Teaching Daughters Torah: A Folly?

The historical relationship between Jewish women and the study of Torah has hardly been predicated on halachic debate and resolution. For thousands of years, traditional gender roles have universally kept women out of study halls, and questions of women and Torah were largely theoretical, save for some notable individuals. When it happened, a woman studying Torah was a personal pursuit. 

Social and technological choices changed that, and in the late 19th century questions rose to the surface for practical implication. Is women learning Torah muttar, recommended, maybe even required? What is the meaning of the oft-cited mishnah, “Rabbi Eliezer says, anyone who teaches his daughter Torah, it’s as if he is teaching her tiflut”?

The Context

The mishnah is found when discussing the sotah, a woman accused of adultery based on her inappropriate seclusion with a man. She is made to drink a special potion, which, if guilty, will cause her instant and grotesque death. The Mishnah discusses the possibility of a guilty sotah’s punishment being postponed based on various zchutim she would have incurred. About this, Ben Azai says: From here we learn that a man is obligated to teach his daughters Torah. ¹

There is no zchut like Torah study. Ben Azai’s claim is that a woman who drinks the sotah waters and does not instantly die might think the process was ineffective. If she had studied Torah, she would chalk the delay up to those merits. 

This is where the Mishnah’s discussion begins on whether a father should teach his daughter Torah. Whatever conclusion we draw from Rabbi Eliezer’s statement, it is important to remember Ben Azai’s take, who deems teaching daughters Torah not only permissible, but an actual obligation. 

The Gemara highlights Rabbi Eliezer’s statement: It is ke’ilu, as if, he teaches her tiflut, and is not quite tiflut itself. So, what is tiflut?

Defining the Terms

The most basic fork in this road hinges on the definition of the term tiflut. Some understand it to mean tasteless or meaningless, like the usage we find in Iyov 6:6. “ הֲיֵאָכֵל תָּפֵל, מִבְּלִי-מֶלַח – (it) will be eaten bland, without salt.” This seems to be the definition of the Rambam, who is quoted by the Shulchan Aruch on the subject.

The second definition is harsher, referring to that which is immoral or conducive to immorality. Though still not defined as something which is assur to do, this definition places the conundrum of fathers teaching their daughters Torah in a category of ethical concern. This definition is upheld by Rashi, who says a woman might learn with bad faith and deceitfully, learning conniving techniques to undercut the halacha. The Lechem Mishnah says Rashi is referring to acts of immorality. 

The Torah They Talk Of

What do Chazal mean with “teaching daughters Torah”, exactly? The Rambam makes a distinction between the Torah shebichtav, the 24 books of tanach, and the oral law, which includes the Mishnah, Gemara, and further discussions. The commentators agree that the categorization of tiflut refers only to the in-depth study of Torah she’baal peh. 

The most obvious requirement for a woman to study is as a means to an end, so she is able to practice Judaism correctly. Of course, this is open to interpretation: what is considered necessary? The Satmar Rav took the most extreme position, namely that all girls needed to learn were a technical list of halachic do’s and don’ts. On the other hand, most contemporary rabbanim agree that women need halachic background and discussion, as well as hashkafah, ideas, and general Jewish knowledge, in order to be committed and inspired.

“And Moshe commanded them… At the end of seven years, During Sukkot… You shall read this Torah before all the Jews… Gather together the people – the men, the women, and the small children…” ² The mitzvah of Hakhel explicitly requires women to be present. The Taz and Bach both tell us this is the source for Rambam’s distinction. Although the mitzvah of velimadatem es beneichem, learning with one’s children, refers to sons, not daughters³, there is clearly a time and place for women to be studying Torah, too.

Ashkenazi women recite the brachah on the Torah: ”Asher kideshanu b’mitzvosav vetzivanu lasok bedivrai torah – Who… commanded us to study Torah.”  If this is not a bracha l’vatalah⁴, it clearly teaches us that women’s learning is, to some extent, an actual commandment. 

Learning to Practice

The most obvious requirement for a woman to study is as a means to an end, so she is able to practice Judaism correctly. Of course, this is open to interpretation: what is considered necessary? The Satmar Rav took the most extreme position, namely that all girls needed to learn were a technical list of halachic do’s and don’ts. On the other hand, most contemporary rabbanim agree that women need halachic background and discussion, as well as hashkafah, ideas, and general Jewish knowledge, in order to be committed and inspired. This is especially the case in a world where women ingest years of secular studies and are knowledgeable in all matters of science, politics, business, social studies, language arts, and whatnot. 

Rambam in hilchot talmud Torah says women can learn Torah as eino m’tzuvah, a mitzvah that is not a requirement, much like shofar and sukkah. The Prisha, a commentator on the Tur, says this applies even to Torah she’baal peh, although her father should not teach it to her.

This could be because of the Torah Temima, who cites “Rov nashim daatin kalot – most women’s intellect is lighter”⁵ as the reason that women should not study Torah shebichtav deeply. In the Prisha’s understanding, a woman who pursues deep Torah study has identified herself as not a part of the rov, the majority, and will get rewarded for her learning. Her father, however, is not at liberty to assume that she is from the minority.

It should be clear that the Mishnah we’ve discussed, even in its broadest interpretations, is not condemning the study of Torah by women altogether. It refers only to fathers teaching, not to women studying themselves; only to in-depth study of Gemara; and is categorized not as assur but as tiflut, the definition of which is inconclusive at best. In addition, there is the clear allowance, and indeed requirement, for a woman to study that which she needs to in order to feel fulfilled in her Jewish observance.

Perhaps this very mishnah is the most worthy proof of how delicately and precisely we need to approach the words of Chazal, and how dangerous and destructive any deviation from the truth can be. It is easy to find offense in the words of our mesorah, even when a deeper, more mature reading leads to a far more nuanced picture. Man or woman, it is our obligation to approach the words of Chazal with good faith, humility, and always through the lens of the later mefarshim.

1. Mishnah Sotah 3:4 ↩︎
2. Devarim 31: 10-12 ↩︎
3. Kiddushin 29b ↩︎
4. Orach Chaim 589:6 ↩︎
5. Kiddushin 80a ↩︎