Binah, An Inherent Feminine Quality

What is Binah? Some translate it as intuition, emotional intelligence, or the capacity to understand the deeper realities that surround us. Perhaps it is a combination of all three? In order to have a sharp understanding of what binah is, we will first delve into what chochmah is and then look at the relationship between binah and chochmah. Then, we’ll explore the connection between binah and women, as well as its link to emotional intelligence (EQ).

The Difference Between Chochmah and Binah

Chochmah and binah are often explored and discussed together. They are two different mental faculties – two distinct yet related abilities that enable a person to think and make sense of the world. Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan z”l, in his book Inner Space, explains that chochmah constitutes the axioms that define the world, while binah is the logical system that connects these axioms. In other words, chochmah relates to facts, data, and the laws of nature – the essence of what things really are – while binah refers to understanding how those facts interplay logically and emerge as a coherent system of laws. A basic translation of the two words would be that chochmah is ‘knowledge’ and binah is ‘understanding.’

Chochmah is the direct information that reaches us, and binah is the indirect information that we then later infer. Rashi (Shemot 31:3) explains that binah means understanding a matter in one’s heart by the means of things that one has already learned. In other words, the ability to extract additional information from data already received. Recognizing patterns or making connections that are not immediately obvious. 

Binah is the methodical process of organizing and delving deeper into the idea that originated from Chochmah. It’s about expanding on that initial insight, examining its details, and understanding its intricacies. While binah does operate in a systematic way, a lot of the ‘thinking through’ is quick and subconscious. We infer things, not because we consciously worked them out but because you “somehow”’ just understood them, we grasped them intuitively.

Chochmah is the direct information that reaches us, and binah is the indirect information that we then later infer. Rashi (Shemot 31:3) explains that binah means understanding a matter in one’s heart by the means of things that one has already learned. In other words, the ability to extract additional information from data already received.

When we ask someone, “Do you chap what I’m saying?” we’re essentially wanting to know not whether they understand the concept of what we’re talking about in an intellectual sense but whether they grasp what we’re saying on a deeper level. Do they understand the totality of what we’re trying to convey? Binah is related to the word bein, meaning between, and it can very much be understood as “reading between the lines”, it is something that we might refer to as a “gut feeling.”

Women have binah yeteira 

Many of us will have heard the concept that women have more binah than men – “binah yeteira nitna l’isha”¹. To some extent, we can see this through observation. Typically speaking, women often exhibit greater engagement and skill in interpersonal interactions compared to men. Men, on the other hand, may tend to maintain more distance from each other and emphasize independence even while engaging in their relationships. While men may prioritize independence, women may lean more towards valuing interdependence and nurturing group connections.

Rabbi Kaplan z”l explains that the relationship between chochmah and binah can be grasped in terms of the relationship between male and female. In a human relationship, the male provides the sperm, and the female takes it and holds it in her womb for nine months, after which she delivers a fully developed child. Chochmah is a series of facts that we can put into the womb of binah in order to develop an entire logical structure. The word binah is related to the word bnia, construction – as a building is to the foundation that it stands on, so is binah to chochmah. Women can be seen to manifest this role of building in relation to the family, where they often assume the role of nurturers and caregivers within the family,  raising the children – the future of klal Yisrael – into holy and refined individuals. Whilst the father provides the seeds of wisdom, the mother builds the receptacle to receive that wisdom.

Is Binah Related to EQ?

Now, we’ll turn to look at the relationship between binah and EQ. “EQ” stands for “Emotional Quotient.” It is a measure of a person’s emotional intelligence, which encompasses the ability to recognize, understand, manage, and effectively express one’s own feelings, as well as to engage and navigate successfully with the emotions of others.

Let’s start off by saying that binah isn’t inherently connected to EQ more than it is to IQ. Binah is an aspect of the mind, and the mind is something that is used to understand things in both the intellectual sphere and the emotional sphere. That being said, we can posit that perhaps IQ requires relatively more chochmah, and EQ requires relatively more binah. This is because binah can simply be understood as intuition, and intuition is a main component or facilitator of emotional intelligence. It often involves the ability to quickly understand or sense something without the need for conscious reasoning. In the context of EQ, binah plays a role in recognizing and understanding emotions in oneself and others and making inferences from emotional cues such as body language and tone of voice, as opposed to that which is stated explicitly. Binah can help with the decision-making and problem-solving processes, especially in situations where analytical reasoning may be limited precisely because it is more of a quick subconscious process compared to analysis, which is a slower and conscious process.
In conclusion, binah is the faculty of intuition that is found to a greater degree amongst women (hence the term ‘women’s intuition’), and it facilitates her emotional intelligence. It is binah that enables a woman to navigate and build in the world of middot – her own and those of her family. It allows her to approach social and emotional situations with greater awareness, understanding, and effectiveness. Additionally, it gives her the ability to maintain successful relationships with other women and build the community – a microcosm of the Jewish people.

1.  Mesechet Nida 45b ↩︎