Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Bereishis

The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.

R' Frand quoted the pasuk in Bereishis 2:18 where Hashem said that it is not good for man to be alone and Hashem said He will make him a mate. Rashi explains based on a Pirkei D'Rebbi Elazar that there is only one Hashem in the heavens and if there is only one man below, people will think that there are two in control - one in the heavens and Adam controls life below.

R' Frand remarked that the problem with the vort is that the pasuk does not say that. If this was the case, the pasuk should have said that Hashem was making a second to the pair. Instead, the pasuk says that Chava was a helpmate - she had this as a job.

R' Frand quoted R' Elya Baruch Finkel who cited R' Chaim Shmulevetz based on a gemara in Avodah Zarah that R' Chanina Ben Tradyon had a gezera against him because he uttered the Shem Hamiyuchad in another language. How did he do this, especially since the gemara in Sanhedrin says that one who does this loses his place in the World to Come! They answer that this was for teaching purposes, but Hashem is midukdak with Tzaddikim. The gemara in Avodah Zarah teaches also that his wife died as well. But why? R' Frand supposed - should R' Moshe Feinstein's wife have told him he was wrong? Why is she condemned to death for not arguing with her husband.

R' Chaim answered that we see that women have an intuition of the smell test. It may be right halachically, but it just does not look right. And when you are on that high a level, you have a wife that can intuit it as well. We find this in Tanach by the wife of On ben Peles in Parshas Korach. Or where Rivkah engineers that the bracha should go to Yaakov, instead of Yitzchak's intent to give it to Esav.

This then answers the question which started the vort. Rashi says that people should not have the mistake that just as there is One above there is one below and therefore there is a helpmate. Why? Because her role is to make sure that people dont make mistakes about who is in control and to make sure that her husband does not make a mistake. Her role is not merely to do chores or help with the kids, it is to help him avoid mistakes.

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