Chapter 31 opens with the words of King Lemuel, with which his mother admonished him. We have already seen that Lemuel's mother rebuked her son - and according to one opinion, this refers to Solomon's mother - and through her maternal rebuke, even striking him with a sandal, she set him straight and brought him into the light. Now, precisely from here onward, as a direct continuation of that mother's rebuke, Scripture begins the song of praise to the Eshet Chayil (a woman of valor). The context points to the mother herself: she is the one who disciplined him, she is the one who produced such an exceptional son, and therefore the son comes and sings a song of praise honoring the virtue and greatness of that Eshet Chayil.
אֵשֶׁת־חַיִל מִי יִמְצָא וְרָחֹק מִפְּנִינִים מִכְרָהּ׃ - A woman of valor, who can find? For her worth is far beyond pearls.
The Malbim explains according to the plain meaning: there are two ways to attain something - either one finds it unexpectedly as a lost object, or one makes great effort, works, and trades something else to acquire it. Regarding the first way, Scripture says, "Who can find?" - fortunate is the one who has merited to find her effortlessly like a found treasure. And regarding the second way, the path of acquisition and exertion, it says, "For her worth is far beyond pearls" - the word mikhrah (her worth/sale) is an expression of acquisition, similar to "your origin [mekhorotayikh] and your birth," which also carries the connotation of acquisition. Whoever wishes to acquire her must know that her place is far beyond pearls: it is something precious, and something exceedingly rare.
בָּטַח בָּהּ לֵב בַּעְלָהּ וְשָׁלָל לֹא יֶחְסָר׃ - The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will lack no spoil.
The Vilna Gaon, as is his approach throughout this chapter, interprets the entire passage of Eshet Chayil as an allegory for the study of Torah. He opens with the words of Chazal: Who is a Torah scholar (talmid chacham)? One who is meticulous about turning over his robe (chaluk). Being meticulous about his robe means keeping it clean, as the Gemara states that the garment of a Torah scholar requires caution so that there is no stain on it, for if there is a stain on it, he is included among "those who hate Me." Yet the Gra teaches that this concept is far deeper and more internal than mere care for external garments.
The Gra explains: "His garment" (mido) and "his character traits" (middotav) are one and the same. "And the priest shall put on his linen garment [mido vad]" - mido means a garment, but mido also denotes his character traits. From here we see a connection between the clothing in the parable and the character traits in the underlying meaning: a person's character traits are his robe. And why are they called mido? Because with the measure (midah) a person measures, so it is measured out to him.
Indeed, "there is no righteous person on earth who does good and never sins" - even a Torah scholar is liable to stumble; he is not guaranteed never to fail. Rather, what makes a Torah scholar unique is that "seven times a righteous man falls and rises": he does not remain in his failure. As the Gemara says, if you see a Torah scholar commit a sin at night, do not criticize or suspect him the next day, for he has certainly repented. And what is that repentance? This itself is what Chazal meant by a Torah scholar who is meticulous to "turn over his robe." His robe represents his character traits; "turning it over" means that he rectifies and reverses them. If he sees that a certain trait caused harm or ruin, he turns that trait around, changes it, and adopts a different approach.
In simple terms: a Torah scholar does not say, "That is just how I am, that is how I was born, accept me as I am." People recite that line like parrots: "This is who you married, this is how I am." A Torah scholar says the exact opposite: "Here is an improper character trait, and I will endeavor to correct it; I was wrong, I acted inappropriately, and I will fix it." That is the Torah scholar who knows how to turn over his garment - his character trait - whenever necessary.
Therefore, Ben Bag Bag concludes Tractate Avot: "Turn it over and turn it over, for everything is in it, and do not move away from it." "Everything is in it" - all is contained within the Torah. And through the power of the Torah: "turn it over and turn it over" - if you have an undesirable trait, overturn it; if you have an improper conduct, change it. Through the power of the Torah, a person transforms his character traits and does not remain trapped in flawed ways of behaving.
The Vilna Gaon explains that healing the soul is just like healing the body. To rectify one's character traits, one must employ their opposite, and the soul is healed through its reverse, just as Chazal said, "Heat expels heat." In physical medicine as well, one afflicted with a particular ailment must act contrary to the illness in order to heal - one who is chilled must be warmed. So it is with the traits of the soul.
The Rambam writes that one who seeks to rectify his traits should act in the opposite extreme: an intensely arrogant person should turn toward humility to the farthest extreme, and someone prone to severe anger should become indifferent to the farthest extreme. What can this be compared to? To a bent piece of iron that one wishes to straighten. If you merely bend it straight, it will spring back; but if you bend it slightly toward the opposite side and then release it, it will become straight. To achieve balance, one must go to the opposite extreme. This is the meaning of "he takes care to turn his tunic inside out" - turning the matter around so that, through this, it will ultimately straighten out onto its proper path.
And what stands at the head of all bad traits? The Vilna Gaon says: desire. Desire leads a person to every negative trait in the world - the lust for money, physical lust, the craving for honor. The very fact that a person experiences unchecked desire is the source of all troubles in the world; were it not for human desire, one would never meet with any trouble.
This is what the Sages meant when they said: "At the head of all illnesses am I, blood; and at the head of all remedies am I, wine." The Vilna Gaon explains: the Sages did not come to teach us medical remedies - for that, one could go to a clinic - rather, they came to teach us the rectification of the soul. "At the head of all illnesses am I, blood" - because the blood is the soul (nefesh), and from the nefesh stems all desire. "If it is your soul's wish" (im yesh et nafshechem) means your desire; "for your soul desires" (ki te'aveh nafshecha); "you may eat meat to your soul's desire" (bechol avat nafshecha) - the nefesh is that which desires, and its seat is in the blood. Thus, the head of all illness is blood, meaning the desires of the nefesh. "And at the head of all remedies am I, wine" - at the head of all cures am I, wine, which refers to the Torah, compared to wine. "It shall be health to your navel," "and healing to all his flesh" - the Torah is the elixir of life, and it is the remedy for all desires.
And if you ask, why then did the Sages enumerate all the positive character traits in Masechet Avot, as if character development is required independently of Torah? The Vilna Gaon explains: all of that was stated only for someone who is not a master of Torah. But one who is dedicated to Torah does not need all those mussar practices, for through the Torah itself his character traits are rectified. And so continues the Gemara: "In a place where there is no wine, there drugs are required" - where there is no wine, medications are needed; where there is no Torah, a clinic must be opened. The words of the Tanna in Avot concerning the rectification of character were said for a place without Torah, for the ordinary folk who do not engage in Torah study; but where there is Torah, the Torah itself refines the person, for it encompasses everything.
This was true in earlier generations. In later generations, we find that Rabbi Yisrael Salanter established the Mussar movement, because we no longer learn Torah at such a level that Torah alone provides the complete cure. Had we been learning it at that level, there would be no need to study mussar, and the Torah would have refined us on its own. But reality proved that hearts have diminished, and we do not study Torah at a sufficient level, which is why we must also study mussar.
And this is the meaning of the verse, "The heart of her husband trusts in her": "her husband" is the Torah scholar, and "in her" refers to the holy Torah. He trusts in her to protect him from all the ailments in the world, that no afflictions will harm him, because he possesses Torah. "And spoil will not be lacking" - for a transgression extinguishes a mitzvah, and if one committed a transgression he forfeited the mitzvah; but a transgression cannot extinguish Torah. And since a transgression cannot extinguish Torah, even if he should later stumble, his Torah remains preserved for him, and the spoil of Torah will never be lacking.
There is another interpretation: veshalal ("and spoil") has the numerical value of 366 - shin-lamed-lamed equals 360, and with the kolel it equals 366 - corresponding to the 365 days of the solar year. And the 365 days of the solar year correspond to the 365 negative commandments. Thus it says, "and spoil will not be lacking": on account of the 365 negative commandments, his 365 days of Torah will not be lost, because a transgression cannot extinguish Torah.
The Malbim explains: "The heart" is the governing power of the soul, and "her husband" is the intellect. The heart seeks to govern according to the counsel of the intellect and wisdom. Why does the heart govern the soul? Because the soul's source is in the blood, and the blood flows from its pump, the heart; thus the heart governs the dimensions of the soul, and its rule derives from the intellect, which is supreme and decisive.
However, when the soul is in the category of an "evil wife," it is not drawn after the counsel of the heart. Even if it listened once to the counsel of the heart and gained spoil, it nevertheless returns to its lusts, to its reprehensible habits, and to its pull toward physicality and worldliness, and then it loses everything it had previously acquired. But when the soul is good - "the heart of her husband trusts in her," the heart, which is the sovereign ruler over the soul, trusts in it, "and spoil will not be lacking." Everything it collected, fulfilled, and accomplished doing the will of Hashem is not lost, for it does not revert to its corrupt and harmful character traits.
According to the plain meaning, the Malbim writes - to quote his exact words so as not to invite accusations of chauvinism - that most women squander wealth, and a husband cannot trust that his wife will preserve what he has earned. As the quip goes, a wife can easily make her husband a millionaire - if he was a billionaire before. A husband does not trust that what he earned will remain in the bank, only to suddenly receive a phone call from the manager. But with a woman of valor - "in her his heart will trust, that nothing of all the spoil he earned will be lacking."
And as a humorous remark, it has already been noted: the husband appears in Eshes Chayil in only three places - "Batach bah lev ba'alah" (the heart of her husband trusts in her), "Noda bashe'arim ba'alah" (her husband is known in the gates), and "Ba'alah viyehalelah" (her husband, and he praises her). The initial letters spell BANK (ב-נ-ק) - the husband is needed only for the bank!
גְּמָלַתְהוּ טוֹב וְלֹא־רָע כֹּל יְמֵי חַיֶּיהָ׃ - She does him good and not evil, all the days of her life.
By way of allegory, the Malbim explains: Other souls, even if they possess good innate qualities, have nonetheless eaten from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and at times the evil overcomes the good. There is goodness in them, but sometimes lust, bad character traits, jealousy, and hatred prevail. Sometimes a person subdues his inclination in his old age but not in his youth, when passions burn brightly - which is why our Sages said, "Fortunate is our youth that did not shame our old age." An elderly person may genuinely despise the evil inclination, but let us see him in his youth! Often you will see such an older person rebuking the youth, while no one recalls how he himself behaved in his younger years; from the vantage point of where he stands today, he permits himself to look down with haughtiness upon all those who chase after their desires.
However, the soul that is an Eshes Chayil, the good soul, "does him good and not evil" - there is never a time when it awakens to lust and evil matters, and this is not only in its old age. "All the days of her life" - both in its youth and in its old age, the good soul is not drawn after desires and physicality.
And according to the plain meaning, the Malbim says: Other women do evil to their husbands, and even the best among them will often do him harm as well. And one who was good during her youth may cause him distress in old age, or during times of poverty and lack. As the Gemara says: "When the barley is finished from the pitcher, strife quickly comes" - when the flour runs out of the jar, in simple terms when there is no flour left, quarrel immediately arrives and knocks at the door of the house. But the woman spoken of here bestows upon him only good and not evil, and consistently so, "all the days of her life" - not only in her youth, but in her old age as well.
דָּרְשָׁה צֶמֶר וּפִשְׁתִּים וַתַּעַשׂ בְּחֵפֶץ כַּפֶּיהָ׃ - She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands.
According to the plain meaning: In all the endeavors that the woman of valor undertakes, she acts with alacrity and in the finest manner. If she chose to engage in weaving garments, she seeks out wool and flax to weave from them. Nor does she do this lazily, like someone with no choice who acts out of compulsion, but rather "with willing hands" (becheifetz kapeha). The Metzudas David explains: with the desire of her hands, as if her hands themselves desire the labor - with enthusiasm. The lazy person's hands are, as it were, defiant - "his hands refuse to work" - whereas her hands are eager and desire to perform the task.
The Metzudat David notes with precision: the verse states darshah ("she seeks out") - she herself searches for wool and flax in order to spin them and make garments. In halachic reality, a wife is obligated to spin, whereas the husband is obligated to supply the wool and flax; however, here, because she is an eshet chayil, she actively seeks out good wool and flax on her own, working with them through the desire of her hands.
By way of allegory, the Malbim explains this verse as referring to the soul. All the acquisitions of character traits and virtues that a person possesses in their soul are termed garments - and as we have seen, middot (traits) stems from the same root as mido vad (linen garment). When a person's soul is not pure, they wear filthy clothes, as in "Remove the filthy garments from upon him" - an expression of a defiled soul. Garments, therefore, symbolize the soul.
And how does a person acquire a lasting trait within their soul, such that it becomes second nature? Through actions. "The heart is drawn after actions," and the more a person performs a specific action, the more it becomes an ingrained acquisition and nature. In this way, a person changes their nature from bad traits to good traits - one action, and another action, until it becomes part of who they are. The same is true in reverse: one who repeatedly yields to anger will find that anger becomes their nature; one who repeatedly acts with arrogance will find arrogance becoming their nature; and so too with violence and the like. Actions are what habituate us and grant us the acquisitions of the soul.
Consequently, if character traits are compared to clothing and garments, then cultivating good traits is like weaving a garment. "She seeks wool and flax" - she seeks out the raw materials to spin from them refined, exquisite virtues. "And works with the desire of her hands" - the hands express action: she acts again and again and again, and by virtue of this, acquires that character trait and conduct as second nature in her soul. Through physical deed, a garment is fashioned from the wool and flax, representing a rectified character trait and proper conduct.
Yet all this comes with one condition: becheyfeitz - with desire. If an action is forced upon a person, even though it is an action and they perform it, not only will they fail to acquire it in their soul, but the exact opposite will occur. For example: a person wants to cultivate the trait of diligence (hasmadah). He feels that after sitting for five minutes, he is on pins and needles. If he sits, and sits, and sits again willingly, he habituates himself to diligence. But if he is forced to sit - by a teacher at school or a father at home - and will be punished if he stands up, has he acquired the trait of diligence in his soul? Not only has he not acquired it, but he has acquired a hatred for this trait. He cannot bear to sit and looks for every possible way to escape, because it was done through coercion.
It follows that while repeated action does indeed cultivate a lasting trait in the soul, it must stem from willingness. Under coercion, not only is it not internalized as a virtue, but it breeds antagonism, estrangement, and resentment toward the matter. Therefore, the verse says, "with the desire of her hands" - willingly she rectifies her character through the wool and flax, which are the physical actions through which she transforms her nature.
הָיְתָה כׇּאֳנִיּוֹת סוֹחֵר מִמֶּרְחָק תָּבִיא לַחְמָהּ׃ - She is like the merchant ships; she brings her bread from afar.
Rashi interprets the entire passage of Eshet Chayil as an allegory for the Torah, explaining here: the Torah is like merchant ships that bring their bread from afar - the Torah brings blessing and sustenance to those who study it.
A story was once related on this matter. An avrech married, and his father-in-law was a working man of comfortable means. When the time came to purchase an apartment, at the end of the process they were short one hundred thousand shekels to finalize the transaction. The son-in-law said to his father-in-law, "We are missing one hundred thousand shekels. I gave all that I could and pushed myself to the limit, while you are a working man and have greater means - perhaps you should take this upon yourself." His father-in-law replied, "Let us go to Rav Shteinman, and whatever the Rav says, I will do."
They went and presented the matter before Rav Shteinman. The Rav turned to the avrech and said, "Tell me, is your name Torah?" He answered, "No." The Rav said, "If so, why are you demanding the honor of the Torah? You are an avrech, you learn Torah - but you are not Torah itself. You are demanding money from him because you learn Torah, but the honor of the Torah belongs to the Torah itself; you cannot demand the honor of the Torah for yourself."
The Rav added and told the avrech: "It is not both of you who need to take this on - you need to take it upon yourself, the hundred thousand shekels." He replied, "Honored Rav, I am an avrech; I barely make ends meet." The Rav told him: "Where does your sustenance come from? Are you living on your own means? Can anyone naturally explain how an avrech lives on a stipend of two thousand shekels? You live from the Holy One, blessed be He. And since everything you have had until now is from the Holy One, blessed be He, does the Holy One, blessed be He, have a problem with another hundred thousand shekels? Just as you have had salvations until now, so you will continue to have them. But your mechutan lives according to nature, and according to nature, from where will he come up with a hundred thousand shekels right now?"
That man recounted: "It seemed very astonishing to me, but since we had agreed to ask the Rav and follow whatever he said, that is what I did. I took out interest-free loans from gemachim, and a year later I married off my second daughter and finished paying off the debts. And if you ask me from where I paid a hundred thousand shekels and how it happened - I do not know. Just as the Rav said: you are supported by the Holy One, blessed be He, anyway, and another hundred thousand shekels - that is on Him, not on you."
This is "She is like merchant ships; she brings her bread from afar": the Torah brings blessing and sustenance to those who study it. You live from the Holy One, blessed be He, and there is nothing more wondrous than this - rely on the table of the Omnipresent.
According to the peshat (plain meaning), the Malbim explains: if the woman of valor engages in commerce outside her home, she does not settle for the immediate vicinity, where profits are modest. As is well known, great profits come from import and export, from trade with distant locations far from one's dwelling. Regarding this it is said, "She is like merchant ships" - like a ship that traverses seas and rivers to bring its bread from afar.
And the Metzudat David adds: even though she is not obligated to do so, since the duty of sustenance falls upon the husband. The husband commits in the ketubah: "I will nourish, support, sustain, and provide for you in the manner of Jewish men who faithfully support their wives" - this is what is written in the ketubah, and there are those to whom this is not clear: a man obligates himself to support his wife and children.
It is worth making an observation here. Remarks were once made publicly asserting that an end must be put to religious hegemony and marriage through the Rabbinate, claiming that the husband signs a ketubah that grants all the rights to the husband and imposes no obligations on him. This is nothing but sheer ignorance. In reality, the ketubah does not contain even a single obligation of the wife toward her husband - the entire ketubah deals exclusively with the husband's obligations toward the wife. Whoever makes such a claim relies on the fact that the listeners have never read a ketubah; and if they heard it, they merely heard a murmur in Aramaic under the chuppah without understanding a single word. It is true that the wife has obligations toward the husband, but they are not mentioned in the ketubah. A major principle is: what you do not know, do not speak of, especially in matters of Judaism.
By way of allegory, the Malbim explains that the attainment of wisdom is compared to commerce. How does a person acquire knowledge? He learns one thing and then another, and afterwards, through logical analogy, by drawing parallels between matters (dimuy milta lemilta) and deducing conclusions, he arrives at further insights - and this is the aspect of contemplation (hitbonenut). It is just like commerce: you bought an item, and now you have something to trade, and through it you acquire a third item. This is what is meant by "Acquiring understanding is to be chosen above silver" - the language of acquisition is used for wisdom, for acquiring understanding is preferable to acquiring wealth.
Here, the soul is compared to a ship sailing at sea, and "she brings her bread from afar." When we want to compare one concept to another and they are far apart, much deeper analysis and understanding are required to discover the connection between distant ideas. For human wisdom and the faculty of da'at consist in drawing parallels between matters - knowing how to compare one thing to another. Notice that even today, on intelligence tests, one of the primary things assessed is distinguishing between similarities and differences: at a child's level, these are obvious contrasts, while at a higher level, such as on psychometric exams, they involve subtle nuances - this does not resemble that, yet it does resemble it in a specific point, and here there is a point of intersection.
Incidentally, knowledge (yediah) denotes connection - connecting one concept to another and drawing parallels between matters. This is the root of the expression, "And the man knew Eve his wife" - an expression of connection. And when she "brings her bread from afar," meaning she brings analogies and insights from afar, this indicates an even greater degree of wisdom.
Furthermore, what is close to us is physical materiality, while spirituality is naturally distant from us. A person is naturally drawn more to a pizza than to a page of Gemara - by nature we are drawn to the physical more than to the spiritual. Therefore, one who pursues study, in-depth analysis, Torah engagement, and contemplation is the one who brings his bread from afar. What is proximate to us are desires and physical pleasures; what is distant from our soul are spiritual wisdoms, contemplation, and engagement in Torah. And the soul, which naturally gravitates toward desires, when it becomes an "eshet chayil" - meaning distant from desires and materiality, a holy soul - "brings her bread from afar": she pursues intellectual and spiritual understanding and distances herself from the physical.
The chapter of Eshet Chayil follows directly from the mother's moral instruction that guided her son, leading into this hymn of praise for the virtuous woman. On the level of peshat: a woman of valor is a rare find whose husband trusts her with his wealth; she repays him with good all the days of her life, performs her work with enthusiasm, and expands her commerce far and wide. According to the approach of the Vilna Gaon and the Malbim: "she" represents the Torah, which is the remedy of the soul, transforming a person's character traits - chief among them physical desire - into virtuous ones. The refined soul is one that does not revert to its corruption, acquiring its traits through repeated actions and out of genuine desire rather than coercion, pursuing the wisdom that is naturally distant from it. And whoever is sustained at the table of the Omnipresent - his bread comes to him from afar, and there is nothing more wondrous than this.