|
|
May 7, 2004/Iyar 16 5764, Vol. 56, No. 33
Jewish women's decisive role
Torah study
RABBI YOSSI LEVERTOV
Emor/Leviticus 21:1-24:23
One of the greatest sages of his day, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai is especially distinguished by the fact that he taught and revealed the hidden and inner light of Torah through the mystical work, the Zohar.
The inner mysteries, which constitute the very soul of the Torah - P'nimiyut Hatorah - are bound up with the innermost quality of every Jew, with his Jewish soul. The innermost core of every Jew - the Pintele Yid - remains intact in every Jew, regardless of his outward status and external circumstances. It is absolutely imperative, however, to bring forth the Pintele Yid from its potential state, both in one's self and in one's fellow Jew, so that this inner quality becomes manifest and able to affect and dominate the external aspects of daily life in every detail.
In the realization of this purpose, Jewish women have a special role, since divine providence has bestowed upon them special capacities that must be utilized to this end. The woman is the foundation of the Jewish home, she is responsible for the inner light and Jewish warmth of the home, sheltering the home from alien winds that blow from outside.
Moreover, women are endowed with a greater and more expressive measure of feeling and sincerity, making them especially suited to arouse and stimulate the inborn, Jewish feelings of love of God, the Torah and the Jewish people.
Bringing to the surface one's Pintele Yid until it dominates all aspects of daily life, calls down the divine reward, namely that the inner and hidden goodness of the divine becomes manifest in all the necessities of the daily life.
In every important event in our history - commemorated by special days in our calendar - Jewish women have had a decisive role. This is true also of Lag B'Omer.
On Lag B'Omer (which falls this year on the evening of May 8) we commemorate the survival of Rabbi Akiva's disciples. After a plague that had decimated their members, these great scholars, together with their teacher, perpetuated the continuity of the oral Torah. Among these disciples was Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai.
Wherein lies the woman's role in this critical period in Jewish history?
Our sages of the Talmud elucidated it by telling us the story of Rabbi Akiva. Behind his rise from a poor, ignorant shepherd to the rank of the greatest sage in his generation was a woman, his faithful and courageous wife, Rachel. Akiva publicly acknowledged this when he said to his disciples: "All that I have learned, and all that you have learned, we owe to her." This means that the entire oral Torah, the very basis of the existence of our Jewish people and its way of life, is ultimately to be credited to a Jewish woman.
That the story has been recorded for perpetuity is a clear indication that it is meant to serve as a source of instruction and inspiration to all Jewish women, everywhere and at all times. Its practical message is that every Jewish woman has been given tremendous potential, with far-reaching consequences, not only for herself, her husband and children, but also for our entire Jewish people.
In bridging the generation gap in the true spirit of Torah, it is plain and self-evident that women have a very special role. In the sphere of feeling and emotion, the woman has been endowed with an extra measure of sensitivity and understanding, not to mention the fact that Jewish education and character development of children are largely in the domain of the wife and mother, the akeret habayit, the foundation of the home.
Rabbi Yossi Levertov is director of Chabad of Scottsdale.
|
|
