no it's not because of inferiority

Rav Avigdor Miller on Women’s Haircoverings

I’d like to know the source for a married woman having to cover her hair, and also what’s the significance of it and also what is the punishment for not covering the hair?

A:

The source that married women should cover their hair is in the Torah. It states about the sotah—that’s the  woman who went into a private place with another man against her husband’s warning—that she goes through a certain disgraceful ordeal in the Beis Hamikdash. And it states there ופרע את ראש האשה – he uncovers the head of the woman. That’s a sign of disgrace. Which means that all other married women maintained their dignity by covering their hair.

And therefore it’s a Jewish tradition that married women, since they are out of the marriage market now, they should cover their hair. Girls who still have to advertise that they’re available, so they can display their own hair. But once they are married then it’s superfluous and therefore they cover their hair.

After all, men also cover their heads. Men cover their heads as a sign of dignity. We make a blessing every morning about that. The Gemara says that when you put something on your head in the morning you say the blessing עוטר ישראל בתפארה – He crowns Yisrael with glory. So whether you wear a black Homberg or you wear a straw hat or a turban or a beanie, whatever you wear on your head, as soon as you put it on your head in the morning, you make a blessing. Today we make the blessing in the synagogue when we pray but actually, originally it was supposed to be said when you covered your head first thing in the morning because wearing something on your head is a crown of glory. It’s a crown that demonstrates that you believe in Hashem.

And so married women wear that crown too; it’s a crown of humility. They’re standing in the presence of Hashem, and therefore they cover their hair because a woman’s hair is part of the personality of a woman. It’s part of the attractiveness of a woman. And since she has to be attractive only for her husband, since she’s married now therefore it’s humility on her part and self-respect to keep her hair covered.

Now as far as the question what punishment there is, this isn’t a din for which there is any punishment specified. It’s not a lav in the Torah where a punishment is specified. It’s a commandment that all women must keep their hair covered when they’re married. That’s all.

TAPE # 126

Comment: No men don't wear yarmulkas because they are inferior to women and need the boost as I have heard proposed. Everyone covers their heads. Why? Dignity and modesty

Response to an apologist

That was an hour and a half of your opinion. I didn't hear you cite a single authority who says that women are superior. You decided for example that a yoke is only for one who needs it so since men have more mitzvos they must need more help. So why does a Kohen have extra mitzvos? He is not spiritually inferior. Do you want to say that every Jewish female is superior to the Lubavitcher Rebbe because he was obligated in mitzvos that they are exempt from? You could say that opposite that the extra mitzvos channel the spiritual capabilities of the spiritually "superior" creature. The Maharal says that men are strong in all five parts of the soul and women in three. (Derech Chaim 2:9)

Rav Moshe Feinstein says that mitzvos require inborn holiness:

"The mitzvah of You shall be holy, which is followed by a recitation of several of the fundamental mitzvos, is not of the same type as the mitzvos that follow it. This mitzvah means that every Jew should realize that he is sanctified with the holiness of the Jew, and it is only because of that holiness that we were given the Torah and obligated to do the mitzvos. As I have often written, mitzvos cannot be fulfilled properly unless the doer has the holiness of the Jew. The Kohanim, who have additional mitzvos, must have the particular holiness of Kohanim. This is why we make a blessing before mitzvos and say, "Who has sanctified us with His mitzvos"; and Kohanim, before doing mitzvos that are limited to Kohanim, say, "Who has sanctified us with the sanctity of Aharon." The expression "Who has sanctified us with His mitzvos" should not be misunderstood as meaning that mitzvos are the source of the sanctity. It is self-understood that the sanctity the blessing refers to is the underlying sanctity of every Jew -- that which enables us to fulfill the mitzvos."

Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt'l, Darash Moshe, Volume II, p. 154, Vayikra, Kedoshim

Why you are so keen on using the word superiority is a mystery. How will that be helpful to Shalom Bayis? A woman wants a man she respects. She doesn't want an inferior. If women are superior then why aren't they the rabbis? Are you trying to be shocking to excite the audience? Are you trying to be popular with the women? Regardless of your motives, we have numerous Torah authorities who say explicitly that the male is more spiritual. What is your response to them? The Maharal, upon whose teachings much of the Tanya is based, says it numerous times. Examples:

Maharal:

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)

Vilna Gaon (Even Shelaimah 1:8)

Rav Tzadock (Dover Tzedeck p. 119)

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

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

Shmuel 1:1 And Chana prayed upon her heart.

Yalkut Shemoni: Why were women grouped with children and slaves concerning mitzvos? Because they have but one heart, as the verse says,

“And Chana prayed upon her heart.”

Zies Ra’anan (the Magen Avraham): Women with children: The explanation concerns the positive time bound commandments. One heart: The yetzer tov does not dwell in them sufficiently. Therefore, if the positive time bound commandments were imposed upon them, it is likely that they would not do them.

You have to rely on proper Torah authorities rather than interpret a few ideas the way you want.

Torah study for women

 Torah Temimah, Devarim chapter 11, note 48.

"And behold, we have seen fit to copy here at the end of the matter an ancient and precious book called 'Ma'ayan Ganim' [Responsa], authored by Rabbi Samuel son of Elhanan Jacob the Rakevalti (Vinitsia, 1613), regarding what he wrote to a wise woman concerning the permission for women to study Torah. He states in the continuation of the matter, and the saying of our sages: 'Whoever teaches his daughter Torah, it is as if he taught her frivolities.' Perhaps we can say that when a father teaches her in her youth, she will also be recognized by her deeds, whether they are pure or straight. Certainly, in this manner, there is concern that most women have light minds, wasting their time on trivial matters, and like them, they have sinned out of shortness of spirit. However, the women who have the heart to draw near to the work of the Lord, by choosing what is good in what is good, they will ascend on the mountain of the Lord and dwell in His holy place, for they are exemplary women. And the wise men of their generation should honor them, arrange for them, strengthen their hands, and empower their arms, etc. 'Do and succeed, and may Heaven assist you.' Thus is the end of the text. And it is not known to us who this esteemed author is, who stood to innovate this new law based on mere reasoning, and in Tosefta Yom Tov at the end of the tractate Tamid, he is mentioned and described as a meticulous scholar and the author of the book 'Arogat HaBosem' on the grammar of the Holy Language."

love bombing

 spirtuality vort is a kind of love bombing to bring the women into a cult like situation, so they'll do the dishes and let them men learn the Torah

Shi lo asani ish

This is not a prayer of thanks that God did not make us heathens, slaves or women. Rather, it calls upon us to contemplate the task which God has imposed upon us by making us free Jewish men, and to pledge ourselves to do justice to this mission. These three aspects of our own status impose upon us duties much more comprehensive than those required of the rest of mankind. And if our women have a smaller number of מצות to fulfill than men, they know that the tasks which they must discharge as free Jewish women are no less in accordance with the will and desire of God than are those of their brothers.

[Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, Siddur]

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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."

[R' Leo Jung, Between Man and Man p. 22]

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Anyone who is familiar with the high esteem in which the Jewish woman is held in the Torah, and with the place which she occupies in Jewish life, will not be foolish enough to think that this blessing cases a (negative) reflection on Jewish womanhood. Suffice it to mention that in the era of prophecy, there were seven prophetesses mentioned by name in the T'NaCh. They were: Sarah, Miriam, Devorah, Hannah, Abigail, Huldah and Esther. Sarah, the Torah tells us, was in some respects even superior to Abraham, for G-d told Abraham, "All that Sarah will tell you, listen to her." Moreover, our Sages of the Mishnah and Talmud frequently emphasized the moral strength and spiritual excellence of the Jewish woman. They reminded us that it was in the merit of the righteous Jewish women that the children of Israel were liberated from Egyptian bondage; that at the giving of the Torah, the women were approached first; that women had no part in the Golden Calf, but at the building of the Sanctuary the women were the most generous; that they had a leading part in the miracles of Purim and Chanukah, etc., etc. History also records that throughout the long martyrology of our people in exile, Jewish women faced death with the same courage as the men, and sometimes greater, in their devotion to G-d and the Torah and the Jewish way of life. 

Thus, when the Jew makes the blessing thanking G-d for not making him a woman, he does not say these words with any feeling of superiority, but quite for another reason, as will be made clear presently.

In the nature of things, the husband's task is to be the breadwinner, while the wife has to take care of the home and the children, and to manage the whole household. This is a very complicated task, requiring a great deal of skill, patience, understanding, and many other high qualities, which Divine Providence so generously bestowed upon the women. It is doubtful whether any executive position which the husband may hold requires greater skill and is more exacting than the domestic responsibilities of the wife and mother.

In view of the above, the Divine Torah has exempted the Jewish woman from the obligation to fulfill certain Mitzvoth. She is equally with her husband duty-bound to observe all the prohibitions of the Torah, the "don'ts" (and these are in the majority-365 don'ts to 248 do's). However, in regard to the positive commandments, the Jewish woman is excused from the fulfillment of some of them (by no means all), mainly those which have a time factor or limit, out of consideration for her important wifely and motherly duties to which the Torah gives precedence.

In this respect, therefore, the Jewish woman is rather "privileged" than "underprivileged."

However, the male Jew, who has not been given the special privileges enjoyed by the Jewish woman, has something to compensate for them, namely, the opportunity to commune with G-d more frequently through the fulfillment of those Mitzvoth from which the Jewish woman is exempt. This is no small compensation, and it is for this reason-for the opportunity to serve G-d with these additional Mitzvoth-that the male Jew makes the blessing, "Who has not made me a woman."

[Rabbi Nissan Mindel, As For Me, My Prayer, 1975, pp. 45-47.]

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All Jewish men must observe the positive time-bound commandments. When Jewish men and women say  שֶׁלֹּא עָשַֽׂנִי נכרי ("Who has not made me a gentile"), they are thanking God that they have more than the seven Noachide laws to fulfill. When Jewish men say שֶׁלֹּא עָשַֽׂנִי אִשָּׁה ('Who has not made me a woman'), they are thanking God for the extra commandments that they are obligated to do. They are not supposed to feel superior to women by saying this; rather, they are supposed to overcome any resentment they might have because they have the burden of extra obligations.

Many women feel uncomfortable about the men's blessing. In the Middle Ages, women gave expression to this discomfort by adding the blessing שֶׁעָשַֽׂנִי כִּרְצוֹנוֹ ("Who has made me according to divine will"). Many years ago, Rav Soloveitchik noted that Rebbe Meir taught us the blessings of formation. Rabbi Meir's wife was Bruria, a most extraordinary woman who was a scholar in her own right. Whenever she felt that her husband was wrong in Talmudic learning, she hold him so, and he accepted her word. He clearly did not view her as his inferior.

There is another historical reason that Jewish men said this blessing, again relating to the need to learn not to resent an extra burden. The Romans forbade the study of Torah because they knew it prevented Jews from assimilating. The Romans executed any man who was caught studying or teaching Torah. Rabbi Akiva was murdered in those days, as was the father of Bruria, Chaninah ben Tradyon. Women were frequently captured (such as Bruria's sister), who was put in a brothel), but they were not executed.

Women as well as men became martyrs during the first Crusade, however. When the great communities of Worms, Speyer, and Mainz were massacred the Christians did not make any distinction between the men and women. All were massacred equally.

When Rabbi Meir saw what happened to his father-in-law, he introduced the blessing for men. He was expressing gratitude that men were given the "opportunity" to die for God. When the Crusaders in the Middle Ages started massacring all Jews, including women, the women introduced the blessing for women, because they too now had this "opportunity."

[Rabbi Isaiah Wohlgemuth, Guide to Jewish Prayer, pp. 45-6.]

Whence lady rabbis?

Whence lady rabbis?

Orthodox rabbis everywhere are condemning Open Orthodoxy and its call for lady rabbis and other engagement by females in halachically prescribed and traditional male activity like reading from the Torah and the wearing of tzitzis and tefillin. However, many of these very same rabbis bear responsibility for encouraging this new trend by teaching that women are more spiritual than men.

The teaching that women are more spiritual than men implies that a man's role is more spiritual than a woman's. How so? One can reasonably ask, if women are more spiritual, shouldn't they be the rabbis and spiritual leaders of the home? So apologists like to say, the men "catch up" via Torah study, tefillin, and other positive time-bound commandments to which women are exempt. However, in order to catch up the man's day must be more spiritual than the woman's or he'd never catch up. Thus, according to that logic, taking care of the home and the children really is a less spiritual path.

But isn't this precisely what we didn't want the women to conclude? See where dishonesty gets you? No wonder we have women today that want to be rabbis and wear tefillin. Rabbis condemn them, but these women are in many respects products of what they have been taught by some of those very same rabbis. These women want to be spiritual. And they have been taught that the man's role is more spiritual.

Why do I call the apologetics dishonesty? Because there are no Torah sources that teach them. R' Samson R. Hirsch is most commonly cited. But one has to read his words carefully. He says only that the Torah “did not consider them necessary to be demanded from women” in part because they have “more faithful enthusiasm for their God-serving calling.” (Vayikra 23, Levy trans.) People get lost on his use of the word "necessary." A Levi doesn't need to do Birchos Cohanim. Only the Kohen, who has more holiness, has that “need.” The woman doesn't “need” those mitzvos for her role. But she doesn't have the man's role. You can't mix and match.

R' Hirsch also says that "The male sex is zachar, it is the depository of the Divine revelations and the spiritual attainments of the human race. To it has been entrusted the zicharon, the tradition of the human race as it has developed, in him is formed the spiritual chain which links together the beginning and the end of the human race. (JE, Vol. 2; CW, Vol. VIII, "The Jewish Woman") This is not something you'd want to assign to the less spiritual person. Rav Hirsch also says in many places that men and women are equal in their spiritual levels even as their roles are different. Examples:

"In the word איש and אשה. (man and a female man I.L.) 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)
“God has divided the sexes, giving each specific tasks in the fulfillment of life. Both tasks, if fulfilled in purity are equally sublime, equally holy.” R' Samson Raphael Hirsch: Horeb 433
"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, vol. II, p 51.

That women have more enthusiasm for their calling doesn’t mean they have more enthusiasm than men and doesn’t mean they would have the same enthusiasm for the man’s calling. The Baal Magen Avraham on Yalkut Shemoni, Shmuel 1:1 says that women are exempt from the positive time-bound commandments because their yetzer tov is smaller than the man's and if commanded they liked wouldn’t fulfill those commandments.

As for other commentators, the Maharal says in many places that men are more spiritual than women (Tiferes Yisroel 4 and 28, Derech Chaim 1:5, Chidushei Agados Makkos 23b, Gur Aryeh, Vayikra 12:2 ) and says that women are exempt from positive time-bound commandments for this reason (Chidushei Agados Makkos 23b, Tiferes Yisroel 4). The Akeidas Yitzchok says women are exempt from these commandments because they are weaker. (Akeidas Yitzchak, Bereishis 6)

But not all that is suitable for the general public. May we suggest that going forward we teach simply that men and women are equal in spiritual levels but different in roles? So taught the great leaders of our era Rav Moshe Feinstein, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, R' Joseph Soloveitchik, and R' Avigdor Miller.

R' Feinstein said that every mention of holiness in the Chumash refers to both men and women, telling us that the two genders are equal in holiness. The exemption of women from positive time-bound commandments is as the word says an exemption so that she can engage in child rearing and chesed. (Igros Moshe, Orach Chaim IV #49)

R' Feinstein writes elsewhere:

"...every Jew should realize that he is sanctified with the holiness of the Jew, and it is only because of that holiness that we were given the Torah and obligated to do the mitzvos. As I have often written, mitzvos cannot be fulfilled properly unless the doer has the holiness of the Jew. The Kohanim, who have additional mitzvos, must have the particular holiness of Kohanim....The expression "Who has sanctified us with His mitzvos" should not be misunderstood as meaning that mitzvos are the source of the sanctity. It is self-understood that the sanctity the blessing refers to is the underlying sanctity of every Jew -- that which enables us to fulfill the mitzvos." (Darash Moshe, Volume II, p. 154, Vayikra, Kedoshim)

Thus, we should not say that men are not unholy until they do the mitzvos because their holiness is what obligates them in those mitzvos. Women also are holy, only they are exempt from certain mitzvos so that they can do other mitzvos. It's not that the women are less holy and not that they are more holy.

R' Soloveitchik said:

"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 primarily 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). In their spiritual natures, they were equally worthy." (Man of Faith in the Modern World, p. 84).

The Lubavitcher Rebbe said that when a husband (or future husband) does those mitzvos, he does them on behalf of his wife. She is affected by his actions. (Sichos in English, Iyar-Tammuz 5744, Vol. 21, pp. 69-72) He said also the exemption is not because women are inferior (but he does NOT say it is because they are superior).

R' Miller also says that the father performs those special mitzvos on behalf of the whole family (Q&A: Thursday Nights with Rabbi Miller, pp. 189-190) and that

"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, p. 272)

Nobody is spiritually superior. That's the way for this generation to think of it. Let us note how the sages of our generation handle it and follow their lead. Otherwise, to quote a gentile writer "O, what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive!" (Walter Scott)

Rav Hirsch

You may ask wasn’t Rav Hirsch indicating something positive about the woman in saying that the Torah didn’t need to obligate her in positive time bound commandments? On the flip side, does the exemption say anything negative about her? I answer that it would seem that R. Hirsch was saying something positive, just as the Midrash was in saying women are “zrizus b’mitzvos”, the statement upon which R’ Hirsch based his words.

The question is was R’ Hirsch saying that women are more spiritual, better in touch with the divine, or on a higher plane than men as many English books have said in his name? Well, R’ Hirsch himself affirms in many places the equality of the male and the female.

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.

And

While fully appreciating the special and deeply implanted characteristics of the female sex, the Sages also attribute to it complete spiritual and intellectual equality with the male. In the very words with which the formation of man by the hands of God is proclaimed וייצר ה' אלקים את האדם, they find an indication that the formation of both male and female is on the same footing.  יצירה לאדם יצירה לחוה (Genesis R. 14).

To insinuate that a woman could simultaneously have a greater yetzer tov and a smaller yetzer hara, as many English kiruv books do, is to make a goddess of her. R’ Hirsch refutes this. He says quite clearly that men and women are equal.

So how can it be that men and women are equal but women don’t “need” those mitzvos? The answer I believe is that mitzvos have many aspects as do neshamos. Take for example, two pieces from the Maharal. In Deroshos Al HaTorah 27, he says women don’t need limud Torah as limud Torah works to tame aggressiveness and women are by nature tranquil. Does this mean that women are superior? In Tiferes Israel 4, he says men are obligated in positive time bound commandments because the male is the tzurah and the positive commandments are tzurah. The female is chomer. In other words, the male is more spiritual. In Chidushei Makkos 23b he phrases this in even stronger terms. We know from many places in the Maharal that he viewed men as being more spiritual (Tiferes Israel 28) and on a higher plane (Derech Chaim 2:9 - marbe nashim marbe kishofim). Yet women don’t need limud Torah. I think it’s fair to say that the Maharal was talking about one aspect of limud Torah, just as R’ Hirsch was doing with positive time bound commandments. Mitzvos have many aspects. Mitzvos correct our flaws but also engage our strengths.

God is one and all facets of the creation have a positive purpose. When the Maharal says that men are aggressive is that aggressiveness all bad? With intensity we can transform ourselves and push for truth. Rather, the aggressiveness is a part of the neshama that needs to be channeled. But it isn’t bad. The Maharal says men have more cochos hanefesh and more parts of the soul that lean towards the spiritual. Perhaps, the aggressiveness comes from that.

So how are men and women equal? We are equal overall over the balance of our differences and the strengths and weaknesses that constitute them. The man may get into trouble without the positive commandments but those commandments also serve to channel his powers of the soul, which inherently are positive. So is it a compliment that women are exempt? Yes. Is it a compliment that men are obligated? Yes.

The Magen Avraham says that women are exempt from positive time bound commandments because their yetzer tov is smaller than that of men. (Zies Ra’anan on Yalkut Shimoni, Shmuel 1:1). Is that a complement to the man? It would seem so. But I imagine there’s a flipside to this. R’ Hirsch points out the flip side. Is this saying something negative about the woman? I suppose in a way if one insists but no more negative than in saying the man needs the mitzvos. Both are complements and both indications of limitations. When the Maharal says that women’s exemption is because they are less b’tzelem elokim (Chidushei Agados Makkos 23b), is that saying something negative? Perhaps it is; although it seems to me to call it that is to criticize the creator. How is it negative if the Creator made it so? You know what I mean.

R’ Moshe Feinstein offered a more direct approach. He said that obligation in commandments comes from holiness. Men and women are equal in holiness. Women have a connection to the commandments but are exempt due to household duties. (Igros Moshe, Orach Chaim, IV, 49). This is the approach that I would suggest in teaching to the young people of today.

Abarbanel (Bereishis 1:27) and Netziv Beresishis 1:26

Abarbanel (Bereishis 1:27): Even though Man was created as male and female, they were not both equally perfected. And even though they were the same species they were not equally in the image of G-d. That is why the verse states, “In the image of G-d He created him (singular), male and female He created them.” In other words only Adam was created in the image of G-d because he was the reason and purpose for Creation. It was only for the necessity of procreation that Man was created as male and female. In fact there is no mention of male and female being created in the image of G-d but only for procreation. Gender is found in all animals and it has nothing to do with the image of G-d. From this we can understand why the Torah doesn't say “man according to his species” but it does say that man was created male and female were created by G-d. That is because man is different than other animals in which the female is on the same level as the male and is fully equal to him in nature and that is why it says about them “according to his species” without giving the male any superiority to the female.  However it is different concerning man because the male is the reason for creation of humans and he alone was created in the image of G-d. Thus the Torah states in the singular grammatical form, In the image of G-d He created him. That is because the male is the one who comprehends mysteries of wisdom and not the female about whom our Sages (Yoma 66b) said, “There is no wisdom in a woman except for the spindle” That is because the creation of the female was only an afterthought to provide the man with a helper and for the purpose of procreation as the Torah states later. So in summary we see that man was originally created alone in perfection while she was made afterwards in order to serve him. So here it just states the fact that she was created but it is only later (Bereishis 2:18-24) that the details of her creation are given. However that understanding seems to be inconsistent with the view (Eiruvin 17a) that male and female were in fact created at the same time as two entities joined together back to back. However in fact our assertion that woman lacks the image of G-d and is inferior to the male is also consistent with the view that Man was created as a hermaphrodite.  In other words man was created with an additional form from which woman was made. Thus it was like man had two aspects (pirtzuf) of male and female as an androgynous being (a Greek word describing a person who has both male and female sexual organs). However the Man was in fact a male in reality while the female aspect was only subordinate and an appendage to the male entity – in order to make a woman from it later. Thus we can explain that when it says Man was created male and female, it means that since the dominate concern was to create an intelligent being whose purpose was intellectual – for that purpose there was no need for the female and thus it was not proper to create with him the female. However this verse of “male and female He created them” teaches that in fact it was not so but rather G-d wanted that man would be created not only with the intellect but also with a non intellectual material aspect...  So even though according to this second view that Man was created with both male and female aspects but the two aspects were not equal in perfection but rather it was the male aspect – the primary one – which was created with the image of G-d.  Man was created as male and intellectual and only secondarily as female to enable the making of a second subordinate entity to serve the male

Netziv(Bereishis 1:26): Let us make man – G-d did not say, “let us make a being like an animal in our likeness” and afterwards call him ‘man’ as is actually written later in Bereishis (5:2). But the phrase, “let us make man” means that there is no need to give man this name – rather his character shows that he is man. But if so it is difficult. Why is it written afterwards that G-d called their name man – which implies that there was a need to give a name...? But rather the matter is like this – that man is different from all the species since all the species were created in such a way that the species was unitary in its purpose and character; which is not the case for man who rose in G-d’s thought to be of two types of character. The one would be cleaving to his G-d, ready and serving in the world like an angel does in the Heavens. And the second is such that he would be political and take care of his own needs; even though he would nonetheless do the will of G-d, it would not be on the level of the first. And behold, according to the first characteristic he is automatically man (adam) based on the phrase ‘I will be similar to the most High – meaning that within him are included all the powers of creation and he rules over everything. And behold he is like the firstborn son of a king who rules like the king. And because of this, everyone understands that he is the son of the king in that they see him ruling over every detail. Which is not the case with the son of the king who is not the firstborn and the king merely makes him rule over some detail and his fellow over another detail and so too with all those that govern the kingdom. It comes out that all of them together are similar to the king; but each one by himself is only similar to the king when he is given the name of ruler over that detail that he governs. And thus is man – the individual of spiritual stature is different then the simple individual. And in Shabbos (112b), they hinted to these two types of men. And it is stated in the first version of a particular thatement “this is not a man” and in a second version “this is an example of a man” –the bexplanationof this being a man of spiritual stature. But the general human species is called man by the nature of the matter in that they as a group rule over the entire creation. And this is according to G-d’s plan. (And so too with the name Israel which indicates being higher than the nature of creation and the running of the world. It will be explained later in Vayishlach that the whole nation is called Israel, but concerning individuals some are called by the name Israel and some have not reached this.) And if so in the statement “let us make man” its explanation is [that it refers to] the general species of man and it is certainly called man even without being given the name since in this general species is the creation dependent and in this detail they are similar to the Creator. And Adam specifically before he sinned was worthy of being called man without being given the name; but after he sinned he was given the name of man and it will be explained further.“According to our likeness” – the image is according to our likenss and automaticallly man – who is clothed in it – is in the likeness of G-d and in this is the power of man.

Netziv (Bereishis 1:27) In the image of G-d  - all of nature was included in him. And from the time that it arose in the though and word of G-d that there should be nature, then G-d was called with the name Elokim. And since all of nature is included in man – behold – he is in the image of G-d. But this is not the case except in the man of stature as Adam was before the sin. Afterwards...."Male and female He created them." The verse does not come to explain that this species, more so than all the other creatures, has a male and a female. Rather, [it comes] to teach you that they are two beings, as will be explained below. This is because the male of this species is not at all similar in his character to the female of the same species. As Kohelet says: "One man among a thousand I have found; but a woman among all those I have not found" (Kohelet 7:28). That is, that a man of virtue resembling his Creator in the image of God is found one in a thousand; Which is not the case regarding women – who only fits the second description of man – who is only described as being man 

she had the greatest husband.

 

If Moshe Rabbeinu was the greatest man that ever lived, as Rabbi Miller stated, who was the greatest woman who ever lived and why? Who was the greatest woman who ever lived? That's a big question. I think it was Sarah. And I think I could substantiate that by saying she had the greatest husband. Now, Tziporah, although her husband was even greater than Avraham, but Tziporah is a different story. We don't have any evidence that Tziporah, although she certainly was a tzadekes, that she participated in Moshe Rabbeinu's career. The truth is she didn't. Moshe Rabbeinu separated from her for many years until the end of his life. But Sarah, she was Avraham's partner. That we know. They lived together and their idealism was shared until the end. Avraham megayer es ha'anashim, Sarah megayeres es ha'nashim. And therefore it seems to me that it's simple to say that, that Sarah was the greatest woman who ever lived. Now, I have to leave out one. Maybe Chava was greater. Our first mother could have been greater. But I'll leave that open.

Tape 144​ (November 1976)

there's a rule

 "We know there's a rule, if you don't know it, now's the time to learn it, אישה כשרה עושה את רצון בעלה a pious woman has an ideal of doing the will of her husband. It's an ideal, to make her husband happy, to cooperate and to obey, as much as possible. A pious Jewish woman tries to obey." Rabbi Miller, tape #3, 46:20. 

letter to a rabbi about tefillin

 I listened to your shiur “Tefillin? By Rav B....” where you say basically that women don’t wear tefillin because they are better than men. You don’t give a source for this, but I assume that you see the source as Rav Hirsch. 

However, Rav Hirsch never says that women are better than men. He says many times that men and women are equal. As for the exemption from some mitzvos, he says women don’t need these mitzvos “for their job.” But they have a different job from the men. You can’t make an absolute comparison. 

If women were better than men, shouldn’t they be the rabbis? Shouldn’t they be the leaders of the home? Why does the Gemara say that the man who goes about in the counsel of his wife goes to gehennom (Baba Matzia 59a)? 

You say men should honor women more because the women need it. Why would such a spiritual being need honor? And why do they get a ring upon marriage while the husband gets a Gemara?

Your explanation turns tefillin into a kind of embarrassment. The men wear them because they are so low. I don’t find that inspiring. So why does the Shulchan Aruch say that only a very pious person should wear Rabbeinu Tom tefillin?  

Yes, mitzvos improve us. Women do mitzvos all day long. Are you saying that when they are in the kitchen they are not doing a mitzvah? Should I say women are commanded to do more chesed because they are lacking in that quality?  Mitzvos are not a sign post for our weaknesses. Rather they engage our strengths.

Why do Kohanim have more mitzvos? They have more kiddusha.  

The Baal Magen Avraham (Zies Rananan) on Yalkut Shemoni, Shmuel 1:1 says that women are exempt from positive time bound commandments because their yetzer tov is smaller. The Maharal (Tiferes Yisroel 4 and Chidushei Maakos 23b) says women are exempt because they are less b’zelem Elokim. 

I’m sorry but I believe that your presentation is not correct. And I believe it sends a bad message to women, which is, your husband is inferior to you. That’s not what we need. 

May you be blessed. 

Maharal: Drush Al HaTorah, translation

 

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.

masculine-style activities

 If I may offer a thought that is entirely my own (as far as I know), the positive-time bound commandments are masculine-style activities. Sitting outdoors in the crisp autumn in a small hut that he rapidly built with his hands is the kind of thing a man is more inclined to do. Most women prefer to be in the house, near the kitchen, where children have room to play. The same applies to wearing simple black boxes -- every single day the same style. Few women want to wear the same plain article every day. The same can be said of adhering to the regimentation of saying Shema at a specific time, every morning, no exceptions for morning sickness. The same goes for making an intentionally jolting sound with a dead Ram’s horn and waving around a lulav as if it were a sword. The positive time-bound commandments from which women are not exempt don’t have this quality. Examples include kiddush, which is said at the dinner table over wine, and eating matzah, again at the dinner table. This may not be a profound philosophical idea, but it seems to fit somewhat. Even if the generalizations are offensive to some (but mostly not to people in the Orthodox Jewish world), you have to admit, there’s truth to it.

fulfill all 613 commandments

 However, it is well known that R. Isaac Luria, of blessed memory, stated10 that [the soul of] every11Jew needs to be reincarnated many times, until he will fulfill all 613 commandments of the Torah in thought, speech and action, i.e., using all three soul-garments with which one performs the commandments.

להשלים לבושי נפשו ולתקנם שלא יהא לבושא דחסרא כו'

This is in order to complete the garments of his soul and to correct them, so that no garment will be incomplete.

As explained in Tanya, ch. 4, the divine soul has three garments - the thought, speech and action of the 613 commandments of the Torah. If the performance of one of these commandments is lacking, the soul's garments are incomplete. It is thus necessary for each soul to perform all of the commandments.

לבד מצות התלויות במלך שהוא מוציא כל ישראל כי הוא כללות כולם כו'

Excepted12 are the commandments incumbent upon a king,13 because he discharges the obligation of all of Israel, as he is a corporate collective of them all.14

All Jews are incorporated within the king. When he performs those commandments that depend upon him, it is therefore considered as if all the Jewish people had performed them. As to the other commandments, however, if in one incarnation an individual did not perform them all, he must be reincarnated so that he will be able to do so.

Why must one have the garments of all 613 commandments?

והטעם הוא כדי להלביש כל תרי"ג בחי' וכחות שבנפשו

The reason is, in order to garb all the 613 aspects and powers of one's soul,