חייב אדם ללמד את בתו תורה!

She had barely finished drinking when her face turns yellow, her eyes protrude and her veins swell. And [those who see her] exclaim, “Remove her! Remove her, so that the temple-court should not be defiled”. If she had merit, it [causes the water] to suspend its effect upon her. Some merit suspends the effect for one year, some merit suspends the effects for two years, and some merit suspends the effect for three years. Hence Ben Azzai said: a person must teach his daughter Torah, so that if she has to drink [the water of bitterness], she should know that the merit suspends its effect. Rabbi Eliezer says: whoever teaches his daughter Torah teaches her lasciviousness. Rabbi Joshua says: a woman prefers one kav (of food) and sexual indulgence to nine kav and sexual separation. He used to say, a foolish pietist, a cunning wicked person, a female separatist, and the blows of separatists bring destruction upon the world.

Every man in Israel is obliged to study the Torah, whether he be poor or rich, whether he be physically healthy or ailing, whether he be in full vigor of youth or of great age and weakened vitality; even if he be dependent upon alms for his livelihood, or going around from door to door begging his daily bread, yea, even he who has a wife and children to support is obliged to have an appointed time for the study of the Torah, both during the day and at night, for it is said: "But thou shalt meditate therein day and night" (Joshua, 1.8.).⁹Yoma, 35a; Menahot, 99b. G. G. Some of the great scholars in Israel were hewers of wood, some of them drawers of water, and some of them blind: nevertheless they engaged themselves in the study of the Torah by day and by night. Moreover, they are included among those who translated the tradition as it was transmitted from mouth of man to mouth of man, even from the mouth of Moses our Master. Until what age in life is one obliged to study the Torah? Even until the day of one's demise; for it is said: "And lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life" (Deut. 4.9.) Forsooth, as long as one will not occupy himself with study he forgets what he did study.¹⁰Kiddushin, 29b. G. One is obligated to divide his time of study by three; one third for the study of Holy Writ, one third for the study of the Oral Torah, and one third for thinking and reflecting so that he may understand the end of a thing from its beginning, and deduct one matter from another, and compare one matter to another, and reason out by the hermeneutical rules in which the Torah is expounded to the end that he may know which are the principal rules and how to deduct therefrom that which is forbidden and that which is permitted, and other like matters which he studied from oral tradition. This subject of study is called Gemara.¹¹Ibid. 30a; Abodah Zarah, 19b. C. For instance? If one was a craftsman and engaged himself three hours daily to his work and to Torah nine hours, of those nine hours he should devote three hours to the study of Holy Writ, and three hours to the Oral Torah and the last three hours to mental reasoning, to deduct one matter from another. Matters pertaining to tradition are included in Holy Writ, but their oral explanation is included in Oral Torah. The subjects designated as Pardas¹²Vineyard, Works of the Chariot, Cosmogony, Metaphysics etc. G. are included in the Gemara. These rules are spoken of man's beginning of study, but when he matures in wisdom and has no need either for further study of Holy Writ or for continuous devotion to the study of Oral Torah, he should read Holy Writ and traditional matters at appointed times merely so as not to forget any matter pertaining to the laws of the Torah, and turn his attention to a continuous study of Gemara, of course, in proportion to the broadness of his heart and peacefulness of his mind.¹³Abodah Zarah, 19b. G. A woman who studied the Torah has a reward coming to her but it is incomparable to the reward of a man because she was not commanded to do so, and whosoever does something which is not mandatory upon him to perform receives not a hire equal to the hire of him who is commanded to perform it but less than he. And, although she has a reward coming the sages commanded that a man shall not instruct his daughter in the Torah, because most women have no set mind to be instructed therein, but, on the contrary, are apt to divert matters of the Torah to nonsensical matters, of course, in proportion to the inferiority of their mind. The sages said: "Whosoever instructs his daughter in Torah does no better than if he instructed her in matters of profanity." (Sotah, 21b). These matters are thus spoken of only concerning the Oral Torah, but respecting Holy Writ it is best not to begin to instruct her therein but if he did instruct her it is not as if he instruct her in profanity.¹⁴Abodah Zarah, 3b; Kiddushin, 31a. C.