Maharal:
Drush Al HaTorah, p. 27 in standard edition, chapter 16:1-2 on Sefaria.
Again it
says, "Thus shall you say, etc." (Exodus 19:3), to the women in the
language of speaking, and to the men in the language of the telling. Perhaps
the women will say “we have no reward for learning the Torah,” since they don’t
learn it [themselves]. So how will they have a share in the reward? Because of
this they might prevent their husbands from accepting it, when they [the women]
have no benefit from it. That's why it says, "Thus you will say,
etc.", to the women in soft language. The verse is saying that their reward
is very big, more than that of the men, and that is why the women are spoken to
first. And so in the chapter “He would read” (Berachot 17.) [it says] God made a
greater promise to women than to men, as it is said (Isaiah Lev, 9) "Women
who are tranquil" Rabbi Haya said, how do women merit, by taken their sons
to the study hall and waiting for their husbands to return from the rabbis.
Let us
explain. There is to ask, why is this great promise made to women? And if the reward
of women is great for helping their sons and husbands with Torah [study], the reward
of the people who study it should be even greater. There is to understand what
the scripture means when it refers to "tranquil women." The man, since
he is strong, is not tranquil and quiet. He is active. Therefore, he is not
prepared for tranquility and rest, which is the [attribute of ] the next world,
since it is the essence of rest. However, women are fit for this, since by
nature they are not so active. Therefore greater is the promise that the Holy
One Blessed Be He [made to them] over the men as they are not so tranquil and
prepared for it [this rest]. This is more relevant to women. And with the help
that they give, their reward is very great as they are already prepared for the
tranquility [of the next world]. However, the men need to toil in Torah without
rest night and day. “And He told the sons of Israel,” this with words of
harshness, for [the man’s] task is toil. The women were spoken to in softer
language because they don’t need it so much. Even so, their reward is greater,
and so they were spoken to in softer language.
שוב אמר "כה תאמר וגו'"
(שמות יט, ג), לנשים בלשון אמירה, ולאנשים בלשון הגדה. להורות כי באולי יאמרו
הנשים אין לנו שכר בלמוד התורה, בשאינם לומדות אותה, ואיך יהיה להם חלק בשכרה, ועל
ידי כך אולי ימנעו את בעליהם מלקבלה, כאשר אין להם תועלת בזה. לכך אמר "כה
תאמר וגו'", לנשים בלשון רכה, רצה לומר אדרבה, ששכרם הרבה מאוד, יותר משל
אנשים, ולכך מקדים הנשים תחלה. וכדאיתא בפרק היה קורא* (ברכות יז.), גדולה הבטחה
שהבטיחן הקב"ה לנשים יותר מן האנשים, שנאמר (ישעיה לב, ט) "נשים שאננות
וגו'". אמר ליה רב לרבי חייא, נשים במה זכיין. באקרויי בנייהו לבי כנשתא,
ובאתנויי גברייהו לבי רבנן, ונטרן לגברייהו עד דאתי מבי רבנן, עד כאן.
הנה מבואר נגלה כי יש לשאול, למה ועל
מה גדולה ההבטחה שהבטיח לנשים. ואם שכר הנשים גדול בשביל שמסייעים לבניהם ולבעליהם
לתורה, כל שכן היה ראוי להיות יותר גדול שכר אנשים הלומדים אותה. אמנם יש לך להבין
זה ממה שאמר הכתוב שהביא "נשים שאננות", כי האיש במה שהוא גבר, איננו
בעל שאנן והשקט, מצד התגברותו והתפעלו. בכן אינם מוכנים גם כן כל כך אל השאנן
והמנוחה, הוא העולם הבא, שהוא המנוחה בעצמו. אבל הנשים ראויים ומוכנים לה מצד
עצמם, שאינם בני פעולה והתעוררות מצד עצם בריאתן. לפיכך "גדולה הבטחה*
שהבטיחן הקב"ה יותר מן האנשים", מצד השאנן ושלוה אשר המה מוכנים לו, כי
זהו חלק הנשים, וראויות לזה ביותר. ובמעט הסיוע שמסייעים לתורה שכרם גדול מאד,
באשר* כבר הם מוכנים אל השאנן, וכל המוכן לדבר מה, בנקל ישיגנו* מצד תכונתו. אבל
האנשים צריכים מצד זה שיהיו עמלים וטורחים בתורה מבלי מנוח לילה ויום. וזהו
(-גופו-) [גופא] "ותגיד לבני ישראל" דברים הקשין כגידין, הוא העמל הגדול
הזה. אמנם לנשים בלשון רכה, כי אינם צריכים כל כך. ואף על פי כן הם ראויים לשכר
יותר גדול, עד שלזה גם כן הקדימן הכתוב לאנשים, כאמור.
Comments:
We see here that the Maharal discusses only Torah study, not mitzvos.
Numerous people, including most famously Rabbi Moshe Meiselman in his book
Jewish Women in Jewish Law, mistakenly use this passage from the Maharal to
explain why women are exempt from positive time-bound commandments. However,
the Maharal discusses that subject in Tiferes Yisroel 4 and Chidushei Agados
Makos 23b where he says essentially that women are exempt from those mitzvos
because women are less spiritual than men. What the Maharal says here is that Olam Haba
is a place of receiving reward and a person has to be fit to receive his reward.
Women are receivers, hence the word נְקֵבָה from לקבל – to receive.
They take the chochmah of the male and build it out using binah. They take the
seed of the male, and build a baby. They take the grain from the male and turn
it into bread. As receivers, they are better prepared for the receiving of reward
in the next world. Men are aggressive. One aspect of Torah study is to channel
that aggression, to soften the male so he is fit to be more of a receiver. Are
we going to say that this is the only purpose of Torah study? It’s one aspect
of it. He “needs” Torah study to tame him. Does that need signify that he is
inferior to the woman? Rabbi Meiselman wrote that according to the Maharal
women are better suited for spiritual growth. This suggests that energy and
activity are not needed for spiritual growth, but that sounds like Zen Buddhism
to me. Judaism says we live in a world of action. By doing mitzvos, by studying,
by praying we grow. We don’t grow magically by passively channeling the
universe, or some such thing. A man’s energy and activity are tools for
spiritual growth. Only, there’s a down side to it, which is that for receiving
reward in the next world, we have to be receptacles too. In that sense, the man
“needs” Torah study.
