Men and Women
A Candle Is a Mitzva and Torah Is Light
Teruma [Donation]
729) A candle is a Mitzva [correction/good deed]. A candle is a Mitzva with which women are rewarded. It is a Sabbath candle. Although women are not rewarded with the Torah, since the men are rewarded with the Torah, they illuminate for that candle, which the women correct with this Mitzva. The women with the correction of this candle, the men with the Torah, to light and to illuminate this candle, which is a correction of a Mitzva to which women are obliged.
A Woman Is the Lord’s Fire
Beresheet [Genesis]
218) “The man said, ‘This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘Woman.’” The meaning is that it is her of whom there is none other like her; she is the glory of the house. Compared to her, all the women are as a monkey compared to a man, but she shall be called “woman,” this one and not another.
The name Isha [woman] implies Esha [fire of the Creator], meaning the wholeness of the illumination of the left, called Esh [Aleph-Shin, but also “fire”], which is connected to the letter Hey, which is the Nukva. This is the meaning of his praising her, “She shall be called ‘Woman.’” Because of the illumination of Hochma that shines in her after she has been included in her husband’s Hassadim, she was given the name “woman,” which is illumination of Hochma, which is called Esh [fire], as it is written, “And the light of the Lord shall become fire.” And the name Isha is because Esh is connected to the Hey.
His Wife Is the Essence of the House
Beresheet [Genesis]
231) His wife is the essence of the house, since Divinity does not depart his house by merit of his wife. It is as we learned that it is written, “And Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah.” The candle was relit, as it was at the time of Sarah, his mother, since Divinity came to the house thanks to Rebecca. Thus, Divinity is in the house by merit of his wife.
232) Upper Ima, Bina, is with the male, Zeir Anpin, only when the house is corrected and male and female, ZON, are connected. At that time, upper Ima imparts blessings to bless ZON. Similarly, lower Ima, Divinity, is with the male, meaning with a man below, only when the house is corrected and the male comes to the Nukva and they conjoin. At that time, lower Ima, Divinity, imparts blessings to bless them.
The Camp of Israel
VaYikahel [Assembled]
35) It is written, “So is the way of an adulterous woman.” But, “So is the way of an adulterous woman” is the angel of death. “She eats and wipes her mouth,” for it burns the world with its flames and puts people to death before their time. And she says, “I have done no evil,” for he sought judgment for them and they were caught in their iniquity and died by true judgment.
36) And when Israel had made the calf and all those multitudes died, the angel of death was among the women, inside the camp of Israel. Since Moses saw that the angel of death is among the women and the camp of Israel was among them, he immediately gathered all the men separately, as it is written, “Then Moses assembled all the congregation of the sons of Israel.” These were the men that he had congregated and separated to themselves.
37) And the angel of death was not separated from the women until the Temple was built.
The Flame of the Sword that Turns Every Way
VaYikra [The Lord Called]
325) On the day when Adam was born, they were commanded in regards to the tree of knowledge and broke their Master’s commandment. And since the woman sinned first and the serpent came upon her, as it is written, “And he shall rule over you,” henceforth, whenever men are guilty before the Creator, the women from the side of harsh Din will rule over them, as it is written, “As for My people, a babe is their master, and women rule over them.”
326) And those women are called, “The flaming sword that turns every way.” Yet, it is not that they are the turning sword. Rather, they are a flame from that sword, which is called, “A sword ... that shall execute the vengeance of the covenant,” “The sword of the Lord is filled with blood.” And that flaming sword that turns every way is sometimes men and sometimes females.
327)…When the prophet of Israel saw that Israel were twisting their ways and performing iniquities before their Master, he said, “Women that are at ease, why do you keep quiet? Why do you sit and not awaken in the world? Rise up and take governance over the men.”
Deborah and Hannah
VaYikra [The Lord Called]
329) There were two women in the world, and they praised the Creator like all the men in the world will not. Those are Deborah and Hannah. Hannah said, “There is none holy as the Lord, for there is none besides You,” and all the writings that follow. She opened the door to faith in the world.
The Halls of the Female Souls
Shlach Lecha [Send Forth]
195) ...They showed me six palaces with several pleasures and delights in the place where the curtain is spread out in the garden, since from that curtain onward, males do not enter at all.
196) In one palace, there is Batiah, daughter of Pharaoh, several tens of thousands of righteous women with her. Each of them has places of lights and delights without any pressure. Three times a day, the heralds call out, “Behold, the form of Moses, the loyal prophet, is coming,” and Batiah goes out to a place where there is one partition and sees the form of Moses. She bows before him and says, “Happy I am for having raised that light.” This is her most special pleasure.
197) Batiah returns to the women and engages in the Mitzvot of the Torah. all of them are in the forms that they had in this world, clothed in light, like the clothes of the males, except that they do not shine as much as the male garments. They engage in the flavors and Mitzvot of the Torah that they were not rewarded with keeping in that world, and all those women who sit in the same hall with Batiah, daughter of Pharaoh, are called “tranquil women,” for they were not afflicted at all by the affliction of Hell.
198) In another hall, there is Serah, daughter of Asher, and several tens of thousands and thousands of women are with her. Three times a day, it is declared before her, “Behold, here comes the form of the righteous Joseph.” She rejoices and comes out to one partition that she has, and sees the light of the form of Joseph. She is happy and bows to him, and says, “Happy is that day when I awoke the word of you to my old man.” Afterwards, she returns to the rest of the women and engages in praises of the Master of the world and to thank His name. And each and every one has several places and joy, and then they return to engaging in the commandments of the Torah and their flavors.
199) In another hall, there is Yoheved, the mother of Moses, the loyal prophet, with several thousands and tens of thousands with her. In that hall, there are no declarations at all. Rather, three times a day, she thanks and praises the Creator, she and all those women with her. They sing the song of the sea each day, and she alone begins from here. “Miriam the prophetess, Aaron's sister, took the timbrel in her hand,” and all those righteous in the Garden of Eden listen to the voice of her singing, and several holy angels thank and praise the holy name with her.
200) In another hall, there is Prophetess Deborah. Here, too, all the women who are with her thank and chant in singing that she said in this world. Who has seen the joy of the righteous and righteous women who serve the Creator? There are four hidden palaces of the holy mothers who were not given to exile before those palaces, and there is none to see them. Each day they are alone.
201) Each night, they all gather together because the time for Zivug [coupling] is midnight, whether in this world or in that world. The Zivug of that world is the adhering of soul to soul, of light to light.
The Zivug of this world is of body to body, and all is as it should be, a kind with its kind, a Zivug by Zivug. A body by body is in this world. The Zivug of that world is light by light. The halls of the four mothers are called “halls of trusting daughters,” and I have not been rewarded with looking into them. Happy are the righteous, men and females, who follow on the right path in this world and are rewarded with all the pleasures of that world.
202) The Zivug in that world produces more fruits than a Zivug that is done in this world. In their Zivug—in the Zivug of that world, in their desire as one, when the souls cling to one another—they bear fruit and lights come out of them and become candles. These are the souls of the proselytes who convert.
Blessing for the Women Is through the Men
VaYechi [Jacob Lived]
494) …“He will bless—He will bless the house of Israel.” Why does it write, “Bless,” twice? “The Lord has been mindful of us, He will bless” are the men, and “He will bless the house of Israel” are the women. This is so because the males need to be blessed first, and then the women, for women are blessed only by the blessing of the males. And when the males are blessed, the women are blessed, as it is written, “And made atonement for himself, and for his house.” Thus, one needs to make atonement for oneself first, and then for one’s home, since the male comes before the female so that she will be blessed from him.
495) Women are blessed only by males, when they are blessed first. And they are blessed from this blessing of the males. They do not need a special blessing of their own. Then why does the verse say, “Will bless the house of Israel,” if the women do not need a special blessing? Indeed, the Creator gives an additional blessing to a male who is married to a woman so that his wife will be blessed from him.
Similarly, in all places, the Creator gives additional blessing to a male who has married a woman so she will be blessed by this addition. And since a man marries a woman, He gives him two shares, one for himself and one for his wife. And he receives everything, his own share and his wife’s. This is why a special blessing is written for the women, “Will bless the house of Israel,” for this is their share. However, the males receive their share, as well, and give it to them later.
One Who Did Not Marry a Wife Is Flawed
VaYikra [The Lord Called]
63) “When any man of you brings an offering,” excluding one who did not marry a wife, since his offering is not an offering and blessings are not present in him, neither above nor below. This means that the verse, “When any man of you brings an offering” is different, for his is not a man and is not included among man, and Divinity is not over him, for he is flawed and he is called, “maimed,” and the maimed are removed from everything, all the more so from the altar, from offering a sacrifice.
64) Nadab and Abihu prove that the words, “Then fire came out from before the Lord” was because they were not married. This is why it is written, “When any man of you brings an offering to the Lord.” A man with male and female is worthy of making this sacrifice, and no other.
65) Although we spoke of Nadab and Abihu in a different way, it is certainly because they were not married, but incense is the highest of all the offerings in the world, for which the upper and lower are blessed. And they were not worthy of offering this offering, which is above all sacrifices, since they were unmarried. Hence, they were unfit to offer a sacrifice, all the more so such sublime things as incense, for they are not worthy of making the world blessed by them.
66) “Then fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them.” Why were they punished so harshly? It is like a man who comes to the queen to tell her that the king has come to her house to be with her and to rejoice with her. The man came before the king and the king saw that the man was crippled. The king said, “It is dishonorable to me that I will come to the queen through this crippled man.” In the meantime, the queen had fixed the house for the king, and since she saw that the king was ready to come to her, and that man caused the king to depart her, she commanded that this man would be put to death.
67) Similarly, when Nadab and Abihu entered with the incense in their hands, the queen (Malchut) was glad and fixed herself to receive the king’s face (ZA). When the king saw that these men were flawed, the king did not wish to come to be with the queen through them, and the king departed her. When the queen saw that the king had left because of them, promptly, “Then fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them.”
68) And all this is because one who is not married is flawed. He is maimed before the king, and the sanctity of the king departs him and does not remain in the flaw. It is written about that, “When any man of you brings an offering,” meaning those who are called “men” will bring an offering and those who are not called “men,” the unmarried, will not bring an offering.
Man Consists of Male and Female Together
Nasso [Take]
141) Man is an inclusion of male and female, since one in whom male and female have conjoined is called, “a man,” and then he is God-fearing. Moreover, there is humility in him. And still more, there is Hesed in him.
And one who does not have male and female, there is no fear in him, no humility, and no piousness. This is why man is regarded as including everything. And since he is called, “Adam” [man], there is Hesed in him, as it is written, “I have said, ‘Mercy will be built up forever.’” But the world cannot be built without a male and a female.
142) It is written, “But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him.” “Those who fear Him” are the whole of man, male and female, for otherwise there is no fear in him. “But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting” are the priests that come from the side of Hesed. And they inherit this lot, which comes from the upper world, ZA, to the lower world, Malchut. “On those who fear Him” means the priests below, who contain male and female, to be inclusive, as in man, which is male and female. “And His righteousness to children's children,” since he has been rewarded with children’s children.
A Male Soul and a Female Soul
Ki Tazria [When a Woman Delivers]
9) “A woman who inseminates first, delivers a male child.” The Creator sentences whether a drop is male or female, and you say, “A woman who inseminates first, delivers a male child.” Thus, the Creator’s sentence is redundant. Indeed, it is certainly the Creator who decides between a drop of male and a drop of female. And because He has discerned it, He sentences whether it is to be a male or a female.
There are three partners to a man: the Creator, his father, and his mother. His father gives the white in him; his mother—the red in him; and the Creator gives the soul. If the drop is a male, the Creator gives the soul of a male. If it is a female, the Creator gives the soul of a female. It turns out that when the woman first inseminated, the drop has not become a male yet, if the Creator had not sent within her a soul of a male.
This discernment that the Creator discerns in a drop—that it is fit for a soul of a male or a female—is considered “the sentencing of the Creator.” Had He not discerned it and did not send a soul of a male, the drop would not have become a male. Thus, the two statements do not contradict one another.
10) And since she inseminates, does she deliver? After all, this requires pregnancy. It should have said, “If a woman is impregnated, she delivers a male child.” What is, “If she inseminates, she delivers”? Since the day of insemination and conception to the day of delivery, a woman has not a word in her mouth except her offspring, whether it will be a male. This is why it is written, “If a woman inseminates, she delivers a male child.”
To Be Rewarded with Sons
VaYeshev [And Jacob Sat]
163) Even if a man engages in the Torah day in and day out, but his origin and springing are in vain, for he does not bear sons, he has no place being in the presence of the Creator. If a spring does not enter a well of water, it is not a well, for the well and the origin are one, and one who has no sons is as one whose origin did not enter him and is not acting within him.
177) “Come to your brother’s wife.” He did not have to tell him that, since Judah and all the tribes knew it. But the main reason why he told him, “…and raise a seed,” is that that seed was needed for that thing to be corrected… Even though man has been sentenced to death, which separates him from the eternal root, he is still not completely separated, for he remains attached to his eternal root through the sons that each one has, since every son is a part of the father’s body. Thus, each person is like a link in the chain of life, which begins with Adam haRishon [the first man] and continues through the revival of the dead, forever and ever. And as long as man’s chain of life continues, for he leaves a son behind him, death does not separate him from eternity at all, and he is seemingly still alive.
188) Hence, it is written, “Behold, children are a heritage of the Lord.” It is the soul’s bundle of life, as it is written, “Yet the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life,” considered the next world.
This is what the text calls, “heritage” [can also mean land in Hebrew]. And who awards man with coming to this land? Sons. The sons award him with the land of the Lord; hence, happy is the man who has been rewarded with sons, to teach them the ways of Torah.