Topics Page: Mother

(20) The Human named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.

(15) And God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, you shall not call her Sarai, but her name shall be Sarah. (16) I will bless her; indeed, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she shall give rise to nations; rulers of peoples shall issue from her.”

(8) My son, heed the discipline of your father,And do not forsake the instruction of your mother;

The white is from the male, from him are brain, bones, and sinews. The red is from the female, from her are skin, flesh, and blood. But breath, life force, and soul are from the Holy One, may He be praised; all three are partners in him.

Rav Ḥisda said to him: By God! Even your mother, and even your mother’s mother, and even a woman so old that she is standing at the edge of her grave are all permitted to adorn themselves. As people say in the popular adage: A woman of sixty years, like one of six, runs at the sound of the timbrel [tavla], implying that women of all ages are young in spirit; since they all take pleasure in their adornments, they are allowed to adorn themselves, regardless of age.

(13) “Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law: Go, return each woman to her mother's house; may the Lord perform kindness with you, as you performed with the dead, and with me” (Ruth 1:8).“Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law: Go, return each woman to her mother's house [beit immah]” – to the house of her nation [beit ummatah]. The mother of Avnimos the weaver died, and Rabbi Meir ascended to pay his respects and found them sitting in mourning. Later, his father died, and Rabbi Meir ascended to pay his respects and found them engaged in their labor. He said to him: ‘It appears to me that your mother was dearer to you than your father.’ He said to him: ‘But is it not written so: “Each…to her mother’s house”? He said to him: ‘Well said, as there is no paternity among gentiles.’

GEMARA: Apropos precedence, the Sages taught in a baraita: If one and his father and his teacher were in captivity, his release precedes his teacher’s because one’s own life takes precedence, and his teacher’s release precedes his father’s release. His mother’s release precedes the release of all of them.

§ The mishna teaches: Who is the woman characterized as an elderly woman in this context? It is any woman for whom three typical menstrual cycles of thirty days passed at a stage of her life close to her old age, during which she saw no menstrual blood. The Gemara asks: What is considered close to old age? Rav Yehuda says: Any woman about whom her friends say that she is an elderly woman. And Rabbi Shimon says: It is any woman who is old enough that people call her: Mother [Imma], Mother, and she is not embarrassed. Rabbi Zeira and Rabbi Shmuel bar Rav Yitzḥak disagree with regard to this matter. One says that the definition is any woman who does not take offense about being called: Mother, Mother. And the other one says that it is any woman who is not embarrassed by this. The Gemara asks: What is the difference between their definitions? The Gemara answers: The practical difference between them is in a case where a woman is embarrassed but she does not take offense when called: Mother.

(2) אמו ואביו תיראו EVERYBODY OF YOU SHALL FEAR HIS MOTHER AND HIS FATHER — Here Scripture mentions the mother before the father because it is manifest to Him that the child fears the father more than the mother and therefore by mentioning the mother first Scripture stresses the duty of fearing her. In the case of honoring one's parents, however, Scripture mentions the father before the mother because it is manifest to Him that the child honors the mother more than the father because she endeavors to win him over by kindly words. Therefore by mentioning the father first Scripture emphasizes the duty of honoring him (Kiddushin 30b - Kiddushin 31a).

(1) Dinah the daughter of Leah went out (Genesis 34,1) Why, everyone who uses proverbs applies to you the proverb “Like mother, like daughter.” (Ezekiel 16,44) Yosi from Me‘ona was giving Targum (translating in exegetical fashion) in Shul in Me‘ona the verse, (Hosea 5,1) “Hear this, O priests, Attend, O House of Israel, And give ear, O royal house…” He said, “In the future G-d will take the Cohanim and make them stand trial, saying to them ‘Why didn’t you put effort into learning Torah? Didn’t you have the 24 Priestly gifts?’ and the Cohanim responded, ‘They [Bnei Yisrael] didn’t give us anything.’ So Hashem says “‘Attend, O House of Israel,’ why didn’t you give the Cohanim their 24 gifts that are written in the Torah?” and Bnei Yisrael replied, “Because the taxes of Nasi already took it all.” So G-d turns to the house of the king, “‘And give ear, O royal house For right conduct is your responsibility’ it’s yours! [make sure that] ‘This then shall be the priests’ due from the people:’ (Devarim 18,3)therefore the [G-d’s] trait of judgment will befall you and your house! Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi heard this, was incensed, and left. Then Reish Lakish said to Rabbi Yehuda to appease him after the Yosi Me’ona incident, “Rebbe, we need to thank the nations of the world for bringing mimes into their theaters and circuses and performing before them, so they don’t come to talk to each and get into meaningless fights, Yosi Me’ona said a word of Torah and you’re so bothered by it?!? [Reish Lakish] continues, “Do you think he knows Torah?” Rabbi Yehuda, “Yes.” Reish Lakish, “Has he been taught and learned something?” Rabbi Yehuda, “Yes” Reish Lakish, “If we ask him something would he be able to answer? Rabbi Yehuda, “Yes.” Reish Lakish, “If so, let’s leave here and go see him.” [Reish Lakish] asks [Yosi from Me‘ona], “What is meant by the verse ‘Why, everyone who uses proverbs applies to you the proverb “Like mother, like daughter.”’ Yosi replies, "Like the daughter so too is the mother, the generation is like its Nasi, the altar is like its Cohanim. Around here we say like the garden so is the gardener." Reish Lakish said to him, “You still haven’t apologized for the first comment and you insult him again?” So what about the main point of ‘all who rule over you?’” Yosi said, “There is no cow that gores until its daughter is a kicker, no daughter prostitutes herself unless her mother has. Reish Lakish and Rabbi Yehuda, “Are you calling Leah our Matriarch a prostitute?!?” Yosi replied to them, “‘Leah went out to meet him [Yaakov]…’ and Leah went out dressed like a prostitute, therefor Dinah also went out dressed like a prostitute.”

(6) "And for your transgressions was your mother put away" (Isaiah 50:1). The King, said to Ima: Did I not tell you that he was going to sin? In that instance, he exiled him and his Mother. Therefore, it is written: "A wise son makes a glad father: but a foolish son is the grief of his mother." "A wise son" alludes to man in Atzilut, and "a foolish son" alludes to man in Briyah.

(7) All the friends rose and said, Rabbi, Rabbi, could there be such separation between Aba and Ima, so much so that what (emanated) from the aspect of Aba shall be formed in the way of (man of) Atzilut and that which emanated from the aspect of Ima shall be (formed in the way of man) of Briyah? (R' Shimon) said to them, Friends, friends, this is not so, because man of Atzilut is male and female, from the side of Aba and from Ima. This is why, "And Elohim said, 'Let there be light;' and there was light." "Let there be light" is from the aspect of Aba and "and there was light" is from the aspect of Ima. So man was (created) double - faced.

(1) When you speak with love and with awe, the Shechinah herself yearns to listen to your words, like a mother yearning for her child to speak some intelligible words and make her husband proud. So too, when your powerful words ascends on high and are adorned, this power gives rise to intense wonder, and all the angels ask: (I Chronicles 27:21) "Who is like Your people Israel, one nation." It is crucial, therefore, to speak at least one word of prayer with love and with awe, because this is enough to arouse the angels to sing to the Holy One, and you arouse all the worlds when you are devoted to the Holy One - all the worlds become devoted to the Holy One too.

(1) GIVE ME CHILDREN. The commentators said that this means that Rachel asked Jacob to pray on her behalf. Or else I die — Rashi comments: “For one who is childless may be considered as dead.” This is a Midrash of our Rabbis.But I wonder. If so, why was Jacob angry with her? And why did he say, Am I in G-d’s stead? for G-d hearkens to the righteous. [I wonder concerning] that which Jacob said [to Rachel, as quoted in Rashi: “You say that I should do as did my father, who prayed on behalf of Rebekah, but I am not circumstanced as my father was. My] father had no children at all. I, however, have children. It is from you that He had withheld children and not from me.” Do not the righteous pray on behalf of others? There were Elijah and Elisha who prayed on behalf of strange women.It would appear that on account of Jacob’s answer, our Rabbis took him to task, saying in Bereshith Rabbah: “The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Jacob, ‘Is this the way to answer a woman who is oppressed by her barrenness? By your life! Your children are destined to stand before her son Joseph!’”In line with the plain meaning of Scripture, Rachel asked of Jacob that he give her children, but her intent was truly to say that he should pray on her behalf and continue indeed to pray until G-d would, in any case, grant her children, and if not, she would mortify herself because of grief. In her envy she spoke improperly, thinking that because Jacob loved her he would fast, put on sackcloth with ashes, and pray until she would have children, so that she should not die of her grief.

(26) There is a Midrash Chazit on Song of Songs 3, 21 in which Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai asks Rabbi Eliezer son of Rabbi Yossi whether he had heard any comment about the crown his mother had made for him. Rabbi Eliezer replied in the affirmative. When asked what that comment was, he replied that it was a parable describing a king who had only one daughter whom he loved excessively and whom he called בתי, "my daughter." In the course of time he took to calling her אחותי, "my sister." Still later he started calling her אמי, "my mother." This describes the developing relationship of love between G–d and Israel. It is reflected in Psalms 45,11 where G–d is described as addressing Israel as "listen daughter, and incline your ear." In Song of Songs 5,2 Israel is addressed as "open your heart to Me My sister;" in Isaiah 51,4 Israel is addressed as עמי ולאומי, and the latter word is spelled Immi, "my mother." Upon hearing this Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai stood up and kissed Rabbi Eliezer on his head and said: "if I had only come to hear this word from you it would already have been worthwhile."

(47) Another benefit, joy in whatever happens to him, even if it is something difficult and against his nature, because he trusts that G-d will do only what is good for him in all matters, just like a mother has compassion on her baby in washing it, diapering it, and tying or untying it against its will, as David said "Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child" (Tehilim 131:2).