Introduction
We continue in the final chapter of Sefer Mishlei, with the song of *Eshet Chayil*. This part of the lesson opens with the continuation of the verse concerning the linen garment and the belt, and from there we enter into a fundamental clarification of the relationship between the holy Torah and external disciplines of wisdom. From there, we proceed through the order of the verses: "Strength and dignity are her clothing," "She opens her mouth with wisdom," "She oversees the ways of her household," "Her children rise up and acclaim her," and "Many daughters have done valiantly."
The Linen Garment and the Belt: One Who Acquires the Torah Receives the Rest for Free
סָדִין עָשְׂתָה וַתִּמְכֹּר וַחֲגוֹר נָתְנָה לַכְּנַעֲנִי׃ - "She makes a linen garment and sells it, and delivers a belt to the merchant."
When a person buys the linen garment, he receives the belt for free. When a person acquires the Torah, that portion of the other disciplines of wisdom comes to him automatically. But when one goes looking only for the cords and belts, one must pay for them.
The Chazon Ish used to instruct surgeons on how to perform operations and would debate with them. They would say, "Look, a person who never studied medicine thinks he understands." Yet when it came to performing the actual surgery, they would do it exactly as the Chazon Ish directed. They asked him, "From where do you know this? What did you study? Where did you apprentice?" He replied, "I studied the sugyot of Masechet Chullin, the sugyot of *tereifot*." From these sugyot he knew the anatomical structure of humans and animals, and based on this, he was able to guide them. By virtue of what? By virtue of the Torah.
So too with the Vilna Gaon: the academy in Vilna would send him intricate mathematical questions, and when he entered the restroom - a place where one is forbidden to contemplate Torah - he would solve within minutes questions over which they had racked their brains for months. Great people attained profound insights solely through the power of Torah.
The Professor's Question: But Did Not the Rambam Engage in the Sciences?
Rav Shimshon Pincus recounts in his sefer *Nefesh Shimshon* on Torah and its acquisition a true incident. Once, he gave a ride to a young man who studied at a yeshiva that combined secular studies with holy studies, and he asked him, "Do you think that when Mashiach comes, this is the path he will choose to educate the youth of Israel?" The young man had no answer, but it turned out he was the son of a prominent professor, a Torah-observant Jew. Two days later, Rav Pincus received a letter from that professor, which read: "Honored Rabbi, I want to ask you a question. If the Rambam were to arise today, would they accept him as a *ram* (yeshiva lecturer) in one of the holy yeshivot? After all, the Rambam engaged in philosophy, medicine, and general science. In other words, you asked my son about Mashiach; I am asking you about the Rambam."
Rav Pincus observed: This is truly a good question, and one that requires careful consideration. In the holy yeshivot secular studies are not taught, so how should we view the Rambam? Furthermore, there were other great Torah luminaries who engaged in the sciences - Chacham Ben Israel, the Rema (Rabbi Moshe Isserles), and many others who were well-versed in general wisdom and studied secular literature. Even in our generation, there was Rabbi Gedaliah Nadel, an immense talmid chacham, a disciple of the Chazon Ish and the rabbi of the Steipler Gaon's neighborhood, to whom people directed complex questions. He studied secular wisdom and the teachings of Aristotle from books. Once, an expert professor came to debate him, and Rabbi Gedaliah proved to him from the texts that the professor had not even properly learned the teachings of Aristotle that he was supposed to know. Certainly, the Rambam was entirely steeped in Torah: in his youth he wrote the Commentary on the Mishnah, in his maturity the Mishneh Torah, and yet he also studied medicine, philosophy, and scientific texts. How do these things align?
The Rambam's Own Answer: Perfumers, Cooks, and Bakers
The true answer, Rav Pincus says, is found in the words of the Rambam himself. In an epistle he sent to his disciple (cited in *Pe'er HaDor*, §41, and in *Teshuvot HaRambam*, vol. 3, p. 57), he writes: "Although before I was formed in the belly, the Torah knew me, and before I came forth from the womb, it sanctified me, and destined me to spread its springs abroad" - even before I was formed, the Torah prepared me for this role. "And she is my beloved hind and the wife of my youth, in whose love I have been captivated since my early days. Yet even so, many foreign wives became co-wives to her: Moabites, Ammonites, Tzidonians, Edomites, and Hittites." He defines all external disciplines as rival wives to his true wife. "And Hashem Blessed be He knows that they were taken from the beginning only to serve her as perfumers, cooks, and bakers, and to show the nations and princes her beauty, for she is very fair to look upon" - to display the beauty of the Torah, showing that it encompasses all of these wisdoms within it.
Here the Rambam encapsulated his perspective regarding secular studies, and in his great wisdom, he embedded the exact definition within his words. If a man has a wife at home and brings in a perfumer, a cook, and a baker - what are these women called? Maidservants. Under what conditions is one permitted to keep a maidservant in the house? Only when the boundary is completely clear: this is my wife, and this is my maidservant. Woe to a man if he reaches a state where he feels any affection toward the maidservant. In such a case, she must be banished from the house.
There is a well-known story of a child who asked his mother: "Mommy, do angels have wings?" She said, "Yes." "And do they fly?" She answered, "Yes." He said to her, "Then why did I hear Daddy call the housekeeper 'my angel'? She has no wings and she doesn't fly." She replied, "Don't worry, she will fly. She will fly." If a person gives even a single ounce of affection to the perfumer, the cook, or the baker - after all, she is a maidservant in the house, not the one toward whom you are meant to give personal devotion.
This is what the Rambam meant: God forbid that I should possess any feeling of affection toward those external disciplines. They were in the category of rival-wives, merely perfumers, cooks, and bakers, and I held no emotional attachment toward them. And who can testify to this? Only Hashem, may He be blessed, which is why he wrote, "And Hashem, may He be blessed, knows." This matter depends on the innermost depths of the heart, and how easily a person can abandon that beloved doe and graceful gazelle that is the holy Torah, and instead develop an affection for secular disciplines. Figures like the Rambam were so intimately bound to the Torah that it became an inseparable part of them; therefore, he could take for himself perfumers, cooks, and bakers without fear of harboring any emotional attachment toward them.
But what about our generation?
If today one were to introduce secular studies into a yeshivah - astronomy, mathematics, medicine, and other sciences - what are the chances that among all the students, not even one would develop an affection for those perfumers, cooks, and bakers? Clearly, there would be many. There was an old survey conducted in institutions that combined holy and secular studies, asking students which subject they disliked the most. The answer was: Torah Shebe'al Peh, the Oral Torah - what is known in yeshivos as Gemara. Not only did affection develop for the maidservants, but Heaven forbid, hatred developed for the very subject to which the holy yeshivah dedicates its entire day.
It must be further emphasized: although the Rambam writes that from the outset he took them merely as perfumers, cooks, and bakers, the Vilna Gaon's words regarding this approach are well-known, as cited also in the work *Mishnat HaChalomot*. It is known that many authorities opposed the Rambam's view that there is no reality to demons, spirits, necromancy, sorcery, and incantations, which he writes in several places are mere delusions. Many raised powerful challenges against him from passages in the Gemara, Midrashim, and pesukim, and regarding this the Vilna Gaon wrote a startling remark: "And the accursed philosophy misled him with its persuasive allure." Even the Yemenite community, who accepted the Rambam and ruled like him in all matters - as Rav Tzvi writes, his philosophical opinions were not accepted, and on this point they did not adopt his stance, for the Gemara recounts entire narratives involving demons: Rashbi who sent demons, and Sages who held discussions with and dispatched demons. Thus, even toward a giant like the Rambam, criticism was leveled - words we would never dare utter on our own, but the Vilna Gaon could state that something was compromised as a result of being drawn after those external disciplines.
This alone is enough for us to understand that these disciplines have no place in the holy yeshivos. If one needs to study for a livelihood, he should consult a halachic authority and study in a Torah-true, kosher environment. As for a university - who ever permitted a person to set foot there? It is a place where teachings of heresy are heard from morning until evening: a lecturer speaking of the Torah as a collection of texts composed over centuries, and other nonsense not even fit to repeat. Who permitted you to listen to heresy? "The ears are scorched first among the limbs." Furthermore, sitting in a mixed classroom in an environment of immodesty, where sometimes the lecturer herself is dressed - or rather, undressed - in a manner that makes it impossible to lift one's eyes. And when there is an alternative route (*ika darcha achrina*), even if one does not look he is called wicked, and if he does look, he is thoroughly wicked. Rabbeinu Yonah writes that one accustomed to this is considered an apostate regarding this matter (*mumar ledavar echad*), and for every forbidden gaze he descends to the depths of Sheol. After all, to avoid violating a negative commandment, a person is obligated to give up all his wealth: if he were told, "Either gaze at a forbidden sight or sign your home over to me in the land registry," the halachah is that he must sign away his home and not violate the prohibition. Just as with forbidden relations (*arayot*) one must be killed and not transgress, so too with other sins, though there is no requirement to give up one's life, one is obligated to surrender all his money. How then can a person enter such places lightmindedly and stumble into such prohibitions on a daily basis - and for what? For a livelihood! Are you the provider? "I have not seen a righteous person forsaken, nor his seed begging for bread." And if one studies in kosher institutions, will he not acquire the necessary knowledge?
Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the final day
עֹז וְהָדָר לְבוּשָׁהּ וַתִּשְׂחַק לְיוֹם אַחֲרוֹן׃ - Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the final day.
"And she laughs at the final day" - Rashi explains: on the day of her death, she departs with a good name. And when does she laugh? All her days, in that she is not troubled by the final day. When a person knows that his path is right and that what he does is proper, he walks through all his days with confidence and does not fear death, which is merely a transition from one state of being to another. But one who lives here in sin has genuine reasons to dread death, for he has arrived at the checkout counter, where payment is due. In contrast, one who lives properly like this woman of valor - "strength and dignity are her clothing," she arrives in magnificent garments woven from the mitzvos she performed, which are the soul's garments in the World Above, and then "she laughs at the final day." The Ibn Ezra writes: she laughs and does not fear loss or the World to Come, for she is confident in her path.
She opens her mouth with wisdom, and a teaching of kindness is on her tongue
פִּיהָ פָּתְחָה בְחָכְמָה וְתוֹרַת חֶסֶד עַל לְשׁוֹנָהּ׃ - She opens her mouth with wisdom, and a teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
All her utterances and sayings are in wisdom, and on her tongue is the teaching of chessed: she is always teaching and encouraging people to do chessed with one another. The Malbim explains that this verse continues the previous one: "She laughs at the last day" refers to the day of death, and after that last day she stands for judgment Above. There, "She opens her mouth with wisdom" - she opens her mouth on the Day of Judgment by virtue of the wisdom she acquired during her lifetime and by virtue of the laws of wisdom she implemented throughout her days. "And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue" - this will be her advocate there in the World to Come, as it is said, "And your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of Hashem shall gather you in" (Yeshayahu 58:8): what precedes a person is the tzedakah he performed, the chessed, and the good deeds.
Toras Chessed: The Deed of Rabbi Chiyya
The sefer Mas'as HaMelech explains this matter based on the Gemara. Rabbi Chiyya said to Rebbi: "I ensure that the Torah is not forgotten from Israel - I have taken initiatives that bring about that Torah will not be forgotten from the Jewish people." How so? "I plant flaxseed and cotton, and from them I spin thread and make nets, and with the nets I trap deer. From the hides of the deer I prepare parchment to write Chumashim upon them, and the meat I distribute to orphans. Then I go to a town where there is no teacher of young children, and I write the Five Books of the Torah for five children, and each one learns one of them, and I tell them that each one should teach his friend what he learned, and similarly with the six orders of Mishnah." In short, he established Talmud Torahs and ensured that Torah would not be forgotten from Israel.
Seemingly, there is a detail here that does not appear relevant. It is well understood that he wanted the Torah to be in its absolute purity from the very root: that even the net used to trap the deer, upon whose hide the Torah would be written, should be made in holiness and purity, which is why he sowed the flax with his own hands. In this way, the net was for the sake of Heaven, the trapping of the deer was for the sake of Heaven, and the skinning of the hide, its salting, tanning, and writing - everything was for the sake of Heaven. From this, extraordinary results emerge: children who disseminate Torah throughout Israel. But what is the significance of distributing the deer meat to the poor? This detail is not necessary for the learning itself, so why did he emphasize it?
Rather, here he wanted to instill in the children from the very start of their studies that their Torah must be a Toras chessed - a Torah of loving-kindness. It was not enough that the Torah be studied purely for its own sake (lishmah), which he achieved by performing all the preparatory actions himself for the sake of Heaven rather than buying ready-made nets; he also added chessed by giving the meat to orphans. When Torah contains chessed as well, it is a Torah that endures; and Torah that lacks chessed, where is its endurance? This chessed was also expressed in another point: after each child finished his Chumash, he told them that each one should teach his fellow what he had learned, as Rabbi Chiyya was moving on to the next town. For this, one must be a person of great chessed: "I will teach you Bereishis and you will teach me Shemos," instead of continuing to learn solely for oneself. And by virtue of what was he able to instill the trait of chessed in them? By virtue of having given the deer meat to orphans at the very start of the entire process, beginning with acts of chessed, so that naturally a Torah of chessed developed within them.
She Watches Over the Ways of Her Household
צוֹפִיָּה הֲלִיכוֹת בֵּיתָהּ וְלֶחֶם עַצְלוּת לֹא תֹאכֵל׃ - She watches over the ways of her household, and eats not the bread of idleness.
May Hashem protect us so that we never know of any tragedy. A mother whose son took his own life once said: "Only now am I opening his journals and reading what he wrote. If only I had guarded less his 'right' to his own closet, to not touch his things, not interfere, the right to privacy - I am his mother, what privacy? When a child is not at home, nothing will happen if you open and check once in a while what is going on in your child's closet. Perhaps I would have read his journal, understood what distress he was in, and helped him a moment sooner." This is the meaning of "She watches over the ways of her household": to keep watch over the conduct of the home and to stay observant. This is not to say that one should install hidden cameras throughout the house, but one should not hesitate to check what is going on and maintain indirect oversight.
Here is very important advice: even if we discover something, we must act wisely. Often, a parent who discovers something feels like a detective - "You think you're hiding something from me? I know everything, I know all your foolishness." This is complete folly, for as long as the child still shows respect and hides things from you, if you act to prevent the harm without revealing that you know, you preserve his dignity, and he will continue to make an effort toward you and maintain a respectful facade. But the moment you tell him "I knew," his image in your eyes is shattered, and he no longer has anything to hide: "Fine, that's who I am." Therefore, part of wisdom is knowing that not everything you know needs to be exposed; rather, one should observe indirectly who he is associating with and where things are coming from.
A working, God-fearing Jew once related: "I have a computer at home, and my wife began bringing home all kinds of movies, claiming they are fine. But I do not want these things in the house. A movie is a scar on the soul, and there is nothing more destructive than a movie, because an improper movie or book influences a person indirectly. It is not overt propaganda and it does not try to debate you, but it draws one toward non-Jewish culture, dressing like them, and thinking like them. We know this is alluring and people are swept along by it." The wife had been getting the movies from a friend who was also chareidi, under the claim that they were modest and harmless - may Hashem protect us. The man recounted: "I didn't want this, and I knew that if I brought it up at home it would spark a world war. So I didn't say a word to my wife. Instead, I called that friend and said to her: 'If you want to ruin our shalom bayis, keep giving my wife movies. Know that I strictly object to this and do not want it, and do not tell her that I spoke with you. Why do you need someone else's Gehinnom on your shoulders? Did you start a movie gemach? Whatever you choose to do for yourself, do for yourself, but why ruin others? I personally know several families that were ruined by these things.' She apologized, saying that my wife had asked and she felt uncomfortable refusing, and she begged forgiveness. And that is how the matter ended: no more movies in the house, no arguments, and no fights." Thus, a person can often act indirectly rather than confrontationally, which is far wiser than launching an attack on one's child or family member. The principle remains the same: "She watches over the ways of her household" - to see how the home is conducted and keep a watchful eye, rather than being naive and facing painful surprises later.
Her Children Rise and Call Her Blessed
קָמוּ בָנֶיהָ וַיְאַשְּׁרוּהָ בַּעְלָהּ וַיְהַלְלָהּ׃ - Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband, and he praises her.
The Malbim connects the two verses: all of the woman's virtues - being a woman of valor to maintain the home, overseeing the conduct of her household, and not eating the bread of idleness - are all things accomplished inside the home, and those who praise her for them are her husband and her family. She manages the house properly, economizes, engages in commerce, watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness, and it is the members of her household who praise her. This is not praise that is apparent to the outside world, and therefore she is not lauded publicly at the gates; rather, "Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband, and he praises her."
Ibn Ezra explains "Her children arise" in a different way. It was stated earlier, "Her lamp does not go out at night," and when her lamp does not go out, the children get up on time. When a woman oversleeps, it suddenly turns out to be seven-thirty, and she wakes up in a panic and rushes the children late to preschool and school. But if her lamp does not go out at night and she is awake until the early morning hours, she naturally wakes the children on time. Therefore, "Her children arise" in the morning because "her lamp does not go out at night." And with what do they praise her? In the following verse: "Many daughters have done valiantly, but you surpass them all" - this is the praise that her children and husband say to her.
Rashi explains this according to the approach that the woman of valor represents the Torah: "Her children arise" - these are the students, the sons of Torah; "her husband" - this refers to the Holy One, Blessed be He, Who is, as it were, the husband of the Torah. Both the sons and the Holy One, Blessed be He, praise the Torah for the righteous deeds toward which it directs them.
Many Daughters Have Done Valiantly, but You Surpass Them All
רַבּוֹת בָּנוֹת עָשׂוּ חָיִל וְאַתְּ עָלִית עַל כֻּלָּנָה׃ - "Many daughters have done valiantly, but you surpass them all."
The Vilna Gaon explains this based on what was noted earlier, that the Torah is acquired through forty-eight ways, and as hinted at the beginning of the chapter: "A woman of valor, who can find (*Eshet chayil mi yimtza*)" - the *mem* of *mi*, and *chayil* in gematria is *chet* plus *yud*, which is eighteen, plus *lamed*, making forty-eight. These are the forty-eight attributes through which the Torah is acquired: minimizing food, minimizing sleep, minimizing drink, minimizing business, minimizing idle chatter, and all the rest. The more one merits to cultivate these attributes through which Torah is acquired, the greater portion and merit one attains in Torah.
Yet along with this, the Gra makes a fascinating and truly novel point: it is impossible for a single person to possess all forty-eight. It is simply impossible for an individual to attain all forty-eight qualities enumerated in Tractate Avot. Rather, one person possesses some of them, and another possesses different qualities, until across all of them, the forty-eight qualities are completed collectively. Yet the Torah itself must be acquired through all forty-eight together, possessed by all of us jointly, and in this manner the Jewish people as a whole merit to receive the Torah. This is the meaning of "Many daughters have done valiantly [*chayil*]" - many Torah scholars have achieved this valor, the forty-eight qualities. One should not think that each individual attained it entirely on his own, for it is impossible for one person to achieve everything; rather, through "many daughters" - through the collective efforts of many Torah scholars - the *chayil* of those forty-eight qualities is attained. "And you" - representing the Torah in its entirety - "surpass them all."
In summary:
We have learned that one who purchases the linen sheet receives the belt for free: when one acquires Torah, the other disciplines of wisdom come along automatically, as seen with the Chazon Ish and the Vilna Gaon, and as the Rambam formulated in his letter, describing secular sciences as perfumers, cooks, and bakers that serve the wife of his youth - the Torah - provided that not an ounce of sympathy is diverted to them. From there, we turned to "Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the final day": one who lives properly does not fear the final day. In "She opens her mouth with wisdom, and a Torah of loving-kindness is on her tongue," the wisdom she studied will open her mouth on the Day of Judgment, and her deeds of kindness will serve as an advocate, just as in the story of Rabbi Chiya, who instilled in his students a Torah of loving-kindness, through which alone Torah endures. "She oversees the ways of her household" teaches us not to be naive at home, but to keep a watchful eye and act with wisdom and tact. "Her children arise and call her blessed" shows that her inner virtues are recognized specifically by the members of her household, and allegorically, by her students and the Holy One, Blessed be He. Finally, "Many daughters have done valiantly" reveals that no single individual acquires all forty-eight ways of acquiring the Torah; it is only through the collective whole that the Torah is perfected in Israel.