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.