom. 

As for the kabbalah, the source of all Jews is in the atzmus. It is channeled through lower sources. The source for men is chochmah and z'eir anpin. The source for women is binah and malchus, both of which are lower than their pairs. If the source for malchus is higher within keser, that doesn't make women higher. As we see the higher source in keser results in a lower sefirah. Higher goes lower.

Chabad is based largely on the Maharal, so see Maharal Tiferes Yisroel 28 and 4. He contradicts what you are saying there and in many other places. Maharal (Avos 1:5): On 'Don’t have excessive idle conversations with women', he says, "This is what is meant that when the woman was created that Satan was created with her. In other words this is referring to the level of man because the male is on a higher level than the female." See Maharal, Gur Aryeh, Vayikra 12:2, beginning of parshas Tazriah where he says, "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. There, the formation of the male is last and not first." Maharal (Bava Metzia 59a): "All those who follow the advice of their wife fall into Gehinom – This is truly incredible. We explain this also in relationship to Avos (1:5), All those who talk a lot with their wives are idle from words of Torah and in the end they inherit Gehinom. You should know that the woman is compared to Substance while the man is compared to the Form in every place. And when the Form is not separated from the Substance but rather the Form follows after the Substance entirely – he falls in Gehinom. That is because it is well known that the deficit is attached and bound with the Substance. This is alluded to by the Sages when they noted that when the woman was created the Samech was created with her. Because we don’t find the letter Samech in the Torah until the woman was created. ויסגר בשר תחתנה Bereishis (2:21) and closed up the flesh. That teaches you that with the woman was attached the deficit which is Satan who is the Angel of Death. "  

I'm not suggesting you tell the world women are on a lower level but certainly don't teach the opposite. It isn't what women really want to hear and it demoralizes the men and creates shalom bayis problems.

Lub Rebbe on the exemption

God divided the commandments. Some apply to both men and women. Then there are some commandments from which men are exempt so that they may focus more on those activities unique to their purpose. Likewise, there are commandments from which women are exempt to allow them to accomplish more in the areas entrusted to them. Now, you might think that the reward for the commandments is awarded only to those who actually perform them. But the Torah declares, as the Arizal explains: the fact that women are exempt from some commandments doesn't mean, God forbid, that they have no share in them. Rather, when the husband performs those commandments he does so on behalf of his wife as well. As it is with kiddush on Shabbos: when one person recites kiddush he exempts all those who are listening to him as well even though they are merely hearing it. The same applies to the commandments from which women are exempt like the commandment to write a Torah scroll for instance. God established that women do indeed share in the benefit. They were only exempted from performing the actual deed for when the man fulfills it, he does so as a representative and on behalf of his wife. 

But the question could be asked: Perhaps this only occurs after marriage when she has a husband? The Zohar states that this is incorrect. The souls of husband and wife were created like all souls in Heaven from which they then descended. In heaven they were created as one soul. They were separated into two bodies only when they descended into this world. And so Torah calls an unmarried man a half-body. And this is also true of the woman. And then, when the right time comes, God brings them together, for is He who ordains the match. This teaches us that even before marriage God knows that the half-souls of a young man and his future bride are part of one whole. So, even before marriage as the young man fulfills commandments in which only men are obligated he might not realize it. But God who gave prescribed commandments and their reward certainly knows that they are performed in part for him and in part for the woman, who, at the proper time, will be re-united with him to become one unit. So years before his wedding, and even during early childhood, when a boy performs a commandment incumbent only on men, it is done in part for his half-soul's female counterpart, and the same is true of the woman. (Lubavitcher Rebbe, Farbrengen of 26 Iyar, 5744, May 27, 1984 in "Two Halves of a Whole," Living Torah, 1657)

 https://videos.jem.tv/video-player?produced=1657

halacha is like nature

Men and women are built differently, right? Can we agree on that? And their sensibilities tend to differ too, in general. So in Torah you see that reflected in differences in roles. If you label any difference as some kind of unacceptable sexism, you are going to be upset all day long. I can't have a baby. I'd like to. Sounds wonderful. Should I rail against nature for this? I'd like to be beautiful. I'm not. I'm a guy. I'm not beautiful. Women are beautiful. On occasion I'm handsome. That's the best I can do. I do other things. So in Torah, there's much common activity, but there are some differences. It's just like nature. We all have hearts and lungs, but some parts of us differ by sex. The halacha works similarly. When you embrace it, you find it really does work quite nicely. 

Rav Hirsch on enthusiasm

Rav Hirsch doesn't say that women have more enthusiasm for religion in general than men, he says they have more enthusiasm for THEIR job - “more faithful enthusiasm for their God-serving calling.” (Vayikra 23, Levy trans.) But they have a different calling. You can't really compare the two. It would seem that his statement is building off of the Midrash that women have zrisus for mitzvos. This is likely referencing emotion and not necessarily action. The Magen Avraham (Zies Ra'anan on Yalkut Shimoni, Shmuel 1:1) says that women are exempt from positive time bound commandments because their yetzer TOV is not as strong as that of men and if commanded the women wouldn't do those commandments. Source here: https://belovedcompanions.blogspot.com/2013/05/magen-avraham.html So they have enthusiasm for their job but wouldn't necessarily have that for the men's job. We might note (my own thought) that most of the men's special mitzvos are masculine (building a succah, wearing the same black leather box on one's head every day, going outside into the heat and cold for minyan, sticking to a precise schedule (Shema) no matter how one feels.

Do women get a separate Olam Haboh or do they share it with their husband?

 Q:

Do women get a separate Olam Haboh or do they share it with their husband?

A:
The answer is, Olam Haboh is never the same for any two individuals. It’s not the same for any two individuals. מלמד שכל צדיק וצדיק יש לו חופה לפי כבודו – Each tzadik has a canopy according to his glory, according to what he deserves. Nobody is the same in Olam Haboh. 

Now the question is, women in general, will they have a lesser kind of glory than men? And the answer is certainly not. Each person has opportunities and will be rewarded exactly according to the way he or she utilizes those opportunities.

The truth is that women have a promise that men don’t have. It says גדולה הבטחה – Greater is the promise that Hakodosh Boruch Hu gave to women. And that means as follows: Women are not subject to the difficulties that men have – and they don’t have all the opportunities that man have. 

One example: Men have opportunity, and also a drive, for more arrogance. A man has a beard; a beard makes the chin look bigger, you have to know that. A beard gives you a big chin; it makes you look more authoritative. Whereas women are humble; they more resemble young people, they more resemble children. They are more modest, more retiring than men by nature.

Everybody knows, if you have boys and girls among your children you know that the boys are the ones that you get the most Olam Haboh for raising. A woman with a lot of boys, it’s said about her that will not see the pischo shel Gehenom. She won’t see even the entrance of Gehenom because she has it already in this world.

Now, I suppose it’s fun too – finally you’ll marry off all your sons and the other party will have to make the chasuna and give the dowry if you have sons. But it’s a few years till you marry them off and raising sons is a big job because sons are more pugnacious. No question about that boys have a fighting spirit that girls don’t have. 

Boys however, because of this drive, they can accomplish more than girls and that’s why they’re given more opportunities than girls outside the home.  Women are loaded down with responsibilities of a home; you can’t leave your children and run to shachris – you have to stay home and take care of the children. And that’s their nature – Hashem gave them certain instincts that are best utilized in the home. The instinct of rachmonus, pity. The word rachamim comes from the word rechem; that’s a womanly instinct, to have pity. And also a love for children and so on. So women can become great in the sphere of her home – but they don’t have the opportunities and dangers that men have. 

Men go out in a conflict. Sometimes there is a machlokes even between chachomim, between sages. And sometimes the machlokes leads to other things besides pure Torah machlokes, and there’s a big responsibility there. Shaul and Dovid were both big tzadikim but Shaul was misled to some extent by his manliness, by his desire to remain a king. He felt it was his responsibility and to a certain extent he was misled by that. The queen of Shaul and the queen of Dovid didn’t have any fights between themselves. Neither of them were pugnacious; they didn’t have the arrogance that Hakodosh Boruch Hu gave to males. So גדולה הבטחה – greater is the promise that is given to women. 

It says נשים שעננות בוטחות – Quiet daughters, daughters who are trusting. It means Hakodosh Boruch Hu said, “You can trust in Me because your reward is more guaranteed.”

However, men can achieve more greatness, because if they utilize their more violent natures, their drive, they can become greater. But it’s a bigger danger too.

However, in a certain sense women and men are partners in the reward of Olam Haboh. Because in addition to the first principle of each one being rewarded according to his opportunities – a woman can become great in her life just like men become great in their lives – but there is also another area where they share their reward. And that’s when a woman is married to a man who forges ahead in serving Hashem and she serves in the background; with encouragement and he needs also a home, he needs all the wherewithal of life to enable him to continue. And certainly if she is the one to inspires him to even more effort, then surely. So therefore here is an opportunity for women to be sharers even in the achievements of men.

Woman also can achieve by means of their sons or if they marry off their daughters to sons in law. It’s a greatness for women when their children, or their grandchildren, or their sons in law pursue da’as Hashem and are oisek in Torah and in mitzvos; it’s all credited to the parents, men and women.

So therefore we’ll sum up now in two ways the answer to this.

Women on their own are rewarded according to their opportunities and nobody is going to lose because he wasn’t made a man or wasn’t made a woman; each person will be rewarded according to his or her opportunities.

But in addition, there are some things that men and women share together because they are partners. Like Rabbi Akiva. When Rabbi Akiva came back after twenty four years and he became a national Torah leader, and everybody came to pay homage to him, so Rabbi Akiva said (Nedarim 50a), “My Torah and the Torah that you learnt from me, is all hers,” and he pointed to this woman Rochel, his wife whom he hadn’t seen in twenty four years. He said, “This woman is responsible for all the Torah that I have, and all the Torah that you learnt from me.”

So now you when you look back on our history, the gemora says about Rabbi Yehuda, Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Elazar ben Shamua and Rabbi Yosi, that all of them were talmidim of Rabbi Akiva. And the Gemara says that all of our Torah comes from these five sages who were disciples of Rabbi Akiva. But Rabbi Akiva himself was the result, he was the creation that was brought into being by the spirit of one woman, Rochel. So here now Rochel, the wife of Rabbi Akiva, is actually the rebbe of the Jewish nation.

So it’s possible for women to attain that second form of greatness in addition to her nature and instincts and characteristics that give her opportunity to gain perfection of her own.

TAPE # 382, Rav Avigdor Miller

Maharal Derech Chaim 2:9

 ומפני זה נתנה התורה ערך הזכר הקטן חמשה שקלים (ויקרא כז, ו), שכך בודאי עולה שקלו, [כי] משקל האדם חמשה. ונתנה התורה ערך הזכר היותר גדול חמשים שקלים (שם פסוק ג), כי מספר חמישים הם כמו חמשה, רק כי מספר קטן נתון לקטן, ומספר גדול נתן לגדול. ומפני כי הנקיבה נוטה לכח החמרי, כאשר ידוע מענין הנקיבה שהיא נוטה אל החומר, ואין בשלימות אצלה הדברים הנבדלים, אף כי בודאי יש לה, אבל מכל מקום הם לה בחסרון. ואין ראוי לנקבה* להיות בערך האדם הזכר, שהנקיבה חסירה מן הזכר*, לכך נחסרה הנקיבה מן ערך זכר שנים שקלים, ונשארה הנקיבה ג' שקלים לקטנה (ויקרא כז, ו), או בשלשים לגדולה (שם פסוק ד). כי יש לה שתי הכוחות אשר הם כוחות הגוף, והכח החמישי, אשר יש בו שתי בחינות כמו שהתבאר. ולכך ראוי להיות ערך הנקיבה שלשה שקלים לקטנה, ושלשים לגדולה.

Joseph Hertz siddur on Shelo Asani Isha

Joseph Herman Hertz CH (25 September 1872 – 14 January 1946) was a British Rabbi and biblical scholar. He held the position of Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom from 1913 until his death in 1946, in a period encompassing both world wars and the Holocaust.

 

An error in "Outlooks and Insights"

The book "Outlooks and Insights" says the following:

"Throughout our history up until our own day, it has been the Jewish women who intuitively knew how to proceed along the right path, sometimes succeeding in influencing the men and sometimes not."  (p. 186)

However, the Gemara says (BM 59a):

ואמר רב כל ההולך בעצת אשתו נופל בגיהנם שנאמר (מלכים א כא, כה) רק לא היה כאחאב וגו' א"ל רב פפא לאביי והא אמרי אינשי איתתך גוצא גחין ותלחוש לה לא קשיא הא במילי דעלמא והא במילי דביתא לישנא אחרינא הא במילי דשמיא והא במילי דעלמא

And Rav says: Nevertheless, anyone who follows the counsel of his wife descends into Gehenna, as it is stated: “But there was none like Ahab, who did give himself over to do that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife incited” (I Kings 21:25). Rav Pappa said to Abaye: But don’t people say a popular proverb: If your wife is short, stoop and whisper to her and consult with her? The Gemara answers: This is not difficult, as this statement of Rav instructs that one not follow her counsel in general matters; and that proverb instructs that one follow her counsel in household matters. The Gemara presents another version of this distinction: This statement of Rav maintains that one should not follow her counsel in divine matters; and that proverb maintains that one should follow her counsel in general matters.

This book is saying that we should follow the women in all matters, even spiritual ones, as it stresses the incidents of the Golden Calf and the Spies not as isolated cases of women knowing better but as cases that are emblematic. However, the Gemara says not to do that. 

Moreover, today we instructed to go rabbis with our questions, not just questions about Torah learning, but practical matters. According to this book's logic, we should go to the wives of the rabbis or to women in general. I don't imagine that when people come to any rabbis for practical advice that they refer them to women because women know better intuitively. But according to the logic, they should.

Side note, on the matter of the redemption from Egypt, which the book also mentions, there are many Aggadatos and Midrashim which give causes for the redemption other than the merit of the righteous women. The Talmud Yerushalmi says as follows: Because of five things was Israel redeemed from Egypt: (they are) the end (the predestined end of slavery), their distress, their cries, the merit of the fathers, and repentance. (Taanis 1:1) The Midrash Rabbah on Shemos offers a different list of causes: Because of four things Israel was redeemed from Egypt: They did not change their names and their language. They did not speak lashon hara. They did not involve themselves in immorality. And they did not change their family names. (MR Shemos 32:5) A Midrash in Shir HaShirim presents the same list. A Midrash in Tanchumah Balak mentions several of these achievements and mentions as well their not changing their style of clothing to that of the Egyptians. A Midrash in Pirkei d’Rebbi Eliezar attributes a quickening of the redemption to the moaning of suffering Jewish children. Rabbeinu Bachya says “Israel was redeemed from Egypt only as a reward for faith, as it says, ‘And the people believed.’ In the redemption to come, Israel will be redeemed as a reward for faith.” (Shemos 4:31)

So what was the cause of the speeding up of the redemption? Was it the merit of our righteous mothers for their support of their husbands and their families or was it the other righteous acts of the nation? The Yophe Toar asks this question and answers that “This and this caused” the redemption. (Yophe Toar, Midrash Rabbah, Shemos 1:28).

So it seems, Rabbi Akiva's statement about the merit of the righteous women shouldn't be used as material to argue for the superiority of women. He was offering one of the reasons for the redemption.

Chabad making errors

I am connected to Chabad and enjoy the Chabad world and Chabad chaddius, so I write this from disappointment rather than from generalized hostility-to-Chabad disorder. Here are 4 places where modern Chabad books push the spirituality vort, as I call it. None of this is from any of the Rebbes or great Chassidish scholars. It's all from contemporary editors who obviously have been influenced by feminism or perhaps more so the uncontrollable urge to say anything to appease women's concerns about feminism or even more dangerously men's concerns about women's concerns about feminism. 

1)

Feminine Faith is a handsome edition of the Maharash’s maamer להבין עניין החודש החדש. However, I take issue with a theme found in the introduction and notes as presented by the annotators Rabbi Shai Taub and Rabbi Avraham Vaisfische. They say that “the Jewish women repeatedly distinguished themselves as possessing a greater degree of spiritual sensitivity than the men.” (p. 13) They write, “The feminine soul, Rabbi Shmuel explains, imbues women with a greater awareness of G-d’s presence and, hence, a greater aversion to idolatry.” (p. 14) And they explain the Maharash as saying that “they (women) are generally more predisposed to the presence of G-dliness, as it dwells within these lower realms, as the discourse proceeds to explain.” (p. 51). I don’t see where the Maharash says all that. They are the annotators’ own thoughts. The Maharash says only that women did not sin by the golden calf because their source is Malchus and the men’s source is Z’A of Atzilus, which is higher and more removed from the lower worlds: “for the souls of the men are from the masculine plane, z’eyr anpin of Azilut, which is utterly exalted and elevated above and beyond the worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah.” (pp. 51-2) Thus, women, by virtue of being from a lower source(!) did not accept the claim of the erev rav that Hashem could be removed from the lower worlds. They “felt in their souls” that such an outlook was wrong. That’s what the Maharash says about it.

The annotators’ comments raise it to a broad generalization – a sexist one – and present the Maharash as saying something he isn’t saying. Maybe you can argue that the Maharash IMPLIES that women in general have a stronger sense of hashgacha in the lower worlds. However, spirituality is much broader than sensing hashgacha alone. Spirituality and a sense of G-dliness includes intellectual perception, deveikus, self-restraint, bitul, inspiration, separation from materialism, and many other inyanim. There are as many aspects to spirituality as there are mitzvos. The Maharal, who is the source for much of the Baal HaTanya’s thought, says in many places that women are more materialistic than men, and men operate on a higher plane than women. (Tiferes Yisroel 4 and 28, Chidushei Agadosh Makkos 23b, et al.)

In contrast to the notion that women are more averse to idol worship, the Mishnah says that “the increase of wives increases witchcraft.” The Maharal explains:

Certainly, kosher Jewish women don’t practice witchcraft. Nevertheless, she leans towards witchcraft as it is a lower level of being. Witchcraft is found more in women. Because of the lowness of the level of witchcraft it is found in women since they are lower in the level. Witchcraft comes from the power of materialism that is found in women. (Derech Chaim 2:8)

To say women are more averse to idolatry in general or are more sensitive to spirituality in general is contradicted by the Maharal along with many other commentators. Most importantly, the Maharash doesn’t make any such statement, and the book consists of his maamer.

So why in this case were the women averse to the golden calf? It could be as the Maharash explains that in this case the particular argument of the eruv rav was that Hashem wasn’t involved in the lower worlds and that the constellation of Taurus had defeated Aries.  Since the source of the men’s souls comes from a higher place within Tikun, they are more aloof to an aspect of spirituality as it appears in the lower worlds. But surely that must give the men advantages in other aspects of spirituality. It’s complicated. We can’t summarize it with a sound bite and say that women are better with spirituality.

Remember also that Moshe had been delayed. It was a moment of crisis and a special event. The men are the ones who are under pressure to be the leaders, so they are more likely to make a mistake in leadership than are people, like the women, who are more passive. It’s a complicated story. The men who allowed the golden calf miscalculated. They weren’t idol worshipers. What about the tribe of Levy and the leaders of the tribes who did not permit the small group to make an idol? They were men. They have the same spiritual source as other men.

Commentators have debated this for thousands of years. The Ibn Ezra and the Ramban engage in a lengthy debate over the intentions of the nation in committing the sin.  Both commentators agree that the nation sought to adapt itself to its spiritual precariousness in Moshe’s absence. They shared a premise that the nation strove to maintain its spiritual level in Moshe’s absence. Their act was a grave sin, but the sin of inspired and highly spiritual people. As the Ibn Ezra says, “Heaven forbid, Heaven forbid that Aaron should make an idol, or that Israel would want an idol. Rather, they thought Moshe was dead....When they did this it was with the intention of honoring Hashem....However, the mixed multitude influenced them....And a few of the Jews thought it was an idol...The number that thought of it as an idol was less than three thousand. This is less than a half of one percent of the camp” (Ibn Ezra, Shemos 32:1)

The book’s footnote 102 is problematic. It says correctly that Malchus is passive and “contains that which the other sefirot pour into it.” However, it fails to say explicitly that Z’A is higher than Malchus. Yet it manages to tell us explicitly that the root of Malchus is higher since it is found in Radla, the “deepest and innermost level of the essence of G-d…”

I believe that this also is an inaccurate phrasing. Radla, being the inner partzuf of keter, is certainly very elevated. However, it results from countless gradations of tzimtzum. It is not the innermost level of the essence of God.

Moreover, when you talk about something having a higher ultimate source, you have to say that the higher source becomes lower when put in the world of Tikun. (Alter Rebbe, Torah Ohr, Volume 1, Parshas Vayigash, page 86 in the standard Kehot edition; Likutei Torah 2:34c) If you say one without the other, you wind up with a picture that is radical even to radical feminists. You get what nearly amounts to an idolatry of the woman. She becomes the goddess. It seems to me that the annotators are doing everything they can to create such a picture. Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch cautioned us:

In the word איש and אשה 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. (Commentary on Genesis 11:7)

All of this has implications in many areas of life including shalom bayis. I know of one troubled couple where the wife tells the husband regularly that she is higher than him so he must obey her. It sounds perverse, but this is what she is being taught. Other women aren’t as explicit about it, but the attitude permeates the outlook of many. Yet, the Gemara in Baba Matzia 59a says that the man who goes about in the counsel of his wife goes to gehennom. Would that be the case if she were more generally spiritual than he? The Baal Magen Avraham says women have a weaker yetzer tov (“it doesn’t rule over them so much”. (Zies Ra’anan on Yalkut Shimoni, Shmuel 1:1) and that’s why they are exempt from positive time bound commandments. “Because if they were commanded, they likely would not do them.”

I am aware that the idea of women having a superior spirituality circulates in many parts of the frum world, but as far as I can tell, it’s not correct. It’s apologetics. The notion was created in recent years as an improper response to feminism, but it really doesn’t make sense when you put thought into it. The rabbis are all men. Wouldn’t you want the more spiritually sensitive people to be the leaders? The elders were men. Should the women have been in charge in the Midbar? What about today? Why are men running the rabbinate? One could propose that maybe we do need women rabbis. Maybe we should only have women rabbis. Such a thought follows from the presentation in this book.

The idea of women being spirituality superior contradicts the classic sources among the Acharonim including, in addition to the Maharal, Rav Tzadock, the Baal Magen Avraham, the Vilna Gaon, the Akeidas Yitzchok, the Baal Shevet Musar, Rav Moshe Feinstein, Rav Yosef Soloveitchik, and others including the Lubavitcher Rebbe. See Sichos in English, Iyar-Tammuz 5744, Vol. 21, pp. 69-72. Regarding the exemption of women from positive time-bound commandments the Rebbe says:

We shall resolve this difficulty by first explaining why in general there are certain mitzvos which women are not obligated to carry out. It is not because women are inferior to men. It is because G-d has given each Jew a mission uniquely suited to the individual: A task for men and a separate task for women – and a mission common to both men and women.

You’ll note that he doesn’t say anything about women being superior, just that they are not inferior. He doesn’t make a competition of it. He doesn’t elevate one at the expense of the other. He doesn’t cause strife. That is the proper and productive approach to take. Let us follow his example.

Some sources to look at:

Maharal, Gur Aryeh, Vayikra 12:2, beginning of parshas Tazriah.

Chidushei Agados, Makos 23b

Chidushei Agados, Baba Matzia 59a

Chidushei Agados, Nidah 45b

Derech Chaim 1:5

Derech Chaim 2:9

Tiferes Yisrael 28

Tiferes Yisrael 4

 

Some excerpts:

 

"Rav Tachlifa says, it is fitting to proceed with women first (regarding the receiving of the Torah). And this is because the decree and the command from Hashem, may He be blessed, to man who receives it, is the covenant and the connection of Hashem to man, who received the decree. And this is explained in many places. And since the man is more fitting to the covenant and the connection with Hashem, may He be blessed, since the woman is more physical, and the level of the woman is not like that of the man, therefore, the man was commanded first since his level was close to Hashem, may He be blessed....And afterwards the man was commanded his connection and his level are greater than that of the woman." Maharal, Tiferes Yisroel 28

 

"And now we can understand that woman who is material is obligated to observe the Negative Commandments but is not obligated in all the Positive Commandments. That is because the spiritual level of women does not reach to the highest level - which is the level of the Positive Commandments that a woman would function fully - because she is material." Maharal, Chidushei Agados, Makos 23b

 

"After the Mishnah mentions possessions, as they are relevant to a man, it says 'more wives more witchcraft.' Reference to the woman comes after that of possessions because the man needs the woman to take care of his house. And it says that she increases witchcraft. Even if he is married to Avigail. Certainly, kosher Jewish women don’t practice witchcraft. Nevertheless, she leans towards witchcraft as it is a lower level of being. Witchcraft is found more in women. Because of the lowness of the level of witchcraft it is found in women since they are lower in the level. Witchcraft comes from the power of materialism that is found in women. Therefore, witchcraft only works when a person is standing on the earth. Therefore, increase of women brings a man to the level of witchcraft. And even if she doesn’t actually practice witchcraft, nevertheless, he will lean towards the lowness and lacking due to the increase of wives since their increase will tend him towards the lowness of witchcraft." Maharal, Derech Chaim 2:8

 

"All those who follow the advice of their wife fall into Gehinom – This is truly incredible. We explain this also in relationship to Avos (1:5), All those who talk a lot with their wives are idle from words of Torah and in the end they inherit Gehinom. You should know that the woman is compared to Substance while the man is compared to the Form in every place. And when the Form is not separated from the Substance but rather the Form follows after the Substance entirely – he falls in Gehinom. That is because it is well known that the deficit is attached and bound with the Substance. This is alluded to by the Sages when they noted that when the woman was created the Samech was created with her. Because we don’t find the letter Samech in the Torah until the woman was created. ויסגר בשר תחתנה Bereishis (2:21) and closed up the flesh. That teaches you that with the woman was attached the deficit which is Satan who is the Angel of Death. When the Form follows after the Substance the Form obtains the deficit. That is because Gehinom is only the complete deficit as we learn from the names Gehinom itself." Maharal,  Bava Metzia 59a.

"And because the feminine leans towards the physical, her completion does not reside with the distinctly spiritual matters. Certainly she has these (purely spiritual traits) but not as much." Derech Chaim 2:9 (on the Mishnah: Amar lehem tzoo u’rahoo) d’h’ U’Mizeh.

As mentioned, in addition to the Maharal, there are numerous other commentators who make similar comments asserting the higher spiritualty of the male. They include the following:

Akeidas Yitzchak (Chapter 6)

Abarbanel (Bereshis, Chapter 1)

Baal Magen Avraham (Ziet Ra'anan on Yalkut Shemoni, Shmuel 1:1)

Vilna Gaon (Even Shelaimah 1:8)

Rav Tzadock (Dover Tzedeck p. 119)

Baal Shevet Musar (Midrash Talpiyos, Ohs Aleph, Anaf Isha)

2)

The Chabad Kehot Chumash is a beautiful work and the Lubavitcher Rebbe's commentary is reflective of a man who is a "thinker" and a "big talmid chocham" as Rabbi Avigdor Miller described him.

So I was disappointed to see on page 435, Shemos 19:3 the statement "women are more naturally predisposed toward spirituality." I thought, the Rebbe couldn't have said this. It's a modern day feminist myth that has spread throughout much of the Orthodox world. I checked the footnote and sure enough the source given is not the Rebbe. It's Maharal, Derush Al Torah. 

So is the Maharal the source? No, he is not. All he says in Derush Al Torah is that women as receivers are more ready to receive their reward. Men are more aggressive and need Torah to help tame that aggressiveness to ready them to receive their reward. This is not a statement regarding general spirituality. It could be that male aggressiveness, when applied properly, is a good tool for uncovering spirituality as we find with limud Torah. 

However, the Maharal says in many other places that the male is more spiritual and operates on a higher plane. For example:

Maharal, Gur Aryeh, Vayikra 12:2, beginning of parshas Tazriah.

Chidushei Agados, Makos 23b

Chidushei Agados, Baba Matzia 59a

Chidushei Agados, Nidah 45b

Derech Chaim 1:5

Derech Chaim 2:9

Tiferes Yisrael 28

Tiferes Yisrael 4

Some excerpts:

"Rav Tachlifa says, it is fitting to proceed with women first (regarding the receiving of the Torah). And this is because the decree and the command from Hashem, may He be blessed, to man who receives it, is the covenant and the connection of Hashem to man, who received the decree. And this is explained in many places. And since the man is more fitting to the covenant and the connection with Hashem, may He be blessed, since the woman is more physical, and the level of the woman is not like that of the man, therefore, the man was commanded first since his level was close to Hashem, may He be blessed....And afterwards the man was commanded his connection and his level are greater than that of the woman." Maharal, Tiferes Yisroel 28

"And now we can understand that woman who is material is obligated to observe the Negative Commandments but is not obligated in all the Positive Commandments. That is because the spiritual level of women does not reach to the highest level - which is the level of the Positive Commandments that a woman would function fully - because she is material." Maharal, Chidushei Agados, Makos 23b

"After the Mishnah mentions possessions, as they are relevant to a man, it says 'more wives more witchcraft.' Reference to the woman comes after that of possessions because the man needs the woman to take care of his house. And it says that she increases witchcraft. Even if he is married to Avigail. Certainly, kosher Jewish women don’t practice witchcraft. Nevertheless, she leans towards witchcraft as it is a lower level of being. Witchcraft is found more in women. Because of the lowness of the level of witchcraft it is found in women since they are lower in the level. Witchcraft comes from the power of materialism that is found in women. Therefore, witchcraft only works when a person is standing on the earth. Therefore, increase of women brings a man to the level of witchcraft. And even if she doesn’t actually practice witchcraft, nevertheless, he will lean towards the lowness and lacking due to the increase of wives since their increase will tend him towards the lowness of witchcraft." Maharal, Derech Chaim 2:8

"All those who follow the advice of their wife fall into Gehinom – This is truly incredible. We explain this also in relationship to Avos (1:5), All those who talk a lot with their wives are idle from words of Torah and in the end they inherit Gehinom. You should know that the woman is compared to Substance while the man is compared to the Form in every place. And when the Form is not separated from the Substance but rather the Form follows after the Substance entirely – he falls in Gehinom. That is because it is well known that the deficit is attached and bound with the Substance. This is alluded to by the Sages when they noted that when the woman was created the Samech was created with her. Because we don’t find the letter Samech in the Torah until the woman was created. ויסגר בשר תחתנה Bereishis (2:21) and closed up the flesh. That teaches you that with the woman was attached the deficit which is Satan who is the Angel of Death. When the Form follow after the Substance the Form obtains the deficit. That is because Gehinom is only the complete deficit as we learn from the names Gehinom itself." Maharal,  Bava Metzia 59a.

"And because the feminine leans towards the physical, her completion does not reside with the distinctly spiritual matters. Certainly she has these (purely spiritual traits) but not as much." Derech Chaim 2:9 (on the Mishnah: Amar lehem tzoo u’rahoo) d’h’ U’Mizeh.

In addition to the Maharal, there are numerous other commentators who make similar comments asserting the higher spiritualty of the male. They include the following:

Akeidas Yitzchak (Chapter 6)

Abarbanel (Bereshis, Chapter 1)

the Baal Magen Avraham (Ziet Ra'anan on Yalkut Shemoni, Shmuel 1:1)

Vilna Gaon (Even Shelaimah 1:8)

Rav Tzadock (Dover Tzedeck p. 119)

Baal Shevet Musar (Midrash Talpiyos, Ohs Aleph, Anaf Isha)

Certainly, there are areas where women excel: emunah peshuta, moral purity (Rav Hirsch), tranquility (Maharal), initiation of teshuva (Chasom Sofer), and feeling hashgacha pratis (Rebbe Maharash). However, the statement that they are more naturally predisposed toward spirituality is incorrect in my estimation. I would be very interested to see a Torah source that makes such a statement. I understand the temptation to buy off feminist complaints about the Torah by saying women are better than men. But it just isn't true. The Maharal in particular is very clear about that.

3) 

Daily Wisdom is a terrific book. It has great selections and succinct presentations. 

However, the reading Thursday: Feminine Power Fifth Reading: Genesis 21:5–21, p. 32, says "Nowadays, as we approach the Messianic Era, all of us can welcome the flowering of feminine power in the world, acknowledging that women’s more intense experience of physical life grants them a higher level of spiritual insight than that given to men.1"

The source given is Likutei Sichot, vol. 1, p. 31. However, when I tried to look that up I didn't find any such comment by the Rebbe. I looked inthe Yiddish edition, originally published in 1962?  I looked also in the 2004 edition and the Hebrew editions.

I wrote to the editor. He said to look in Likutei Sichot vol. 1 pp. 31-34 or the Hebrew (Volume 1, pp. 28-30, parshas Chaye Sarah, 5711)  I did that but did not find it to be a source for the passage in question from Daily Wisdom (Thursday: Feminine Power Fifth Reading: Genesis 21:5–21). The sicha does not mention Ishmael or prophecy, doesn't say that "The more attuned a prophet is to the affairs of this world, the greater his or her degree of prophecy" (editor's words) and doesn’t say anywhere that “women’s more intense experience of physical life grants them a higher level of spiritual insight than that given to men” (editor's words).

The sicha asks, since the Zohar says that Avraham is the neshama and Sarah the guf (a statement which in itself contradicts the notion that women are more spiritual) why would Avraham be told, “listen to what Sarah tells you.” The Rebbe explains that there are virtues to the guf in that we perform mitzvos with it, that even duties of the heart are performed to some extent with the guf, that in the era of Moshiach the importance of the guf will be revealed and the guf will even give chayos to the neshama. This importance is reflected in the call to “listen to what Sarah tells you.” In other words, there’s something positive about the guf. It’s a kind of remez or underlying meaning in the posuk. It is not to be taken to mean that the physical is superior to the spiritual in this world, just that there are positive elements to the physical. That’s what you are supposed to take from the idea of listening to Sarah. 

It seems almost a separate topic from the statement that prophecy comes to those more involved with worldly affairs and the editor's conclusion that women have more spiritual insight because of this. If prophecy came more to those involved with worldly affairs wouldn’t the famous prophets be kings, merchants, generals, or even laborers and women? Why are 95% of the prophets in Tanach men?  Besides this, as the Netziv writes, Sarah lived a more sheltered life in the tent. That's why her ruach ha-kodesh and not her prophecy is greater. He says when the Midrash refers to prophecy it means ruach ha-kodesh, which is a lower type of prophecy. It is hindered by one's being out in the world, which Avraham was.

Since the sicha is in Chaye Sarah and the passage in Daily Wisdom is in Vayera, perhaps the editor is mistaken about the source he used. I realize that the posuk about listening to Sarah is in Vayera, but still the explanation he gives is not found in the sicha.

Perhaps he is reading into the sicha and proposing that if Sarah is more physical and Hashem says listen to her (in this instance) that it is implied that her involvement with the physical gives her greater spiritual insight via prophecy. That would be his own idea because the Rebbe doesn’t say that. He doesn’t mention prophecy at all. I suppose the editor is drawing from the famous Rashi on the posuk. But again, that’s his commentary not the Rebbe’s. I assume when I read a presentation of a sicha, that the editor is giving me a faithful rendition of the Rebbe's words, not his own commentary.

But if that's the logic, I think that he is really stretching the idea because, again, our starting point is that Avraham is the neshama (which is the spiritual entity) and Sarah is the guf. The guf doesn’t in general have special insight above the neshama. If it did, then our task would be to let the nefesh bahaymus rule over the nefesh Elokis. If women had all the insight, wouldn’t they be the rabbis? Our religion is completely dominated by male leadership. The Gemara and the Zohar contain the teachings of men. The Gemara says the one who goes about in the counsel of his wife goes to gehennom (BM 59a). The Maharal says in many places that the male is the tzurah and the woman the chomer and the male is more spiritual and better connected to Hashem (Tiferes Yisroel 4 and 28, Derech Chaim on al sirba sicha im ha-isha and marbe nashim marbe kishofim, et. al.) It seems to me that the presentation here contradicts all of that. If the Rebbe actually said what the editor wrote, that would be another matter, but as I see from the actual sicha, he doesn’t say it. If indeed this sicha is what the editor used as a source, it seems to me that he is projecting onto the sicha a widespread but erroneous idea that women are more spiritual in general than men. There is no Torah source that makes such a claim and there are many that say the opposite, that in general, it is the male who is more spiritual, or, at least, has a more powerful spiritual energy.

Maharal:

"All those who follow the advice of their wife fall into Gehinom – This is truly incredible. We explain this also in relationship to Avos (1:5), All those who talk a lot with their wives are idle from words of Torah and in the end they inherit Gehinom. You should know that the woman is compared to Substance while the man is compared to the Form in every place. And when the Form is not separated from the Substance but rather the Form follows after the Substance entirely – he falls in Gehinom. That is because it is well known that the deficit is attached and bound with the Substance. This is alluded to by the Sages when they noted that when the woman was created the Samech was created with her. Because we don’t find the letter Samech in the Torah until the woman was created. ויסגר בשר תחתנה Bereishis (2:21) and closed up the flesh. That teaches you that with the woman was attached the deficit which is Satan who is the Angel of Death. When the Form follows after the Substance the Form obtains the deficit. That is because Gehinom is only the complete deficit as we learn from the names Gehinom itself." Maharal, Bava Metzia 59a.

"After the Mishnah mentions possessions, as they are relevant to a man, it says 'more wives more witchcraft.' Reference to the woman comes after that of possessions because the man needs the woman to take care of his house. And it says that she increases witchcraft. Even if he is married to Avigail. Certainly, kosher Jewish women don’t practice witchcraft. Nevertheless, she leans towards witchcraft as it is a lower level of being. Witchcraft is found more in women. Because of the lowness of the level of witchcraft it is found in women since they are lower in the level. Witchcraft comes from the power of materialism that is found in women. Therefore, witchcraft only works when a person is standing on the earth. Therefore, increase of women brings a man to the level of witchcraft. And even if she doesn’t actually practice witchcraft, nevertheless, he will lean towards the lowness and lacking due to the increase of wives since their increase will tend him towards the lowness of witchcraft." Maharal, Derech Chaim 2:8

Daily Wisdom is a wonderful book, as is the Kehot Chumash, but both suffer from this injection of an external idea, an apologetic feminist notion, that is not based on Torah sources, but is presented as if it is. This mistake is common these days. Nevertheless, it needs to be corrected. 

4) 

I love the [  book series name redacted ] series. However, the books don’t specify the sichas on which they are based.

[ book name redacted ], Vol 3, b’shalach.  says 

"A woman’s contribution comes in controlling the emotional environment of the home. Women have a greater sensitivity to spiritual truth. A woman arrives at knowledge by establishing a personal bond with the idea she wants to discover. She makes it part of herself instead of treating it as merely an abstract concept." 

I wrote to the editor. He wrote back that the presentation is based on a variety of material. It's not pulled from a single sicha that he can cite. He doesn't have a makor for the statement. 

Likely he misremembered and just heard this idea somewhere and attached it to his presentation. I very much appreciate his writing back and think in general he is a superb translator. Just, here he goofed as so many others goof.

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Chabad isn't really any more guilty than Artscroll or Feldheim or many others who continue to spew this feminist foolishness. However, what really annoys me in 3 of these cases is that they are saying it in the name of a Chabad Rebbe and in the fourth case which is mostly Torah of the Rebbe, suggesting it is from the Rebbe (unless one examines the footnote).