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× Rabbi’s wife. × lit., `chapters of the fathers’. Tractate in the Mishnah commonly known as `Ethics of the Fathers’. × When a young woman reaches the age of twelve she accepts the responsibility of fulfilling the Torah. This is a much-celebrated event by family and friends, as it is her inauguration into Jewish adulthood. × Collections of the classical Sages’ homiletical teachings, commentary on the Torah. × The Jewish Sabbath, celebrated weekly from Friday at sundown till Saturday at nightfall. Support Torah.org * Torah Portion * Observance * Study * Services * Torah Portion * Observance * Study * Services Subscribe Support Us Subscribe to a Torah.org Weekly Series Cholim Prayers for the Sick Subscribe Unsubscribe Submit an Article Glossary ETHICAL CLASSICS Maimonides Midrash Ramchal Spiritual Excellence – Eight Chapters – Gates of Repentance – Ohr Yisrael – The Duties of the Heart – The Path of the Just Pirkei Avos – Ethics of the Fathers – In Depth – Maharal CONTEMPORARY Mussar-Psych Women in Judaism Successful Chinuch Reflections Torah Therapy Stop Surviving, Start Living Wonders of the World TANACH Yehoshua Yonah – Jonah Introduction to Tehillim – Psalms Tehillim – Psalms Iyov – Job Rus – Ruth HISTORY Crash Course in Jewish History – Rabbi Wein OTHER TEXTS Basics of Judaism The Judaism Primer God in a Nutshell Israel in a Nutshell Exploring the Siddur Tour of the Temple Meseches Kinim HOLIDAYS Passover Shavuot Rosh Hashanah Yom Kippur Sukkot Chanukah / Hanukkah Tu Bi’Shvat Purim The Three Weeks Asara BeTeves The Omer Tu BeAv Yom HaAtzma’ut Yom Yerushalayim Yom HaShoah – Holocaust Memorial Day SHABBAT Shabbos: Tasting Eternity Shabbos: Taam Chaim Olas Shabbos PRAYER Tefilah: Praying With Joy Exploring the Siddur Tehillim: Rhythm of the Heart Tehillim: Fortress of Faith PRACTICES Halacha Overview Shulchan Aruch – Code of Jewish Law Weekly Halacha Mishna Berura Business Halacha Priceless Integrity Chofetz Chaim: Ethics of Speech Honesty Jewish Values LIFECYCLES BIRTH Shalom Zachor Bris Milah BAR / BAS MITZVAH Bar Mitzvah – Keeping the Right Perspective Bar and Bas Mitzvah – A Special Celebration Bar/Bat Mitzvah: A Re-enactment of “Kabolas Hatorah” Shavu’os and Bar Mitzvah: Causes For Celebration MARRIAGE Holy Matrimony Marriage – 1 Marriage – 2 The Tenaim – Translated The Kesubah – Translated Marriage and the Royal Family Marital Partners – Compatibility of Missions Everlasting Happiness 10 Mistakes Couples Make DEATH AND BEREAVEMENT How to Remember on a Yahrtzeit This Week's Torah Portion Choose a Torah Portion Submit an Article BEGINNER Parsha Summary Haftorah Summary Haftorah Commentary Legacy Drasha – R. Mordechai Kamenetzky Parsha Insights – R. Yisroel Ciner Kol HaKollel Dvar Torah Lifeline Edutainment Weekly The Living Law Rabbi Wein Table Talk Thinking Outside the Box Parsha Insights INTERMEDIATE Rabbi Yissocher Frand Parsha Halacha for the Shabbos Table Hamaayan Rabbi Yochanan Zweig on the Parsha The Shmuz on the Parsha Beyond Pshat Olas Shabbos Short Vorts Rabbi’s Notebook Perceptions – R. Pinchos Winston ADVANCED Abarbanel Shem MeShmuel Shabbos: Taam Chaim Mikra Haaros Growing with the Parsha Gal Einai Jerusalem Views Sfas Emes Weekly Halacha Osher HaChaim RABBI YITZCHOK ADLERSTEIN See all the Series → – Meor Einayim – Reb Yeruchem – Mei Marom – Machshava – Rav Hirsch – Nesivos Shalom – Netziv – Meshech Chochmah – Gur Aryeh – Be’eros – HaMedrash V’HaMaaseh WOMEN IN JUDAISM YAEL: A RIGHTEOUS – MODEST – RADICAL PART II Posted on January 14, 2020 By Rebbetzin Leah Kohn | Series: Women in Judaism | Level: Beginner FacebookTwitterWhatsAppEmailPrintFriendly “Blessed by women is Yael…by women in the tent will she be blessed.” (The Song of Deborah from the Book of Judges) We concluded our last Women in Judaism class with a question: Why might Yael be blessed “more” than the righteous “women in the tent,” who were said to bless her in the Song of Deborah? This question is based on a midrashic interpretation of the above verse (see previous class for details). The women in the tent – Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah – are renowned for modesty, symbolized by their close association in the Torah with the image of a tent – particularly its interior. Yael is known to have strayed from her tent in order to attract general Sisera. She then lures him back into her tent and kills him in a scenario that one would be hard pressed to call “modest.” Yael’s connection to her tent seems undignified compared to that of the Matriarchs, who praise her for the very modesty they exemplify and which she seems to lack. The following essay attempts to resolve this apparent contradiction, by exploring two questions: 1) Why does Yael deserve to be praised by the Matriarchs as quintessentially modest, even though her actions appear to be the opposite? 2) Why might she be blessed even more than these exemplary “women in the tent?” These questions and their answers are especially relevant for today’s Jewish woman, given that her lifestyle can be considered – like Yael’s – to be “outside of the tent.” Today’s Jewish woman is often away from home and involved in the public realm. Accordingly, like Yael, we must find a way to function effectively in the outside world, while preserving the modesty that has always been one of the Jewish woman’s most prized possessions. To begin, the midrash tells us that “women in the tent” – the Matriarchs – gave the world a reason to exist in God’s eyes, by virtue of their giving birth to the Jewish nation. In Yael’s time, Sisera and his army threatened Jewish survival. Yael murders Sisera, redeems the Jews and thus takes up the torch of her foremothers by securing the world’s continued existence. Our sages tell us she was instrumental to the continuity of the Jewish people and the world, which itself depends on the persistence of the Jews. This is one reason why Yael might aptly be blessed “more” than “women in the tent.” To continue this line of thought, without question, the Matriarchs made great sacrifices for the sake of the Jews. At the same time, their struggles were not without pleasure. Marriage to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, with offspring at the helm of the fledgling Nation, must have provided an ongoing source of positive reinforcement in dark times. Yael did not have this type of support. In order to murder Sisera she had to put her very essence on the line, assuming an immodest role, while preserving the internal apparatus of her Jewish femininity. The Matriarchs never faced this challenge to their being. Yael, on the other hand, jeopardized her deepest self and emerged from her ordeal intact. The Book of Judges (4:21) details how Yael murders Sisera: “Yael…took a tent peg, placed a hammer in her hand, came to him stealthily, and drove the peg into his temple…” Given the inherent difficulty of her task, why does Yael choose such seemingly roundabout means, rather than using a sword or some other conventional weapon? While her method may seem convoluted, Yael’s approach is key to her greatness. The Torah (Ki Seitze 22:5) sets forth a prohibition against a woman assuming a man’s guise. This tenet is said to include weapons. Simply stated, our sages explain that the prohibition ensures a clear separation between the roles of men and women. These roles – far from “job descriptions” – are external expressions of the God-given differences between the male and female soul. Rather than taking up arms, Yael construes an unconventional murder, in an effort to preserve her connection to the Divine source of her femininity, at the heart of this Torah commandment. In a moment of crisis, with the Jewish future at stake, Yael could easily and justifiably have resorted to the most expeditious, masculine means of achieving her goal. Instead, understanding the profound spiritual repercussions of this route, Yael takes a more difficult tack. She risks her personal safety, preserves her spiritual integrity and redefines what it means to be a “woman of the tent,” using the tent stake and even the tent itself to carry out her startlingly “modest” murder Sisera. Yael maintains her own internal integrity, while the situation mandates she act ruthlessly. In this way, she accomplishes both her immediate mission – to kill Sisera and to redeem the Jewish people – and her eternal mission, which is to serve God with modesty and compassion. Yael’s ability to uphold her essential self at all costs earns her the praise of “women in the tent.” These circumstances can be said to make her “more” blessed than this distinguished group – at least in this regard. Given Yael’s place in ancient history, and her even more ancient tent-based colleagues, what makes Yael a Jewish woman for today? In much the same (but certainly deeper) way that post-impressionists and post-modernists updated and breathed new life into the movements they reinterpreted, Yael can be considered a “post – woman in the tent.” She used her God-given, internal gifts under circumstances that seemed to make them impossible to apply. While involved in a male pursuit – a war – she remains distinctly female, never compromising her essence. While Yael’s situation is extreme, today’s woman also finds herself in traditionally public, male-oriented domains. Contemporary history indicates that, in spite of their professional success, women have suffered internally from adopting male modes of behavior in order to achieve their goals. Yael teaches us that we need not compromise our deepest feminine gifts. Modesty distinguishes Yael’s heroism and it can be the hallmark of the successful Jewish woman, at home, in the community and at work. Women in Judaism, Copyright (c) 2001 by Mrs. Leah Kohn and Project Genesis, Inc. « Judith & Yael – Righteous Radicals Part I Rachel and Leah: The Appearance vs. Reality of Hatred, Jealousy and Deceit Part I » × search ARTICLES ON DEVARIM & THE THREE WEEKS * How the Avos Were Given the Land Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein (5783) Level: Advanced * Now I Know My Aleph-Bais Rabbi Pinchas Winston (5764) Level: Beginner * Moshe's Personal Assessment Rabbi Berel Wein (5771) Level: Beginner * Falsehood's Foothold Rabbi Eliyahu Hoffmann (5763) Level: Beginner * In Our Best Interest Rabbi Elly Broch (5783) Level: Beginner * Seeing HASHEM with Our Hearts Rabbi Label Lam (5772) Level: Beginner * Everything Humanly Possible Rabbi Label Lam (5779) Level: Beginner * That is the Question Rabbi Label Lam (5776) Level: Beginner * Choosing a Vision Rabbi Berel Wein (5768) Level: Beginner * The Way to a Person's Soul is Through His Dignity Rabbi Yisroel Ciner (5782) Level: Intermediate * The Three Weeks: Introduction to Megillat Eikhah (II Rabbi Yitzchak Etshalom Level: Advanced * Ultimate Consolation Rabbi Pinchas Winston (5780) Level: Intermediate * Haftorah Commentary - Parshas Devarim - Shabbos Chazon Rabbi Dovid Siegel (5783) Level: Beginner * If only . . . Shlomo Katz (5771) Level: Beginner * Sense and Sensitivity Rabbi Yisroel Ciner (5759) Level: Beginner * When Moshiach Comes Rabbi Label Lam (5768) Level: Beginner * Honesty Rabbi Berel Wein (5761) Level: Beginner * Birkas Ha-Mazon Over Baked Goods Rabbi Doniel Neustadt (5767) Level: Advanced * Getting Our Manners In Order Rabbi Eliyahu Hoffmann (5764) Level: Beginner * The Three Weeks and Parshas Balak Rabbi Yaakov Bernstein (5779) Level: Advanced SUBSCRIBE OR SUPPORT OUR WORK Subscribe Support US TORAH FROM YOU Submit your piece for review, and if approved we will publish it on our site as “Community Contributions.” Submit an Article FOLLOW US * Follow * Follow * Follow GET IN TOUCH About Us Contact Us SERVICES Change Your Subscription Cholim – Prayers for Those in Need SUPPORT TORAH.ORG Make a Donation Dedicate an Article Create a Memorial Major Gift Copyright © Torah.org – Project Genesis. All rights reserved. FacebookTwitterWhatsAppEmailPrintFriendly ✓ Danke für das Teilen! 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