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PARASHAT VEZOT HABERACHAH THE CROWN OF TORAH IS FREE FOR ALL Moshe's blessings to Israel before his demise include the following prelude: "Moses commanded us Torah, the possession of the congregation of Yaacov." (Devarim 33:4) Rashi reads the verse as follows, "The Torah that Moshe commanded us, is an inheritance to the congregation of Yaacov: we have taken it and will not abandon it." This implies that the Torah of Moshe has become ingrained within the entire Jewish people to the extent that we are unable to ever separate ourselves from it. From the phrase, "the possession of the congregation of Yaacov," we might think that Torah is only the possession of the children of kings. Therefore, the Sifri asks, "how do we learn that it is also the possession of the children of the small folk?" The answer is from the verse in Devarim 29:9, "You stand this day all of you before the L-rd your G-d", which teaches that every Jew has a share in the Torah. This idea is reflected in the saying of Chazal (our sages) that there exist three crowns: the crown of Torah, the crown of Kehuna (priesthood), and the crown of Kingdom. The crown of Kehuna was given to the children of Aharon, the crown of Kingdom to the offspring of David. However, the crown of Torah is available to whoever wants to take it. WOMEN MAY RECEIVE THE CROWN OF TORAH Although a woman can aspire to become neither a king from the Davidic
dynasty nor a Kohen, the crown of the Torah is available to adorn
her head. During all generations of Jewish history, there have always
been great and learned women. There are renowned women such as Devorah
the wife of Lapidot, for whom hordes of people would wait in line
to pose their halachic inquiries. Bruria of the Gemarah, who taught
her husband how to have mercy on others in accord with the Biblical
indictment; and Rashi's daughters who participated in the pilpul
(dialectics) of their scholarly husbands, the Tosafot. These are
just examples, yet there are many less well-known female scholars
throughout the generations from far and near, who taught men behind
a mechitza (partition). In our own days, we have been privileged
to learn from such outstanding Talmidot Chachamot (learned women)
as Nechama Leibowitz, of blessed memory, the queen of Torah exposition,
as well as Dr. Tamar Ross, Shlit"a, specializing in the esoteric
parts of the Torah. Esther Skopp notes in her article in Jewish
Action, that there is a renewed thirst among Orthodox Jewish women
to delve in depth into the classical texts of the Torah and its
commentaries. Everywhere, new Yeshivot for women are sprouting forth
and being filled with spiritual Jewish women seeking to return not
only to their roots but also to serious, textual, Torah study. No
longer do lectures satisfy our yearning. The new generation of Jewish
women wants more than just to sit back passively and listen to the
wisdom of others. We are ready to work hard, together with our study
partners, in order to gain the skills, which enable us to struggle
with the Torah on our own, with the help of the questions we pose
to our husband's and Rabbis.
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