What is the mitzva of learning Torah? Does it apply to women?
In Brief
What is talmud Torah?
Talmud Torah, formal and informal Torah study, includes specific mitzvot such as hakhel, in which the entire community assembles to hear the Torah read, and the general aspiration for Torah to be the central focus of all our lives.
Why is it important?
Talmud Torah deepens faith, lays the groundwork for proper mitzva observance, shapes our consciousness, and brings us close to God.
What is the mitzva of talmud Torah?
The formal mitzva of learning Torah is only one element of the broader concept of talmud Torah. At minimum, the mitzva entails studying a few passages of Written and Oral Torah each day. At maximum, it is all-encompassing.
Where does the mitzva come from?
The Torah: “And you will teach them [words of Torah to] your children [beneichem]” (Devarim 11:19).
Why are women exempt?
The midrash on this verse reads the word “beneichem” as “your sons,” to the exclusion of daughters, meaning that a parent has no Torah-level obligation to teach daughters Torah. The Talmud quotes the midrash and concludes that, since a female need not be taught Torah, she is not obligated in the Torah-level mitzva to teach or learn it.
Does the exemption exclude women from talmud Torah?
No. The broader concept of talmud Torah still applies to women. Women have an exemption specifically from the obligation of formal Torah study.
Exemption is not the same as prohibition. What does it mean in practice? Read on here.
In Depth
Rav Ezra Bick, Ilana Elzufon, Shayna Goldberg, and Rav Da’vid Sperling, eds.
Background: Learning Torah
Should we be doing this?
This being what we do here on this site, learning Torah, directly from sources, including the Talmud and halachic codes.
This question does not speak to some women, for whom Torah study holds little appeal or interest. These women may wonder instead why a woman would want to study Torah at all.
For others, probably most of you here, the question itself is problematic. It can be hard to imagine why anyone would limit a woman’s access to Torah study. After all, men do not have to entertain questions about the propriety or importance of their Torah learning. And nowadays women have access to education in all other fields.
But a closer look at many of our communities reveals ambivalence towards women’s learning.
Deep uncertainty about women’s learning appears in many guises: The father who learns every Shabbat with his sons, but not with his daughters. The school that teaches Mishna to boys and not to girls. The family friends who give the bar mitzva boy religious books and the bat mitzva girl jewelry. The parents who send their sons to learn in Israel, but keep their daughters close to home. The dating prospect who won’t go out with a ‘girl who learns.’ The Rabbi who declares certain seminaries are off limits because of their curricula. Communal initiatives for women to devote time to acts of chessed, loving-kindness, (or to less lofty pursuits,) but not to study. The couples who make great efforts so that the husband can learn daily, while the wife finds no time to learn Torah herself. The local batei midrash (houses of study) that women never enter and often are entirely closed to women.
משלי פרק ג:יח
עֵץ חַיִּים הִיא לַמַּחֲזִיקִים בָּהּ וְתֹמְכֶיהָ מְאֻשָּׁר
Mishlei 3:18
It is a tree of life to those who grasp it and its supporters are happy.
While it’s clear that Torah is “a tree of life,” it is less clear what role learning plays in a woman’s “holding fast to it.”
Can anyone grasp Torah without studying it? Do resistance, ambivalence, or indifference to women’s Torah learning have halachic roots? How is the recent growth of frameworks for women’s study rooted in Halacha?
To begin to address these questions, we need to trace the halachic roots of differing approaches to women’s Torah study from the beginning.
The Talmud teaches that there are many facets to Torah.1 The word “Torah” itself has a wide range of meanings. It can refer to an all-encompassing Divine blueprint for creation, to the word of God, to the entirety of Jewish teachings and knowledge, or to any part of it.
Since the word “Torah” can mean so many different things, it comes as no surprise that talmud Torah, literally “Torah study,” also eludes simple definition.
Structured learning with a teacher or through text study is only one form of talmud Torah. In a broad sense, looking closely at the pious practice of a community or individual can be a form of Torah study as well.2 Just thinking about the nature of God and creation can heighten our awareness of God’s wisdom.3
Engagement with Torah is not limited to formal study.
What are the goals of Torah study?
Once we recognize that Torah study has many different guises, it’s time to explore what it’s for. What is the purpose of Torah study?
The Torah presents Torah study in different contexts, many of which can shed light on its goals. For example, the mitzva of hakhel enjoins the entire nation to assemble once every seven years to listen to the king read select portions of the Torah.
דברים לא:יב
הַקְהֵל אֶת-הָעָם הָאֲנָשִׁים וְהַנָּשִׁים וְהַטַּף וְגֵרְךָ אֲשֶׁר בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ לְמַעַן יִשְׁמְעוּ וּלְמַעַן יִלְמְדוּ וְיָרְאוּ אֶת-ה’ אֱלֹהֵיכֶם וְשָׁמְרוּ לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת-כָּל-דִּבְרֵי הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת
Devarim 31:12
Assemble the people: the men, the women, and the children, and your stranger who is in your gates, that they should hear and that they should learn, and they will fear the Lord your God, and they will be careful to perform all the words of this teaching [Torah].
Men, women, and children need to take part in hakhel. This teaches us that study shapes the community and the individual. In this verse, hearing and learning words of Torah come before having awe of God and keeping the Torah. Talmud Torah lays the foundations of mitzva observance and faith.
Torah study for the sake of performing mitzvot is a recurring theme in the Torah. Why? The following verses give us some additional insight into this idea:
דברים ה:א-ב
וַיִּקְרָא מֹשֶׁה אֶל-כָּל-יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת-הַחֻקִּים וְאֶת-הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי דֹּבֵר בְּאָזְנֵיכֶם הַיּוֹם וּלְמַדְתֶּם אֹתָם וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם לַעֲשֹׂתָם: ה’ אֱלֹקֵינוּ כָּרַת עִמָּנוּ בְּרִית בְּחֹרֵב:
Devarim 5:1-2
And Moshe called to all of Israel and said to them, ‘Hear Israel the ordinances and the laws that I speak in your ears today, and learn them and be careful to perform them.’ The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Chorev.
We need to hear and learn both chukim and mishpatim. “Chukim” often refers to laws we might never really understand. “Mishpatim” often refers to laws that seem to make more rational sense. Study is the foundation for keeping laws whether we will make rational sense of them or not. Study is not just about understanding the reasons behind laws. It also helps us understand how to keep them.
Moshe Rabbeinu adds that we are a covenantal people, the people of the berit from Chorev. What does the berit have to do with study? Everything. Our end of the covenant depends on our collective commitment to Torah. That commitment depends on Torah study.
Is Torah study merely instrumental, a tool for keeping mitzvot and committing to our berit with God? Verses from the Shema teach us otherwise:
דברים ו:ז
וְשִׁנַּנְתָּם לְבָנֶיךָ וְדִבַּרְתָּ בָּם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ בְּבֵיתֶךָ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ בַדֶּרֶךְ וּבְשָׁכְבְּךָ וּבְקוּמֶךָ
Devarim 6:7
And you shall repeat them [veshinantam] to your children and you shall speak of them [vedibarta bam], when you sit in your your home and when you walk on the way and when you lie down and when you arise.
Note here the verb veshinantam, “and you shall repeat them.” That is an unusual word choice. It suggests a sharpening of knowledge that goes beyond standard learning. According to Sifrei, the midrash halacha on Devarim, veshinantam means we have an imperative to know Torah with fluency.4 What does that mean? We should hone our Torah knowledge in an ongoing, open-ended process, from lying down to waking up.
We shouldn’t settle for the minimum knowledge needed to know how to perform a given mitzva. Torah study is more than practical know-how.5 Talmud Torah has intrinsic value. We should live and breathe Torah.
A Life of Torah
We aspire for Torah to become the central focus of our lives. How? Through teaching it, having constant awareness of it, and pursuing Torah as a path to knowing and serving God.
Talmud Torah includes teaching Torah in addition to learning it. The verse says “veshinantam levanecha,” “and you shall repeat them to your children.” Our sages say that also applies to students.6 Although priority in teaching goes to one’s own children,7 students are spiritual children. We should teach students and children to prepare them for a life of Torah and to usher them into the berit. When we teach Torah, we extend the transmission of Torah that God began at Sinai.8
What’s next in the verse? Vedibarta bam “and you shall speak of them.” This teaches us that talmud Torah is the ultimate topic of conversation. We should talk Torah and we should think Torah. Torah should pervade our speech and our consciousness.9
Along these lines, God tells Yehoshua to keep Torah in mind day and night:
יהושע א:ח
לא-ימוש ספר התורה הזה מפיך והגית בו יומם ולילה…
Yehoshua 1:8
This book of the Torah should not depart your lips, and you shall ponder it day and night.
Torah should be our constant companion. The Talmud learns from this verse that Torah study should frame each day, beginning and end, morning and night. Our learning can shape our days.10
A life of Torah is also a life of knowing and serving God.11 Ba’al Ha-Tanya eloquently describes the experience of knowing and serving God through study:
תניא ליקוטי אמרים פרק ה
כשאדם מבין ומשיג את ההלכה במשנה ובגמרא לאשורה, על בוריה, הרי שכלו תופש ומקיף אותה וגם שכלו מלובש באותה שעה….הרי זה משיג ותופס ומקיף בשכלו ותופש רצונו וחכמתו של הקב”ה…ובידיעת התורה מלבד שהשכל מלובש בחכמת ה’ הנה גם חכמת ה’ בקרבו…
Tanya Likutei Amarim, Ch. 5
When a person understands and comprehends, correctly and fully, a halacha in the Mishna or in the Talmud, his intellect grasps and encompasses it and his intellect, too, becomes dressed by it at the same time. …Behold he comprehends and grasps and encompasses with his intellect the will and wisdom of the Holy One, Blessed Be He….And in knowledge of the Torah, aside from the fact that the intellect is dressed in God’s wisdom, God’s wisdom is also within it…
When we study Torah, we become close to God. It’s as though we immerse ourselves in what God has to say and in what God wants. When we learn well, we internalize God’s message. That’s a form of avodat Ha-shem, serving God.
Ideally, our lives become an expression of Torah. One of the practices of mourning for a Torah scholar demonstrates what it means to reach this ideal. If a Torah scroll burns, we rend a garment in mourning. When a Torah scholar dies, we do the same. A Torah scholar, male or female, is a human Torah scroll.12
The formal mitzva to teach and learn Torah is only one element of the broader concept of talmud Torah.
The Mitzva of Talmud Torah
What are the parameters of the mitzva of Talmud Torah?
From childhood, one must be taught the skills to read and understand the simple meaning of Torah shebichtav (Scripture).13 From there, Rambam describes a progression in keeping the mitzva, moving from mastery of Torah shebichtav to mastery of Torah shebe’al peh (Oral Torah, i.e. rabbinic literature), and then to more developed and metaphysical Torah thinking.14 Since the Babylonian Talmud incorporates both scriptural passages and Oral Torah, Talmud study plays a central role in fulfilling the mitzva of talmud Torah.15 However, an exclusive focus on study of the Talmud, to the neglect of basic halachic knowledge, does not fulfill the obligation of talmud Torah.16
At absolute minimum, the mitzva can take just a few moments a day.17 More optimal fulfillment entails learning some Scripture, Mishna, and Talmud each morning (and night), as is customary following the daily morning blessings on the Torah.
Maximal fulfillment of the mitzva is hard to define. Some authorities rule that failure to keep Torah in mind violates a Biblical command to remember the revelation at Sinai.18 In other words, talmud Torah optimally takes up as much time and energy as a person can give it.
Women’s Exemption
Women are exempt from the formal mitzva of talmud Torah. But nothing we have learned about it so far indicates that this should be the case.
Where does the exemption come from?
The midrash Sifrei derives the exemption from a verse in the Torah. The second paragraph of Shema, vehaya im shamo’a, includes one of the many verses that assert an obligation to learn and teach Torah:
דברים יא:יט
וְלִמַּדְתֶּם אֹתָם אֶת-בְּנֵיכֶם, לְדַבֵּר בָּם, בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ בְּבֵיתֶךָ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ בַדֶּרֶךְ, וּבְשָׁכְבְּךָ וּבְקוּמֶךָ
Devarim 11:19
And you will teach them [to] your children [beneichem] to speak of them, when you sit in your home and when you walk on the way and when you lie down and when you arise:
We have translated the word “beneichem” here as “your children.” Another legitimate translation of “beneichem” is “your sons.” Sifrei interprets the verse with the second translation:
ספרי מו
: ולמדתם אתם את בניכם ולא בנותיכם
Sifrei Parashat Eikev 46
“And you will teach them [to] your sons [beneichem]”– and not to your daughters.
Since Sifrei reads “beneichem” as “your sons,” it concludes that the obligation to teach Torah applies to teaching boys, not girls. No further explanation is given.
The Talmud doesn’t provide further explanation either. It quotes this midrash and uses it to establish that a parent is not obligated to teach a daughter Torah. Then it asks about a woman learning for herself, and reaches the conclusion that here, too, she is exempt:
מס’ קידושין כט:
ואיהי, מנלן דלא מיחייבה למילף נפשה? דכתיב ולימדתם, “ולמדתם”. כל שאחרים מצווין ללמדו, מצווה ללמד את עצמו. וכל שאין אחרים מצווין ללמדו אין מצווה ללמד את עצמו
Kiddushin 29b
And she, whence [do we know] that she is not obligated to learn herself? As it is written “and you will teach” [in this spelling, looking like] and you will learn. Anyone whom others are commanded to teach, is commanded to teach himself. And anyone whom others are not commanded to teach, is not commanded to teach himself.
In the verse, the word is “velimadtem,” and you will teach. However, if we look at how it’s spelled, the spelling is deficient (chaser). That allows for an alternative vocalization: ‘ulmadtem,’ and you will learn. The Torah’s choice of deficient spelling teaches that learning and teaching go hand in hand. Since the mitzva of talmud Torah does not obligate a daughter to be taught, the mitzva does not obligate a woman to teach herself or her children.
The Talmud ends the discussion here.
Is this a compelling reason to exempt women from the mitzva?
It can be hard to understand how such a far-reaching conclusion can be based on such a short midrash, especially since the word “beneichem” can mean either ‘your sons’ or ‘your children.’
How can we makes sense of this?
Sometimes the Torah refers to all Jews as a group and sometimes it explicitly distinguishes women from men. In ambiguous cases, like “beneichem” in this verse, our sages often stipulate that one meaning is correct.
Whether or not females are included in a plural word like this varies from verse to verse. It depends on context and tradition.
Some background on midrash can be helpful here. Midrashic readings often provide textual derivations for a halacha. Those derivations, following carefully formulated traditional exegetical rules, can be the actual source of the halacha. Sometimes, though, a midrash expounds texts in order to support a previously known halachic tradition by connecting it to the text.
This particular midrash halacha may well be a midrash of the second type, upholding a previously known tradition from Moshe Rabbeinu.
In other words, the interpretation of “beneichem” as “your sons” likely supports a preexisting tradition that women are exempt from the obligation of talmud Torah.
This possibility still doesn’t explain why Halacha would distinguish between men and women here.
One answer is that Halacha assigns roles in public society to men. The gender distinction in the case of talmud Torah might derive from the centrality of Torah study to Jewish society.19 Of course, this type of speculation raises other questions about gender roles in Halacha.
We don’t have a conclusive answer to this question.
Exemption is not the same as prohibition. What does it mean in practice?
Continue to Learning Torah II: Obligation
Further Reading
- גוטל, הרב נריה. “תלמוד תורה לנשים”, מתוך טל לישראל, ערך: מיכאל שטיגליץ, עמ’ 41‑64. מרכז שפירא: המכון התורני אור עציון, תשס”ה.
- הנקין, הרב יהודה. שו”ת בני בנים, חלק ג, סימן י”ב. צור אות: ירושלים, 1998
- רוזנפלד, ב., עורך. האשה וחינוכה. כפר סבא: אמנה, 1980
- Zolty, Shoshana. And All Your Children Shall Be Learned: Women and the Study of Torah in Jewish Law. Jason Aronson, 1997.
Notes
סנהדרין לד.
ו[דברי] “כפטיש יפוצץ סלע” (ירמיהו כט:כג) מה פטיש זה מתחלק לכמה ניצוצות אף מקרא אחד יוצא לכמה טעמים
Sanhedrin 34a
“And [my word] is like a hammer shattering rock,” (Yirmiyahu 23:29): Just as this hammer is split to a number of sparks, so too one verse gives rise to a number of meanings.
ספרי פרשת ואתחנן פיסקא לד
‘ושיננתם’ – שיהיו מחדדים בתוך פיך: כשאדם שואלך דבר, לא תהא מגמגם לו, אלא תהא אומר לו מיד
Sifrei Parashat Va'etchanan 34
‘And you shall repeat them’- that they will be sharp in your mouth. When a person asks you something, don’t stammer to him, but rather say it to him immediately.
ספרי פרשת עקב פיסקא ה
…’ולמדתם אותם ושמרתם לעשותם’ (דברים ה:א) מגיד הכתוב שהמעשה תלוי בתלמוד ואין תלמוד תלוי במעשה
Sifrei Parashat Ekev, 5
…’And learn them and be careful to perform them’ (Devarim 5:1) [The verse] tells us that the action is dependent on learning, and learning is not dependent on the action.
ספרי פרשת ואתחנן פיסקא ט
‘לבניך’. אלו תלמידיך
Sifrei Parshat Va'etchanan 9
‘To your sons’- These are your students.
משנה תורה הל’ ת”ת א:ב
אם כן למה נצטוה על בנו ועל בן בנו. להקדים בנו לבן בנו ובן בנו לבן חבירו
Mishneh Torah Laws of Torah Study 1:2
If so, why was he commanded concerning his son and concerning the son of his son? To give his son precedence over his son’s son, and his son’s son [precedence] over his fellow’s son.
ברכות כא:
דאמר ריב”ל כל המלמד לבנו תורה מעלה עליו הכתוב כאלו קבלה מהר חורב
Berachot 21b
For Rav Yehoshua ben Levi said: Whoever teaches his son Torah, Scripture credits him as though he received it from Mt. Chorev.
יומא יט:
השח שיחת חולין עובר בעשה, שנאמר: ׳ודברת בם׳, בם ולא בדברים אחרים
Yoma 19b
One who speaks ordinary speech transgresses a positive commandment, as it says: ‘and speak of them’- of them, and not of other things.
11.See also Sefer Ha-mitzvot, Mitzvot Aseh 5.
ספרי דברים פיסקא מא
‘ולעבדו’, זה תלמוד … דבר אחר ‘ולעבדו’ זו תפלה. .
Sifrei Devarim 41
‘And to serve him” that is study…Another interpretation: ‘and to serve him’– that is prayer.
12. The halacha is found in Mo’ed Katan 25a, its application to a woman here:
שו”ת רדב”ז חלק ג סימן תקנח (תתקפח)
…אשה נמי יכולה היא ללמוד ולהיות דומה לס”ת הילכך קורע בין לאשה בין לאיש…
Responsa Radbaz 3:558
A woman also can learn and become similar to a Torah scroll. Therefore one rends [garments for a scholar] whether woman or man.
קידושין ל.
למדו מקרא – אין מלמדו משנה;
Kiddushin 30a
If he has taught him Scripture, he need not teach him Mishna.
תוספות מסכת קידושין ד”ה לא צריכא דף ל.
…ור”ת פי’ שאנו סומכין אהא דאמרינן בסנהדרין (דף כד.) בבל בלולה במקרא במשנה ובגמרא דגמרת בבל בלול מכולם.
And Rabbeinu Tam explained that we rely [in allocating time for talmud Torah] on that which we say in Sanhedrin (24a): Babylonia[n learning] is blended (בלולה) Scripture, Mishnah, and gemara, for the Babylonian Talmud is a blend of all of them.
רמ”א, שולחן ערוך י”ד הלכות תלמוד תורה סימן רמו ד
..ואין לאדם לטייל בפרדס רק לאחר שמלא כריסו בשר ויין, והוא לידע איסור והיתר ודיני המצות (רמב”ם סוף מדע ס”פ ד’ מהל’ יסודי התורה)
Rema, Shulhan Aruch Yoreh Deah 246:4
…And a person should only tour “Pardes” (other study) after he has filled his stomach with meat and wine, that is to know prohibition and permission and the laws of the mitzvot.
השגות הרמב”ן לספר המצוות לרמב”ם שכחת הלאוין
והזהיר פן יסורו מן הלב מהודיעם לבנים ולבני בנים לדורות עולם
Critiques of the Ramban to Rambam's Sefer Ha-mitzvot, Omitted Prohibitions
And [the Torah] warned lest they depart from the heart, [lest we would not] make them known to children and children’s children for generations of eternity
Behag, Introduction, Prohibitions Punishable by Lashes, #170 (p. 12 in the Machon Yerushalayim edition).
19. Rav Shimon Gershon Rosenberg (Shagar), “Ro’im et Ha-kolot: Lamdanut Yeshivatit ve-Kol Nashi,” in Shenei Ha-me’orot, ed. Zohar Maor (Efrat: Machon Bina Le-itim, 2007), pp. 45-68.
Sources
To view these sources in context on Sefaria, click here!
Background: Learning Torah
משלי פרק ג:יח
עֵץ חַיִּים הִיא לַמַּחֲזִיקִים בָּהּ וְתֹמְכֶיהָ מְאֻשָּׁר
Mishlei 3:18
It is a tree of life to those who grasp it and its supporters are happy.
דברים לא:יב
הַקְהֵל אֶת-הָעָם הָאֲנָשִׁים וְהַנָּשִׁים וְהַטַּף וְגֵרְךָ אֲשֶׁר בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ לְמַעַן יִשְׁמְעוּ וּלְמַעַן יִלְמְדוּ וְיָרְאוּ אֶת-ה’ אֱלֹהֵיכֶם וְשָׁמְרוּ לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת-כָּל-דִּבְרֵי הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת
Devarim 31:12
Assemble the people: the men, the women, and the children, and your stranger who is in your gates, that they should hear and that they should learn, and they will fear the Lord your God, and they will observe [them] to perform all the words of this teaching [Torah].
דברים ה:א-ב
וַיִּקְרָא מֹשֶׁה אֶל-כָּל-יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת-הַחֻקִּים וְאֶת-הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי דֹּבֵר בְּאָזְנֵיכֶם הַיּוֹם וּלְמַדְתֶּם אֹתָם וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם לַעֲשֹׂתָם: ה’ אֱלֹקֵינוּ כָּרַת עִמָּנוּ בְּרִית בְּחֹרֵב:
Devarim 5:1-2
And Moshe called to all of Israel and said to them, ‘Hear Israel the ordinances and the laws that I speak in your ears today, and learn them and keep [them] to perform them’:
דברים ו:ז
וְשִׁנַּנְתָּם לְבָנֶיךָ וְדִבַּרְתָּ בָּם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ בְּבֵיתֶךָ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ בַדֶּרֶךְ וּבְשָׁכְבְּךָ וּבְקוּמֶךָ
Devarim 6:7
And you shall repeat them [veshinantam] to your children and you shall speak of them [vedibarta bam], when you sit in your your home and when you walk on the way and when you lie down and when you arise:
יהושע א:ח
לא-ימוש ספר התורה הזה מפיךוהגית בו יומם ולילה…
Yehoshua 1:8
This book of the Torah should not depart your lips, and you shall ponder it day and night.
תניא ליקוטי אמרים פרק ה
כשאדם מבין ומשיג את ההלכה במשנה ובגמרא לאשורה, על בוריה, הרי שכלו תופש ומקיף אותה וגם שכלו מלובש באותה שעה….הרי זה משיג ותופס ומקיף בשכלו ותופש רצונו וחכמתו של הקב”ה…ובידיעת התורה מלבד שהשכל מלובש בחכמת ה’ הנה גם חכמת ה’ בקרבו…
Tanya Likutei Amarim, Ch. 5
When a person understands and comprehends, correctly and fully, a halacha in the Mishna or in the Talmud, his intellect grasps and encompasses it and his intellect, too, becomes dressed by it at the same time. …Behold he comprehends and grasps and encompasses with his intellect the will and wisdom of the Holy One, Blessed Be He….And in knowledge of the Torah, aside from the fact that the intellect is dressed in God’s wisdom, God’s wisdom is also within it…
Women’s Exemption
דברים יא:יט
וְלִמַּדְתֶּם אֹתָם אֶת-בְּנֵיכֶם, לְדַבֵּר בָּם, בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ בְּבֵיתֶךָ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ בַדֶּרֶךְ, וּבְשָׁכְבְּךָ וּבְקוּמֶךָ
Devarim 11:19
And you will teach them [to] your children [beneichem] to speak of them, when you sit in your home and when you walk on the way and when you lie down and when you arise:
ספרי מו
: ולמדתם אתם את בניכם ולא בנותיכם
Sifrei Parashat Eikev 46
“And you will teach them [to] your sons [beneichem]”– and not to your daughters.
מס’ קידושין כט:
ואיהי, מנלן דלא מיחייבה למילף נפשה? דכתיב ולימדתם, “ולמדתם”. כל שאחרים מצווין ללמדו, מצווה ללמד את עצמו. וכל שאין אחרים מצווין ללמדו אין מצווה ללמד את עצמו
Kiddushin 29b
And she, whence [do we know] that she is not obligated to learn herself? As it is written “and you will teach” [in this spelling, looking like] and you will learn. Anyone whom others are commanded to teach him, is commanded to teach himself. And anyone whom others are not commanded to teach him, is not commanded to teach himself.
Q&A
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Hashkafic Q&A
Should we be doing this?
This being what we do here on this site, learning Torah, directly from sources, including the Talmud and halachic codes.
This question does not speak to some women, for whom Torah study holds little appeal or interest. These women may wonder instead why a woman would want to study Torah at all.
For others, probably most of you here, the question itself is problematic. It can be hard to imagine why anyone would limit a woman’s access to Torah study. After all, men do not have to entertain questions about the propriety or importance of their Torah learning. And nowadays women have access to education in all other fields.
But a closer look at many of our communities reveals ambivalence towards women’s learning.
Deep uncertainty about women’s learning appears in many guises: The father who learns every Shabbat with his sons, but not with his daughters. The school that teaches Mishna to boys and not to girls. The family friends who give the bar mitzva boy religious books and the bat mitzva girl jewelry. The parents who send their sons to learn in Israel, but keep their daughters close to home. The dating prospect who won’t go out with a ‘girl who learns.’ The Rabbi who declares certain seminaries are off limits because of their curricula. Communal initiatives for women to devote time to acts of chessed, loving-kindness, (or to less lofty pursuits,) but not to study. The couples who make great efforts so that the husband can learn daily, while the wife finds no time to learn Torah herself. The local batei midrash (houses of study) that women never enter and often are entirely closed to women.
משלי פרק ג:יח
עֵץ חַיִּים הִיא לַמַּחֲזִיקִים בָּהּ וְתֹמְכֶיהָ מְאֻשָּׁר
Mishlei 3:18
It is a tree of life to those who grasp it and its supporters are happy.
While it’s clear that Torah is “a tree of life,” it is less clear what role learning plays in a woman’s “holding fast to it.”
Can anyone grasp Torah without studying it? Do resistance, ambivalence, or indifference to women’s Torah learning have halachic roots? How is the recent growth of frameworks for women’s study rooted in Halacha?
To begin to address these questions, we need to trace the halachic roots of differing approaches to women’s Torah study from the beginning.
Is this a compelling reason to exempt women from the mitzva?
It can be hard to understand how such a far-reaching conclusion can be based on such a short midrash, especially since the word “beneichem” can mean either ‘your sons’ or ‘your children.’
How can we makes sense of this?
Sometimes the Torah refers to all Jews as a group and sometimes it explicitly distinguishes women from men. In ambiguous cases, like “beneichem” in this verse, our sages often stipulate that one meaning is correct.
Whether or not females are included in a plural word like this varies from verse to verse. It depends on context and tradition.
Some background on midrash can be helpful here. Midrashic readings often provide textual derivations for a halacha. Those derivations, following carefully formulated traditional exegetical rules, can be the actual source of the halacha. Sometimes, though, a midrash expounds texts in order to support a previously known halachic tradition by connecting it to the text.
This particular midrash halacha may well be a midrash of the second type, upholding a previously known tradition from Moshe Rabbeinu.
In other words, the interpretation of “beneichem” as “your sons” likely supports a preexisting tradition that women are exempt from the obligation of talmud Torah.
This possibility still doesn’t explain why Halacha would distinguish between men and women here.
One answer is that Halacha assigns roles in public society to men. The gender distinction in the case of talmud Torah might derive from the centrality of Torah study to Jewish society. Of course, this type of speculation raises other questions about gender roles in Halacha.
We don’t have a conclusive answer to this question.
Reader Q&A