Woman of Valor
There is an outer Bible, a story of men and women, of wars and wonders. And there is an inner Bible, according to ancient traditions, in which each word uncovers fathomless wisdom, beauty and light.

From the outside, Biblical women appear to play only a supportive role in a drama dominated by men.

From the inside emerges a story of men manipulated by potent women and nurtured with feminine values. A story that reveals the inner quality of womanhood that transcends the minds of men.

This is the secret of the words of Solomon’s wisdom, “A woman of valor is the crown of her husband.” As a crown sits above the head and goes beyond it, so the inner light of womanhood is of an essence-quality, of a place the mind cannot touch.

Eve (Chava)
“Adam called his wife Chava, for she was the mother of all life” (Genesis 3:20)

She was the other side of the image of G–d. For G–d is not just a boundless light, beyond all things. G–d is here now, within all things, giving them life, being whatever they are being. In her source above, she is “the Shechina”—the Divine Presence That Dwells Within.

This is what drove the earthly Chavah to eat the fruit: this yearning to be within, to experience the taste of life, to be immersed in it. With this she transgressed—she carried herself from the realm of the Divine into a world where all that is real is the here and now, where there is no vantage point from which to discern good from evil, no light to discern the fruit from its husk. And she took with herself the Shechina and imprisoned Her as well, so that havoc ensued throughout the cosmos.

But the desire behind her transgression was the holy yen of the Shechinah to permeate all. And in the end, she will succeed, and life within will also be Divine.

As long as the drama of this universe remains incomplete, the Shechina is silent, she does not sing. We see the world She vitalizes, but we do not hear her voice within it. In all people’s minds, She plays a secondary role—for her husband conquers and subdues, while she, they say, only provides life and nurture. Such is the mindset of an immature world.

There is a time-yet-to-come, when the secret of the Inner Light will be revealed. Then the Mother of Life will sing loud without bounds.

Sarah
“Whatever Sarah tells you,” G–d told Abraham, “listen to her.” (Genesis 21:12)

The first to heal the wound that Eve made was Sarah. She descended to the lair of the snake, to the palace of Pharaoh. She resisted his lure and rose back up. While living within, she remained bonded Above.

Abraham empowered Sarah to do so, yet Abraham himself was not capable of such a thing. This is the role of a man—to activate the power dormant in a woman. Without a woman, man has no bond with the Shechina. Without a man, the woman cannot be the Shechina. Once there is a man, the woman becomes everything.

Sarah is the embodiment of the cosmic power of purification and healing of souls. What Chava confused and stirred together, Sarah sifts and refines; where Chava entered in darkness, Sarah switches on the light. Her work continues through each generation: As the soul of Abraham draws souls in and holds them close to the Infinite Light, the soul of Sarah discerns the stains that must be cleaned and the dross that must be rejected. When any soul or spark of light is healed and returned to its source, you know that Sarah’s touch was there.

Rebecca
“Drink…and I will also draw water for your camels to drink.” (Genesis 24:17–18)

With these words, Rebecca betrothed herself to Isaac and rose to become mother of two great nations. Not for her act of giving, alone, but for her eagerness, because she pursued any opportunity to do good, seeking it with joy and delight, with all her soul and being.

And she implanted this within us as our inheritance. We only need awaken it and we will find the Rebecca within.

Few stories are as detailed in the Bible as the union of Rebecca and Isaac—it is told and retold three times. For in this tale, lies the birth of our people and our purpose. In it lies the inner secret for which the cosmos was created: the fusion of opposites, the paradox and beauty of life. For this, we are here—to unite heaven and earth. And in the union of Man and Woman is found all these.

And who is the matchmaker in this cosmic drama? It is the simple servant of Abraham, who speaks to the Master of the universe from the sincerity of his heart, obsessed with his mission and delights in its every step. It is each and any one of us.

Rachel and Leah
“A voice is heard on high, wailing, bitter crying. Rachel weeps for her children, She refuses to be consoled for they are gone.”

“Restrain your voice from weeping,” G–d tells her. “Hold back your eyes from their tears, For your work has its reward and your children shall return.” (Jeremiah 31:14)

Rachel is the embodiment of the Shechinah as She descends to care for Her children, even to travel into exile with them, insuring their return.

Her sister, Leah is also our mother, the Shechina. Yet she is the transcendent, concealed world; those hidden things of the Divine Mind too deep for men to fathom. She is the Sphere of Royalty as She rises above to receive in silent meditation.

Rachel is the world of revealed words and deeds. She held beauty that Jacob could perceive and desire. But Leah was too lofty, too far beyond all things, so Jacob could not attain her in the same way.

Yet it is from Leah that almost all the Jewish nation descends.

Miriam
(Exodus 2:4)

A young girl stands amid the reeds lining the river bank, still and quiet, watching from afar. She is the guardian of the promise, of all her people have yearned for. She will not allow that promise to leave her sight.

Her name is Miriam and Miriam means bitter, for it is a bitterness that drives her, all the bitterness born of her people’s harsh lot. Only her vision can assuage that burning pain, and she alone sustains its pulse. It is a powerful vision, one that will transform the bitter to sweet, the darkness of exile to the great light of freedom.

In her merit, we were redeemed from slavery. And in the merit of women of faith today, the entire world will be redeemed of its darkness.

Deborah
“They ceased living in unwalled towns in Israel, until I, Deborah, arose; I arose as a mother in Israel.” (Judges 5:7)

In the peaceful shade of an ancient date palm in the hills of Ephraim, there you would find a wise woman, a prophetess to whom Israel streamed for counsel, for guidance and for hope.

She summoned Barak, a mighty warrior, and instructed him to wage battle against the oppressors of her people. But Barak insisted he would not go unless Deborah went with him, and for that she scorned him.

For Deborah did not see greatness in emulating the qualities of manhood—in fighting and winning and conquering—but as a mother in Israel, as a giver of life, nurturing her people with kindness and with faith.

Esther
“So I will go to the king, contrary to protocol. And if I perish, I perish.” (Esther 4:16)

A woman of secrets, of mystery, cloaking her true identity within many garbs, until her time arrived. A woman like the morning star, at that impossible place where the night becomes so dark it has nothing left but to reveal the dawn.

One who dared set foot in the innermost chamber of evil, raising Haman its prince to the pinnacle of glory, only that he should manufacture his demise.

When she ripped away her mask and her inner light burst forth, the façade of chance and coincidence and palace intrigue opened like a curtain to reveal wonders and miracles on their back stage. This way, Esther contains the final redemption, for she married miracle with mundane, discovering unbounded light within a cloud of darkness.

Last Word
Of the most lofty, enlightened souls, many had wives greater than themselves and daughters greater than their sons. So it was with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. So it was with Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Meir. So it was with many great masters of the Kabala.

These great men, in their personal lives, were already tasting of the World to Come, when the quality of womanhood will loom over man.