The Secret of Women's Wisdom: The Power that Guides the World
Lesson No. 199 | Thursday, Parashas Korach, 26 Sivan 5759 - Lesson at the Breslov Kollel for Young Men, Part 1 (Continued in No. 200)
Woman is endowed with "Chochmah Tata'ah" (lower wisdom)—an extra, profound understanding designed to guide the practical world, while man belongs to the spiritual realm of Torah and deveikus (attachment to Hashem). In order to merit the illumination of this intellect, a person must hate the lust for money and honor his wife limitlessly. Through the stories of our matriarch Rivkah and the wife of On ben Peles, the immense power of women's wisdom to save and lead is revealed.
To attain this lower intellect, one can only do so by hating money and greed with an absolute hatred. This lower intellect is actually "women's wisdom." There is an intellect of "Chochmah Ila'ah" (higher wisdom), and there is an intellect of women's wisdom. A woman possesses a deep and unique wisdom that a man does not have. The Torah testifies:
"And Hashem God built the rib that He took from the man into a woman" (Bereishis 2:22).
From the word "built" (vayiven), our Sages learned that she was given binah yeseirah (extra understanding). The intellect that guides the practical world is women's wisdom. As the Megaleh Amukos says: It is women's wisdom that guides the world here, not the man. The man belongs to the Gemara, to deveikus, to the service of Hashem. The moment he descends into the world, he is neither man nor woman; he belongs solely to the service of Hashem. The woman is the one who must guide the home, the children, and all worldly matters.
The Clear Vision of Our Matriarch Rivkah
We see this clearly with the holy matriarchs. Sarah sees what is happening in the home, and Rivkah sees what is happening in the home. Rivkah tells Yaakov, "I will go in to Yitzchak, and if you do not go in—I will go in." Yaakov was afraid and told her that if he went in to his father, Yitzchak would feel him, discover the deception, and he would receive a curse instead of a blessing. Yaakov knew that Yitzchak would recognize him immediately, because Yaakov was incapable of uttering a sentence without mentioning the Name of Heaven.
Esav, on the other hand, never mentions the Name of Heaven. Unlike Lavan the Aramean, who is the chief of deceivers and can say "Baruch Hashem" (Blessed is Hashem) and "B'ezras Hashem" (With Hashem's help) while plotting to rob and murder, Esav is incapable of lying to himself to that extent. He is wicked, but his mouth and heart are aligned in his wickedness—he cannot bring the Name of Heaven to his lips. Yaakov, however, cannot skip Hashem's Name even to receive the blessings. "Every word of mine is 'Baruch Hashem' and 'B'ezras Hashem'; I am not willing to give that up just to receive a blessing," Yaakov argued.
Yitzchak saw through Ruach HaKodesh (Divine Inspiration) that Esav would not receive the blessings, and everything was shrouded in fog. Hashem wanted Yaakov to receive the blessings specifically while dressed in Esav's garments, just as Hashem arranged for us to receive the greatest blessings specifically from the wicked Bilaam. If the blessings had come from Moshe Rabbeinu, an accusation would immediately arise: "If we commit a sin, we will immediately die"—the blessing would have been conditional on the deeds of the Jewish people. But because Bilaam blessed them, his blessings must endure forever, unconditionally. The Midrash says that all the synagogues and study halls, and all the success we have in this world, are by the power of Bilaam's blessings, which will continue until the days of Mashiach.
Even though Yitzchak wanted to bless Esav and told him that the matter depended on him, Rivkah stood her ground. She perceived that Esav would never be good, and she told Yaakov, "If you do not go in, I will go fight with your father. I will stand and shout, I will break plates and cups—he will not bless Esav!" This is the concept of "the wisdom of women builds her house." A woman has a profound understanding of what pertains to this world, and this is called "Chochmah Tata'ah" (lower wisdom).
Honoring One's Wife and the Opening of the Mind
This lower wisdom, which corresponds to the Sefirah of Malchus (the Divine attribute of Kingship that channels sustenance and guidance to the lower realms), guides all the worlds. The study of Gemara and the Oral Torah also belong to this lower wisdom. How does a person merit it? When he honors his wife. When a man honors his wife, his mind is opened, and he merits receiving this lower wisdom.
When a person sits down to open a holy book, his mind opens in direct proportion to how much he honors his wife and treats her with patience. If a man comes home at one in the morning and there is no food ready, instead of yelling at her, waking her up, and spilling her blood (shaming her)—let him take a piece of bread with a tomato, make himself an omelet, and be done with it. One who shames his fellow in public falls into a fiery furnace, and Tamar was willing to be burned alive rather than shame her father-in-law. How much more so is it forbidden for a man to insult his wife. The woman is the intellect of the world; Hashem gave her extra understanding to lead, and when a man honors her, he empowers this wisdom to be revealed.
The Wisdom of Shlomo versus the Wisdom of Moshe
This intellect of women's wisdom is essentially the "wisdom of Shlomo." All the spiritual attainments of King Shlomo, who sat on the throne of Hashem and ruled over the upper and lower realms, were achieved through this lower intellect. It is said of him:
"And he was wiser than all men" (Melachim I 5:11).
The Megaleh Amukos explains that this is exactly women's wisdom, Chochmah Tata'ah (lower wisdom). In contrast, the intellect of Moshe Rabbeinu was Chochmah Ila'ah (higher wisdom). Moshe Rabbeinu attained the highest Divine wisdom, which is why Korach came to him with the claim: "You are too high for this nation. The people have already descended to the level of lower wisdom, and you cannot lead them with higher wisdom."
Moshe Rabbeinu deeply desired to merit women's wisdom as well, to attain the secret of "the wisdom of women builds her house." To this end, he prayed five hundred and fifteen prayers, the numerical value of the word "Va'eschanan" (and I pleaded), begging to enter the Land of Israel. The Land of Israel is the secret of women's wisdom, the secret of the Shechinah (Divine Presence) and Chochmah Tata'ah. Moshe, who was entirely higher wisdom, wanted to enter the Land in order to receive this special, profound intellect of guiding the practical world.
Wonders in the Merit of the Woman: The Story of On ben Peles
We see the sheer power of women's wisdom tangibly in the wife of On ben Peles. The Gemara in Tractate Sanhedrin expounds on the verse, "In their assembly, let my honor not be united"—this refers to the congregation of Korach. And why was his name called "Peles"? Because his wife performed wonders (pela'os) for him and saved him.
On ben Peles was one of the foremost leaders, a gifted preacher and orator. When he joined Korach's dispute, his wife asked him: "What do you get out of arguing with Moshe Rabbeinu? Either way, you will only be a student, so what do you care who the Rav is?" Through her ruach hakodesh (divine inspiration), she understood the approaching disaster and told him: "You go to sleep. Do not seek to be a leader, because very soon everyone will be swallowed by the earth."
She gave him wine to drink, put him to sleep, and sat at the entrance of the tent. She knew that the entire congregation of Korach considered themselves holy, and if they saw a woman, they would run away. And so it was. All two hundred and fifty men were swallowed by the earth; each one rolled from his place to the mouth of the earth, and only On ben Peles was saved. In the merit of his wife's practical and profound wisdom, he merited to be saved from destruction. This is the complete fulfillment of the verse, "The wisdom of women builds her house."
Part 1 of 3 — Lesson No. 199