Nasso: The Great Gender Debate

[Music] Ever wonder why certain things in Judaism go after the father while others go after the mother? When determining which shvet one belongs to Naftali or Binyamin Ruven or Yehuda, we assign a person whatever shaveet his father was, even if his mother was from a different one. On the other hand, one's Jewishness is determined by one's mother and we completely disregard the religious status of the father. If one's mother is Jewish, but the father is Puerto Rican, the child is still Jewish. But if the father is Jewish but the mother is Italian, the child is not Jewish. Why is that? When a man gets an aliyah, we call out his name referencing him as the son of his father. We say, but when we say we reference the mother's name, we say Ben Rifka. Why? Firstborn status in regards to getting a double inheritance is received if one is the firstborn of the father. Yet firstborn status determining if one needs a ped is determined only with regards to one's mother. Why the dis discrepancy? Is there a rhyme and a reason for who determines what or is it just merely arbitrary? During the time I was learning, I decided to learn a little bit of Tanakh every day. After a few months, I noticed a strange pattern. Throughout Jewish history, women seemed to always be the savior in the times of potential national annihilation. Always, almost without exception. The very first time the Jewish people were at stake was when Yishmo was threatening to push Yitsk off the Jewish path. No Yeetszk, no Jewish people. Who was the savior? Not Av. It was Sarah. Asov was out to kill Yakov after he stole the Brahos. No Yakov, no Jewish people. Who was the savior? Rifka. When Moshe was in a basket in the Nile River, who saved him Basia and Miriam in Paramos, it says that Moshe didn't give a bris to his son and Hashem was preparing to kill Moshe for it. Who saved him? Cipora. The Jewish babies were due to get s systematically slaughtered in Egypt. Who saved them? Shiffra and Pua. The Jews in Egypt were close to being decimated. Who were the saviors? It was the righteous women who earned our freedom. Women didn't commit the women didn't commit the sin of the moragim. According to the medanuma, when we were attacked by the pushim, who was the savior? Yael. When David was about to be killed by Sha, who was the savior? Mikall. When Hmon threatened the entire Jewish people, who was the savior? Esther. When the Greeks battled the Jewish army, who was the final savior? Yehudis. The extraordinarily long list goes on. The question then is why is it this way? I once went over to Rabbanil Bellski A Kyle in Yusha and asked him this question. He jumped out of his seat. He took a key. He unlocked his office. He took out another key. He unlocked a closet within his office and he pulled out a safer written by the Arizal. Blowing off the dust that accumulated on top of the safer. He flipped to a certain page and read me the following words. The Arizal writes, quote, "Any time there is a national calamity in which the physical future existence of Claus Israel is at stake, the savior was and will always be a woman." Why? Because a woman is the treasure chest of her husband's kaduca. The husband is like a foot soldier and she is the safe that stores the holiness. In times of national crisis, we need an extra dose of kadusha and it is stored within women. End quote. Rabbi Belie explained that when the Jewish people are facing a threat on a national level, it is often a symptom of low zoo, a depleted amount of merits in our national zuyo bank. It is demonstrative of the fact the scale has tilted towards the side of persecution. The only thing that will save us, the only thing that will tilt the scale back is an additional dose of merits and kadusha. Much like tapping into the merits of Abraov, we likewise tap into our national zyos stored throughout the ages. And those zyos are found within women. Women are the safe where the Torah and the mitzvah her household accumulates are stored. Hence, amidst times of national peril, of disasters, of potential calamities, the one to bring that extra dose of kaduca must be a woman, for that is where the kaduca is stored. With this arisal in mind, it is no longer a wonder why some things in Judaism follow the mother and others follow the father. Basically the rule of thumb is obvious. Things that are holy go after the mother. Things that are mundane go after the father. When one is getting called up for an aliyah and we merely need to identify one Moshe from amongst 10 other Moshas in the shaw, we clarify by saying yamode mosha benim. But when one is sick and needs a Misha, we use his mother's name. For we now need to tap into the holiness stored inside of you. He is sick. He needs an extra dose of kadusha and that is found in his mother. If one is to get double inheritance, we go after the father for that is merely a financial obligation a father has towards his firstborn son. But to determine who receives the spiritual firstborn status requiring a pidion from a coane, we go after the mother for she is the one who holds that additional dose of kadusha. Which shvet one belongs to has mostly physical ramifications as in which jurisdiction one can live in which courts he should go to and which judges he should go to. Therefore, the father is the one who passes on the shabit to his son. But innate Jewishness on the other hand is something immensely spiritual. It is the ultimate spiritual ingredient on earth. And therefore it is passed down by one's mother. For that is where the spirituality is stored. Our name, our bank accounts, our plots of land are given to us by our fathers. Our holiness, our Jewishness, and our souls are given to us by our mothers. A woman named Ariela who lives in Atlanta told me the following story. She grew up unaffiliated in Philadelphia. She eventually went on to learn in Israel, making great strides in her religiosity. When she was about to return home to the United States, her teacher told her to spend Shabas with a certain woman who lives in Philadelphia. She got dropped off at the woman's house right before Shabas and the woman greeted her and began diving Mina. What Ariela saw struck her as a little strange. The woman painstakingly said every line extremely slowly with the sitter held up high and her finger on every word. She would routinely go back and read lines again and again that she felt she didn't read well enough. Ariela was confused. She thought she must have been in the wrong house. The woman barely seemed from she barely seemed religious. Eventually, this woman's husband walked in with an entire entourage of people referring to him as the Russa. It turned out to be the house of Rabmul Kamki. And the woman dabbining Mina was his wife. Utterly confused, Ariela turned to the Rebbitson and asked her, "Why do you davin like that?" Rebes and Kamanetsky responded, "A soldier in battle who is commanded to scout out the enemy camp for an upcoming invasion can't simply go snoop around and leave. He has to surge high and he has to surge low. He has to take in every nook and every cranny. He has to absorb every smell and every sound." She looked at Ariela with a glimmer in her eye. "When women pray, we are not merely talking to God. We are waging war on behalf of the entire Jewish people. We are waging war ensuring peace and prosperity is showered upon us. We are waging war that our children remain pure and our marriages remain happy. We are waging war that our host countries don't expel us and that the populace continues its tolerance of us. We are waging war perpetuating the continuity of the Jewish spirit. And therefore, much like a physical war, I need to taste the words. I need to smell the words. I need to feel the words. For these words are the bedrock of our nation. Without them, we lose the war. [Music]