Women In The World

Many people would be surprised to know that the Torah values

women tremendously (often even more than men), and brings many

ideas to protect and praise them. More than any other religion,

Judaism, on an ideal level, recognizes the prime importance of

women not only at home but also to society in general.

Of course, theory and practice often don’t match as humans are

flawed and sometimes think they understand the Torah. But once we

understand certain Kabbalistic ideas, we will be able to better

appreciate Torah’s views on women.

A man needs to shine his light to the woman and in return

she shines back. Yet, at the same time the sages said already “Sof

Ma’asseh, B’Machshavah Techilah” (the end goal is embedded in the

first thought). This means that whatever was created last, came out

first in Hashem’s mind. Man was created after all of creation had

been set, as a king prepares his feast and then invites his dear

friends. However women were created even after that because they

symbolise the perfect vessel necessary to contain the Creator’s

greatest good. And that is the end goal of Creation.

The Arizal said that women come to be reincarnated mostly for men’s sake. Since they already finished their Tikkun (rectification), they come down mostly to help their

soulmates reach their goals.

In the Talmud, Rabbi Chiya, who had a particularly difficult

wife, was once asked by his student why he kept honoring her so

much. The reply was that “it’s enough women keep us away from

sin”. Not only that, but as the bearers of the future generations, they

can generally achieve much with their prayer in much less time than

men. And, of course, the woman sets the tone in the house, and brings

it to life.

As we see, women have a rich contribution to the Jewish nation

and the world as a whole. It’s quite unfortunate that their gifts have

been dismissed and even despised over the decades. It’s in their

merit that the Jewish people has been saved countless times.

This article was written and published in the zechut of all Emuna Builder Partners. May they have complete emuna and continue spreading emuna!