Men and Women - Mutually Complementary
Essentially, men and women are created equal and both are graced by the Divine image through which every human being is created. Likewise, the unalterable chosenness of the Jewish people and their innate holiness embraces men and women alike. The Torah was given to the entire nation of Israel regardless of sex. The sages learn from the verse, "These are the laws which you must place before them" (Exodus 21:1) that "scripture made man and woman equal with regard to all of the laws in the Torah" (Kiddushin 35a).

However, one cannot disregard the specific differences between men and women. Physically and mentally, God
One cannot disregard the specific differences between men and women.
made each unique, and their obligations as far as religious observance is concerned are also disparate (women, for example, are exempt from positive time-bound commandments). These differences allow men and women to compliment one another.

In order to allow divinity to become manifest in the world, it is necessary that there be two complementary channels at work. Each individual creature is limited and therefore lacks the capacity to act as a vessel for Divine perfection. But through the body of the congregation of Israel, Divine perfection becomes disclosed in the world. This is what makes the unity of Israel so important. Only the nation of Israel with all of its component parts is capable of receiving the Torah and using it to rectify the world.

Because of the difference between the souls of individuals, different meanings may be derived from the words of the Torah; as it is written, "God spoke one, I heard it as two." (Psalms 62:12) It is also written, "Like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces" (Jeremiah 23:29); and on this verse the sages explain that "just as [the rock] is split into many splinters, so also may one Biblical verse convey many teachings" (Sanhedrin 34a). They also explain that "just as a hammer is divided into many sparks, so every single word that went forth from the Holy One, blessed be He, split up into seventy languages" (Shabbat 88b). And as they said with regard to the disputes between the schools of Hillel and Shammai, and all other disputes between the sages, "Both [opinions] are the words of the living God." (Eruvin 13b)

Existence's most significant expression of reciprocation is that which exists between male and female, by which Man is able to reveal the inner Divine image and to achieve consummation. This is true not only of humanity, but of all realms of creation; from the most sublime and lofty spheres down to our own worldly existence there is a division of male and female, and each sex is unable to exist independently without being complemented by the other.

This fundamental principle is dealt with extensively in Kabbalistic literature. This is what Rabbi Elazar meant when he said that "any man who is without a wife is not a man, as it is written, 'Male and female created he them. He blessed them and named them Man.' (Genesis 5:2)" (Yevamot 63a). The Sages similarly teach us that "any man who is without a wife lives without joy, without blessing, without goodness... without Torah... without a [protective] wall." (Yevamot 63a)

Just as the differences between male and female are what allow them to marry and reproduce, so do their spiritual and mental differences allow them to unite, complement and stimulate each other spiritually. In light of all this, it is possible to understand somewhat the fundamental reason for the differences between men and women with regard to religious observance.

Exempt From Time-Bound Positive Commandments
The plain and accepted explanation for the fact that women are exempt from time-bound positive commandments is that this dispensation allows them to fulfill their role - to build the family household. The woman bears the great responsibility of building up and sustaining the family, and it is the family upon which our individual and national future rests.

This responsibility stems from her inborn nature; the woman's capacity to give birth and breast-feed. Their feminine and motherly nature also contains the special traits which make them suited for building and nurturing the family.

Often, the responsibility of running the house and raising and educating the children demands a devotion which continues all hours of the day and the night. Were women given the responsibility of fulfilling time-bound commandments, the fulfillment of which calls for stopping one's ordinary flow of activities, they would not be capable of duly caring for their families (Abudraham and Sefer Hasidim).

It is possible in this manner to explain also the reason that women are exempt from the commandment to study Torah. Torah study demands extreme self-sacrifice, both in the early years of life when one is busy acquiring the fundamentals of study, and also later throughout one's entire lifetime when one must set aside ample time each day for studying Torah. Were women obligated to study Torah, they would not be capable of dedicating themselves to the building of the family.

While clearly women must study so that they be able to live according to the Torah, they are not obligated to learn Torah analytically and scrutinizingly in order to achieve theoretical depth. Thus, women are relieved of the ongoing
From here we can understand just how important the family is.
pressure which accompanies the men who are commanded to dedicate themselves to constant progress in the understanding of Torah.

From here we can understand just how important the family is. Women have been exempted from the obligation to study Torah and all of the positive time-bound commandments in order to nurture the family.

It should be added that the very ruling which declares women exempt from the study of Torah and all of the positive time-bound commandments implies that women are by their very nature less in need of them, and that they are able to achieve spiritual consummation without them (see Yalkut Shimoni, Shmuel 78). Accordingly, it is possible to understand why even a woman who bears no domestic yoke is released from these commandments.

Send comments or questions for Rabbi Melamed to Yonaton Behar at yonaton@yhb.org.il.