"A Woman is Twice as Much as the Husband" • The Daily Lesson from the Gaon and

Before you is a summary of the daily lesson as delivered by our teacher, the Rav, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a (may he live long and good days) – yesterday after the Maariv (evening) prayer, Monday night, the eve of the 13th of Shevat, Parshas Yitro.

There was an argument between Ahasuerus and Vashti: how many steps did Nebuchadnezzar take [for the honor of Hashem]? And who split the head of Belshazzar? Cyrus and Darius. The first seventy years [of the Babylonian exile] ended; the second set ended at the feast of Ahasuerus, and the final ones will end in the Geulah (Redemption). This was the dispute between Vashti and Ahasuerus: was she "Queen Vashti" [implying her royal lineage was superior] because Nebuchadnezzar took four steps, while Ahasuerus was merely a stable boy washing horses? Or was it as Ahasuerus said, that he [Nebuchadnezzar] only took three steps, and thus she was called "Vashti the Queen" [subordinate to him]. Sennacherib wanted to give two thousand horses, but he said, "Go and learn." He came with two billion, six hundred million minus one [soldiers], and an angel of Hashem killed them all in one day—he withdrew their souls. And the sun went backward twelve hours; he woke up at five and saw it was morning, and asked, "Who moved the clock?" For Hillel had eighty students, forty of whom could move the sun, just like Abba Tachina Chasida, who saved a dying man and left his bundle behind, and the holiday had already begun in total darkness. People said, "Abba Tachina desecrated the Pesach (Passover) holiday." He began to cry, saying, "How could I not have withstood the test?" Suddenly, the sun shone again. Now there is a question: when will it be Shabbat, since the sun shone once more? Moses certainly could move the sun, as it says, "And his hands were steady (emunah) until the sun set." A person needs to wake up at six to hear the reading of the Torah. Amalek brought students who were celebrating their birthdays, because someone on their birthday has the power to conquer the whole world. But Moses stopped the sun and shifted the date, so they could not win. Everyone needs to study Nedarim 4 [a page in the Talmud], which explains that the spies did not enter the Land because they were weary (Leah). Anyone who speaks against Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel) is lost for all eternity. They said [to Moses], "Do you want to gouge out people's eyes? You said you would bring us to a land flowing with milk and honey, but you took us out of a land flowing with milk and honey where we had everything for free!" There were fish for free because the fish jumped into their jars. But this was only for the women, not the men; the women do not sin, unless they are enticed. Except for the wife of Korach, who told him, "I want you to be the leader; Moses is a thief." [A Roman emperor once said] the first thief was Hashem, as it is written regarding the "theft"—Hashem "stole" the rib [from Adam]. He asked Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah to provide an answer: why did He steal? His daughter said, "I will provide the answer." She told the emperor: "Thieves came in the night while the guards slept. They stole our silver plates and left us gold plates!" Hashem "stole" a rib but left a woman. A woman is a "rib" that prays and recites Tehillim (Psalms). A woman is twice as much as her husband; if he doesn't pray, she won't pray either. Now, during the week of the Ten Commandments [Parshas Yitro], we ask people not to wake up later than ten o'clock. If the wife doesn't get up, it's a sign the husband didn't get up. If the husband wakes up at five, the wife wakes up at three. "And the women came upon the men"—six hundred [thousand] brought their earrings [for the Mishkan] and they had to be told "enough!" The women precede the men. Everyone should study Nedarim 4 with his wife. The girls should say Tehillim and study the Book of Daniel. He [Daniel] dug a river in Tiberias; those who want to connect the Atlantic with the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee)—Daniel already did that. Daniel removed the Tzitz (holy plate) from the tongue of the idol, and then it collapsed. They told Daniel, "Run away, you destroyed the Avodah Zarah (idolatry)!" The boys should study four pages of Gemara (Talmud); the boys go to sleep at twelve and wake up at five. The girls finish Chatzos (the Midnight Lament) and wake up at eight-thirty to go to the seminary. All the heads of the local councils agreed to open seminaries. All the female hostages are keeping Shabbat. On the wall of the community center in Zikim, it was written, "We love you." The symbol of the French Revolution was love, brotherhood, and peace, but in the end, now they are releasing terrorists, and people have to evacuate their homes for them—you will go live in Gaza and the terrorists will come here.