חינוך נשים (אדמו"ר הריי"צ)

00:01 This is Igress, and today we are going to begin part one of a two-part topic on women's education. One of our earliest Shiurim years ago discussed the establishment of Achas Atamimim and N'shei Benes Chabad, organizations that promote women's education. And there we skimmed over a few letters about the importance of women learning Torah, particularly in this generation. But, uh, we've never given it a full treatment, which is a bit of a surprise because something like half of our audience online are women. Uh, by the time we're done, I think some people might be surprised also by just how much Torah the Rebbe gives to women. It is hard to come up with a genre of Torah that the Rebbe does not want them learning. He encourages Halakha, Hasidus, Gemara, Igress, of course. Uh, the reasons behind mitzvahs, sometimes to the consternation and surprise of, uh, Rabbanim. We're going to eventually see Im Yirtza Hashem, a Yichidis with the Belzer Rebbe, where our Rebbe makes some of these claims, and you can tell that while the Belzer Rebbe is being polite, he finds a lot of them shocking. Uh, but this isn't really the Rebbe's project. The idea of women's education being front and center really goes back to the Frieda K'Rebbe, and maybe even earlier. So part of our series is going to focus Im Yirtza Hashem on the Frieda K'Rebbe's emphasis on women's education, and, uh, that's what we're going to do today, Im Yirtza Hashem. And then next year, we'll continue by focusing

01:08 on the Rebbe's letters on this subject. Uh, it's an enormous subject with letters in every volume, uh, Sichas in every year on the subject of women's education. The hope is to hit the main points and leave with a clear Shitah. So without further ado, the first letter is from the Rebbe. It'll set the stage for our discussion of the Frieda K'Rebbe's letters on women's education. This letter is in Igress volume, excuse me, volume six. Volume six. It is from the summer of Tovshin, Yud Beis. You will find it on page Reish Nun Tes, the part that we are reading. It's a large, a long letter to a Kfar Chabad, and in entry nine on the Rebbe's list of things that he is sending to Kfar Chabad, he discusses women's education and references the Frieda K'Rebbe in a way that I hope will launch our conversation. So over here in Tes, the Rebbe, the Rebbe, our Rebbe writes, "Zemikvar Kasavti," I've already written to you, "Al Derech Heri Spatla Shabbat Isefer Lenaris Shebekfar." I've already written to you about the fact that you have not yet opened a school for girls in Kfar Chabad. "Vav Shemu Venetzli Ayach Azakar Lekol Ze Meanash." The Rebbe says, "I understand that Anash generally feel cold about this, that they're not enthusiastic about opening up girls' schools and women's education." Uh, "Ki Lai Hurgu Vesimas Lei Myuchada Lehana Chabanis Beazman Sheaz Nigmar Tsurasam." When they were coming up, uh, when they were, when they were forming their ideas, the Rebbe

02:20 says, "When you were forming your ideas, Anash, uh, you didn't really have an emphasis placed on women's education, and so I understand that you didn't pay much attention to it then, and that you're not exactly enthusiastic about it now." Uh, so I recognize this isn't a top priority for you. Aval, but, "Anu Ein Lanu Elo Hadaz Nisieno Kavodish Medech Medmer," says the Rebbe, we have nothing other than the Frieda K'Rebbe's instructions. "She'ei Beiese Beriga," already back when the Frieda K'Rebbe was in Riga, in Latvia, "Hisch Eli's Anin Beiese Bechina Chabanis," the Frieda K'Rebbe already looked into the education of women in an, in a, uh, expansive way. "Vefrat Mishnas Tovshin," from the year, specifically from the year nineteen forty, "Sam Liba Kadesha Beze Beiese Beiese," that's when he really invested his in- invested his attention in women's education more and more starting from nineteen forty. This letter is written in nineteen fifty-two. "Veishkiya Mimer Tzeineve Kechesava Nailim Binyan Ze," the Frieda K'Rebbe used his, uh, his energies, his very lofty energies, and focused them on this particular subject. "Ad Harbeiese Meshe Neide Bagali," and he did this much more than that which is known in a revealed way. People don't know, says the Rebbe, just how much effort of the Frieda K'Rebbe's holy efforts he put into women's education. And people know that he put in some effort. Imagine how much he really put in. The Rebbe says some of it's still unknown, maybe even today. "Vizel Heira Bishvilenu," and this is an instruction for

03:30 us. "Al Trizus Sha'azut," about the needs of the hour. "Vefrat Berets Akedesh Dibenevis Ekenena," especially in the Holy Land, "of Ismana Yese Nachren," and in the most recent times. "Shechina Chabanis Nasle Dave Muchrach Yese Yese," says the Rebbe, especially nowadays, especially in the land of Israel, we need to educate women much, much more. It's much more necessary. "Vemeila," and therefore, "Muchrach Gamken Shkolach Amitanu," it is obligatory that every single one of us, uh, "Yishana Akapan Yichve," that we should either change or at the very least submit, "Estata Ragila Vehargola," that we should at least, uh, maybe, maybe change and at the very least, uh, submit our thoughts and our, uh, tendencies. "Veyachlibatme," and we should make a, uh, resolution about ourselves, uh, that whether or not this is something that lands well for us, "Hene Meachra Shekavodish Medech Medmert Siva Ken," uh, since the Frieda K'Rebbe has commanded us to do so, "Hene Petachtava Muchrachu Bachabad," that this is something that is necessary in Chabad. So the Rebbe says here, at this point, the Frieda K'Rebbe has made it very clear what he wants. He wants women's educa- w-women's education. If that doesn't excite you, that's probably not your fault. You were raised without that being a particularly exciting idea for you. Nonetheless, it is time to either change your ideology or submit your ideology. At the, at the, at the best, change. At the worst, give in, right? Either but either way, change what you're doing and, uh, start, uh, making a resolution amongst

04:46 yourselves that you're going to listen to what the Frieda K'Rebbe says, which is that this is a necessary thing in Chabad. "Davar Muchrach Hu Bachabad," that, uh, it's a necessary thing that in Chabad that women are educated. And the Rebbe continues, that he's heard, "Sheme Ani, Sheli Tfachos Veseffer Lenaris Vekfara Meniase Yese Gidelev Shebeze, uh, Hu Eide Makamati." The Rebbe says, "I'm hearing that the main reason that you're not opening a school for girls in Chaba- in, in Kfar Chabad is that there's no room for one. You haven't found a right place for it." "Hatzati Vakasha Asi Kfulu Mishulashes." The Rebbe says, "I am asking you double and triple." Double and triple, he says. "Sheme Achdema Yese Efshari," that at the earliest opportunity, uh, "Yvcharu Makim Yese Matim Limena Naris." You will choose the best place, a more appropriate place to teach the girls. And he's saying here that he really wants this done quickly. "Kedeshi Sparase Ma Dover Eid Ezezman Ked Vaschalasman Limudum," so that you can, uh, get the word out that you've opened a girls' school well before the classes actually begin, so you can recruit and people end up coming. "Matev Gam Bishvil Gan Yeladim V'Lades Murcha Yese." The Rebbe says, "I'd also like to see a larger Gan for the, uh, kindergarten for the boys and the girls. I wish that was more expansive." But in any case, this is the way the Rebbe ends his letter. So he writes, "Berachas Hatzlacha B'Gashmiyus V' ruchnius, Kol Ech Ad Meachas." He

05:51 gives a beracha for hatslacha in success, uh, in, uh, a beracha for success in gashmiyus and ruchnius, physicality and spirituality to everybody. So we see in this letter, the Rebbe tells a group of Anash in Kfar Chabad, "You're not enthusiastic enough about something that the Frieda K'Rebbe cares about very much, which is opening up a girls' school. And whether you like it or not, this is something that is part of Chabad, Muchrach b'Chabad, mandatory in Chabad, and I expect to see one." And the Rebbe says to remove whatever barriers are in the way to make sure you can get the job done and start educating women. I found it interesting that in this letter, the Rebbe bases his hora'ah, uh, entirely on the Frieda K'Rebbe's hora'ah and the Frieda K'Rebbe's emphasis on women's education. So with that, I was hoping we could launch into a discussion of the Frieda K'Rebbe's emphasis on women's education. This letter is, uh, labeled Aleph Reish Nun Tes. It is one of the Frieda K'Rebbe's letters. It is from Chavtes Tishrei of Tov Shin Alef, and the Frieda K'Rebbe writes Shalom u'bracha. Bema'ana mechtavi, I'm responding to your letter, edus lima dach lanashim, about teaching Hasidus to girls. This letter, by the way, was written in the year tushenaleph. So that is what? Nineteen forty-one. Nineteen forty-one? Yeah. So nineteen forty-one. Hineh, klalos einish lalamnam Torah. The general reason why in the past we've had a rule that we haven't taught women Torah, which we'll get to in just a

07:01 moment. Hu v'neisha Torah v'patachas hachushim v'kishrenis v'ulais ispatach gam armumiyas v'yazik l'chamenyanim ben hagim kashas v'atarsh tulim nemonis. The reason why we haven't taught women up until now Torah is because Torah learning, deep Torah learning, not just the halachas that they need, but deep Torah learning intr-introduces a certain cleverness. It introduces a certain ability to, uh, use logic and use, uh, I guess, a philosophical approach to wiggle around halacha. And women require-- We, we rely on a woman's ne'emones. We re-we rely on the fact that women are trustworthy in certain areas like kashas and antaras mishpacha. And a good deal of that reliance comes from the fact that they don't know enough Torah to be crafty about it. But if we teach them a whole lot of Torah, it's going to cause craftiness. It could get in the way of some of the things that we rely on them for. And so it's been a problem in the past because, uh, women were, uh, were straightforward. They were straightforward people. They didn't have any secular or l'havdil Torah education to make them particularly crafty, and therefore introducing a craftiness into them through Torah wasn't good for Yiddishkeit. Ava, kol zehu keshe chinuch mesuder mugbal api haras hatorah. That was all-- That all applied back when the education of young boys and girls was entirely according to the rules of Torah. Ava b'dereinu, but in our generation. Uma gam bizman acherin, especially in recent years. Asher kol yanei chinuch pruyim l'shonsav tzirim v'aner kerim, k-k-kerim sifrei

08:13 minos. Nowadays, the entire chinuch is wild, and, uh, children are being taught works of heresy. Avral kivra v'emes heilech mispachet. True kvira, real heresy is just spreading everywhere. In a world like that, where people are reading things that are putting a treif cleverness into their minds, a certain craftiness that comes from the evil side, that comes from a heretical side. In this day and age, when women have that anyway in their heads. Mitzvah v'chev lah mid amud esh l'haras hacheshech. Nowadays, we have a mitzvah to stand up a pillar of fire and to light up the darkness. Hashem Yisbaruch ya'ir es leveinu, es lev avacheinu, v'achesenu b'nei avunei Yisrael. And may Hashem light up the hearts and the hearts of our brothers and our... Excuse me, our hearts and the hearts of our brothers and our sisters, the boys and the girls, the sons and daughters of Israel. Hashem eilem yichiu, lav d'Hashem v'leiv shalom, to serve God with a complete heart, v'kim mitzvas masiach, to, uh, through the fulfillment of practical mitzvas, v'chayas v'regesh pnimi, uh, with a real chayas, with an energy, and with an internal regesh, an internal feeling. V'lum Torah b'shkedah, and that they-- He, he gives them a bracha. They should all learn Torah b'shkedah, which means they should all learn Torah diligently, the boys and the girls. Im taros haleiv, and with purity of heart, ubechavah sadas, and with expansiveness of the mind. So the Frieda Kadeba is hinting in this letter to a much bigger idea, which is

09:16 that we used to not educate women. Women's education was not a big deal in Judaism. As a matter of fact, as we're about to see, it was not necessarily allowed in the first place. And the reason why in recent generations, it's not only allowed to teach women Torah, but it's obligatory to teach women Torah, is that the situation on the ground changed. It used to be that, uh, the, uh, cleverness, the, um, craftiness, the... I'm trying to find the right word, but the cleverness, the craftiness that comes with Torah learning was something that we had to risk when it came to men who have a mitzvah of learning Torah, but we didn't wanna risk when it came to women who didn't have a mitzvah of learning Torah in that way, besides for the halachas that they need, and benefited from the fact that they had a straightforward approach to the mitzvas that they did. But nowadays, that everybody's so complicated, and so complicated in a bad way, that is now that everybody's head is full of heresy anyway, and full of cleverness and craftiness anyway, it has become necessary to make sure that everybody has Torah to counterbalance that. The Frieda Kadeba is echoing the mainstream halachic opinion, um, that is, uh, the, I guess, foundation of women's education in general in this generation. I wanna take a step back and just give you some of the grounding and what the-- where the Frieda Kadeba is coming from. And for that, uh, we're gonna do

10:15 a quick halacha moment and then go right back to Frieda Kadeba letters. This is a veer. We're putting halacha in the middle. Halacha's in the middle. So we have a Rambam. This is, uh, on your screen. You have a Rambam. This is Hilchas Talmudeh Torah. Uh, in the, uh, this is the-- This is one thirteen, Hilchas Talmudeh Torah, uh, of the Rambam. And he says the following: "Isha shelomd Torah," a woman who learns Torah, "yesh laschar," she does get reward for learning Torah. This is even back then, in the times of the Rambam. This is the case. This is a din, goes all the way back to the Gemara, even earlier. Obviously, this is Torah. A woman who learns Torah gets rewarded. "Aval ein hakaschar ha'ish," but she doesn't get the same reward that a man gets. Why? "Mipnei shelo nitztavet," it's because she's not commanded. "V'chol ha'ese davar she'ein metzua lav la'aseh, ein scharo kaschar metzua ve'sha'asa el hapach," as commanded, because we have a general standing rule that a person who is commanded by God to do a mitzvah gets more reward when they do it than someone who volunteers to do a mitzvah that they're not commanded to do. This is a standing rule. So since men were commanded to learn Torah, and women are allowed to, but we're not commanded to, men get more reward for learning Torah than women do. "Aval piken," nonetheless. Excuse me. "V'aval pi yesh laschar," even though she would get reward for learning Torah, so it

11:17 would make sense for her to learn it, "tzivur chacham shelayil m'dadam mespit Torah." The chachamim commanded, our sages commanded not-- that a man should not teach his daughter Torah. This is the Gemara, Masechet Sota. "Mipnei sh'rei v'nashim ein datam uchosvanas l'slamid," because most women, their minds are not, uh, fixed in such a way that they're going to learn well. "Elhei matias divrei Torah v'divrei havai." So what instead they will do is they will take the words of Torah, and they will export them into words of vanity and nothingness. "L'fiani estaitan," because of the poverty of their thoughts. I understand this is not a progressive position, but I want you to understand I'm reading something from the Rambam that is quoting a Gemara. So we don't-- we certainly are not, uh, we're certainly, we're certainly quoting things from a time where progressive positions were not top of mind anyway. And this is Torah. This is what the Torah says. "Amru chachamim," and the chacham therefore said, based on this, "Kol lamed espit Torah k'il lamde-- k'il limda tifles," that anybody who teaches his daughter Torah is as though he's teaching her, uh, ridiculousness, things that don't matter, and according to some readings of tifles, um, uh, inappropriate behaviors. "V'ma d'vara m'morim b'Torah sh'al peh." When does this-- When do we say this, that it's tifles, that it's inappropriate behaviors that a man is teaching his daugh-daughter if he teaches her Torah? We only say this regarding Torah sh'al peh, the oral Torah. "Aval Torah sh'biksav," when

12:21 it comes to the written Torah, "lo yaylamed esah l'chatchilah. L'chatchilah," from the outset, don't teach her the written Torah either. "V'im limda," but if you did teach it to her, "ein hakolon l'tifles." We're not gonna say that that's like teaching her something inappropriate or something wasteful, because at the end of the day, that's Torah. So we see here from the Rambam, the Rambam is, uh, not the one who came up with this. The Rambam is echoing almost exactly the words of the Gemara. The Gemara is Torah sh'al peh. We have a tradition going all the way back that, uh, women don't learn Torah, that you shouldn't teach your daughter Torah. And so you can see where some of the pushback is coming from. The Rebbe's saying that men in Lubavitch are not enthusiastic about women's education. It-it's probably because they have thousands of years behind them that are not enthusiastic about women's education. And the Frieda Kadeba is admitting in the letter that we just saw that until now, it has not been the custom to teach women Torah, and this is very much the reason why. We don't want this sort of, uh, this sort of unhealthy cleverness, this sort of, uh, sinful behavior to enter into women. And, uh, it enters into them if they learn Torah. And obviously, since Torah is optional for them to learn, it's not optional for men, we gotta risk that with men. No reason to risk that for women. Now, the Shulchan Aruch Uh, which was written

13:19 many years later, and you would hope would get a little more progressive maybe. Uh, I'm just saying maybe it would, right? It's Yoreh De'ah two forty-six six. There is no, uh, there is no cons-- there, there is no right and left in Halakha. It simply is the case that Halakha goes down through the generations. So the Shulchan Aruch, the Mechaber there in Yoreh De'ah, uh, two forty-six six, he basically quotes the Rambam verbatim, so nothing has changed, right? Then the Rama comes in. The Rama makes a note based on the Aggadah and the name of the Smag, so he's quoting Rishonim that are contemporary, give or take, with the Rambam. He says one note that everybody seems to forget about. So one note, . "Certainly it is, uh, nonetheless obligatory for a woman to learn the laws that pertain to women, that a woman need in order to do Torah and mitzvahs that she has to do. Any law that she has to keep, she's going to have to learn." This is the, uh, genesis of the idea of Hala-Halakhot Tzrichot Lan, at least in the mainstream writing, that women do need to, of course, learn Torah law, learn Halakha that has something to do with, uh, them. They've-- How are they gonna know what to do if they don't know Halakha? The Alter Rebbe in his Hilchot Talmud Torah one fourteen writes the following. He basically quotes that whole Rambam, quotes the Shulchan Aruch, and then he adds on a generation later, give or

14:22 take, the next part of the story. And the Alter Rebbe writes, . "Nonetheless, gam nashim chayavot limod halakhot tzrichot lan. Women certainly need to learn the halakhot that they need in order to get by as Jews. Leida eson, to know them. K'mei, dinei niddah, for example, they need to know the laws of niddah. V'tevilah, they need to know the laws of immersions. U'meleich, and salting, because back then meat salting was, uh, was part of, uh, was part of daily life for Jews. It wasn't something that was done before it made it to the supermarket. Uh, v'es yichud, they have to know about the, uh, laws of not being alone with a man they're not allowed to be alone with. V'k'ritat Soferim, and, uh, all things like that. V'chol mitzvot asei she'einatz man g'rama, they have to know the laws of every mitzvot asei she'einatz man g'rama, every non-time-bound mitzvah, which is a good deal of the six hundred and thirteen Commandments. Furthermore, v'chol mitzvot lo ta'aseh shel Torah, they have to know every one of the negative Commandments of the Torah, and shel divrei sei from any of the rabbis, because if they, if they don't know the ins and outs of those laws, they might, God forbid, violate one of those laws. Shemo zharut lahen k'anashim, they have the same rules about them that men have, so they have to learn them just like men do. V'imeyam hayah hakham derish, in those days, it used to be that a hakham would be derish halakhot

15:21 hamituos v'haggilut. There used to be a hakham in town, there was a rabbi, and one of his jobs was to g- to give over the well-known, I guess the, uh, the common halakhot, uh, the ones that came up all the time, the Jewish laws that were, uh, regularly needed in the household, uh, tzrichot l'chol Adam, that were needed for all people, leida eson, uh, that everybody needed to know. And he would give them over, v'lashon shuvina manoshim v'amei ha'aretz. He would say it very simply in a way that women and that, uh, and that, and some of the men who weren't well-educated would understand we- would understand well. Midishama sh'bashavata, he used to do this on a weekly basis. It says the Alter Rebbe, it used to be the regular, even back then when we said, "Don't teach your daughters Torah," and women weren't learning Torah, there was always women's education to some degree regarding the halakhot that they needed. Now, since then, you have the Frieda Kareva. Since then, you have this new idea, which is that since women are now exposed to things that are, uh, making their minds, uh, making their minds, uh, possibly heretical because they're exposed to the secular world. It used to be that women were not exposed to the secular world and secular knowledge. Now that women have a secular education and that they're exposed to the secular world, we have an additional level. It's not just Halakhot Tzrichot Lan, that they need to know the halakhot that

16:21 pertain to them. They also need to know Torah, uh, pretty much the same way men do, as we'll see in just a moment. Because if they don't have access to that, then the t- then there's no holiness to counterbalance the, uh, lack of holiness that comes through the education in the general world and people's, uh, general ideologies. So to that effect, we have a bunch more. We have a ton of Frieda Kareva letters that I wanna show you that, uh, emphasize the importance of women learning both the revealed aspects of the Torah and the hidden aspects of the Torah, with a specific emphasis on women learning Chassidus. We have a letter here. This is Alef Taf Chaf Zayin. It is from the year Taf Shin Alef as well, so we are still in the year nineteen forty-one. And the Frieda Kareva writes, the Frieda Kareva letter, he writes, "Shalom Uvracham. Venigea la'sheila, regarding your question, venigea lan hagav ha'peal, regarding how you practically should act regarding women's education, fa lo kamah nashim b'derah sa'tanayim v'amorayim, is it not the case that many w- many women living in the generation of the Tanayim and the Amorayim, the Mishnah authors and the Gemara authors, gam b'derot sakrevim meleinu, and also in generations that are closer to us, hayu dayos Torah, uh, they knew Torah. They knew Torah. V'arve mehen shizrakchu b'divrei halakha, v'gami giyu sifrei baaleyham hagaonim v'hatzadikim. Is it not the case that many of them, uh, argued in halakha with their husbands and also edited

17:28 the books of their husbands, or were involved in the editing of the books of their husbands, who were great geniuses and who were tzadikim? Veyira aleihem ad-- And they, they would make notes on them or, uh, or a-add to them. Ad ki yechlikhu lahesiv velekra ki b'drisha sa'arah. And then the hakhamim would have to, these great, these great men of stature, would have to, uh, take away something from their book or add something to their book, make an addition or a subtraction based on the demands of the thing that they pointed out." So the Frieda Kareva says, "There is a-- While on one hand it is true that the Gemara says not to teach your daughters Torah, and it's true that, uh, Melamde tiflos, and it's true that the Shulchan Aruch brings this as well, that has not been the practice across the board. Without a doubt, there were women, uh, who, um, I mean, I don't know if their fathers taught them. I don't know who taught them. But there were women who were, uh, who were married to the Tanayim, the Amorayim, the Geonim, Tzadikim, and when they were writing their Svarim, the Svarim that we read nowadays, a good deal of that came from... I don't know about a good deal. At least some of what's in those Svarim came from conversations with their wives, where their wives would say, "Hey, maybe you should add that. Maybe you should take away that." So in response to the question, should women be learning

18:23 the revealed aspects of the Torah, and why are we making changes and having women learn something that they didn't learn before?" Says the Frieda Kareva, "I don't know what you're talking about. That's the source of a lot of what we have. A lot of what we have comes from, uh, comes from w- comes from learned women who knew the revealed aspects of the Torah." Now, as far as Chassidus is concerned, u'davar limud chassidus lanashim, when it comes to teaching Chassidus to women, hinei ein ma lehisav al michtavi sherah. "I have nothing to add beyond the letter that you already saw," which I believe is one of the letters that we're going to see today or have seen already. I'm not sure which one it refers to. But anyway, u'rak zeh esa sher, tehi lechaal b'kitis, um, sheyesaddiva draha zu api haras chassidim ve'anshei ma'aseh. The Frieda Kareva says, "The only thing I wanna add is that, thank God, I've established some classes for women, some, uh, some sort of groups of women that are supposed to be studying Chassidus. I established these according to the instructions of chassidim and anshei ma'aseh. That is, that I consulted with the experts on this, and, uh, we came up with a good system." And what are they doing? Hemesnagim bedarkei chassidus. They are acting in the ways of Chassidus. Belimudach. They're learning Chassidus. They's fundus betvila. They're thinking while they're davening about something that, about, about something, you know, besides, besides what they have to do next, right?

19:22 Thinking-- They're thinking about davening, and they're-- during davening, they're thinking about Hashem. They're thinking about Chassidus. Hineh be'ezras Hashem mei'vi tehi les anav and miyitz Hashem, I expect this to bring a great outcome, be'yiras Shamayim, when it comes to fear of Heaven, uvan hagiy yashar, when it comes to upright actions of peal, practically speaking. Piyei kar alim u'tzarich liyes venigea le'evd lavod ha'peal, because the main learning needs to have relevance for practical action, v'shamis baruch yazelei, v'adrushalei, v'gasham habruach, and the Frieda Kareva gives him a bracha. So the Frieda Kareva is saying in this letter that, uh, "I don't have much to add when it comes to any of these topics. When it comes to women learning the revealed aspects of the Torah, uh, you're late to the game. It's been going on since the times of the Tanayim, the Amorayim, the Geonim, the Tzadikim. Their Svarim come out of this, are involved-- uh, the Svarim the way that we have them today are partially because of the edits produced by knowledgeable women in Nigled Torah." "So when it comes to the revealed aspects of the Torah," says the Frieda Kareva, "I don't know what you're talking about." When it comes to the mystical aspects of the Torah, at least Chassidus, when it comes to Chassidus, says the Frieda Kareva, uh, "I've already talked about this, but I will say this. I've established some classes where they're doing good work. We've done it right. And in these classes where these girls are learning Chassidus, uh,

20:21 you can tell. You can tell they're acting like people who learn Chassidus. They're acting in the ways of Chassidus. They're learning well. They're davening well. And I expect it to bring an incredible tehieles when it comes to yiras Shamayim, when it comes to fear of Heaven." So the Frieda Kareva says, "I'm very enthusiastic about the girls who are starting to learn Chassidus." And, uh, I think it's, I think it's, uh, I think it's, uh, yielding fruit. I think it's yielding fruit. Okay. We have here a letter, Tav Tav Kuf Ayin Daled. We are going back in time to the year nineteen thirty-eight, I believe. Tav Reish Ches Tadik, with a question mark next to it in the letter. We're not exactly sure what year it was. But anyway, we have another letter from the Friediker Rebbe that discusses women's education, and we're gonna jump to the middle of it. He writes, Friediker Rebbe writes, "Bechad memechtavi leyedidenu Rav Pinchas Mintz." "In one of the letters that I wrote to our mutual friend, Rav Pinchas Mintz," who was over in Kovno. "Asher sh'alani eizeh davar beshem bittei tichia neiisi." Uh, he asked me some question in the name of his daughter. I answered, "Vehemshich be'arai," and as I was talking, "Kasavti," among those words, I also wrote, "Al edis isyas achas atmimim be'Riga," about the establishment of Achas Atmimim, which he mentioned earlier, this organization for, uh, for spreading women's education or for encouraging women's education. I mentioned that I'd established this organization in Riga. "Ve'ruach

21:26 chadash, ve'tov," and I mentioned to him the, uh, the new spirit and the new good spirit, "Asher nisp be'talmidais tichiu," that had entered into these female students. "Ve'atikvah ve'tzeitzah tovah be'archas chaiim ve'hanhagah me'ulah." And I mentioned to him the great hope that there would be good outcomes from this in the way that they actually comport their lives and in the way that they act in better and more appropriate actions. And then he says, the Friediker Rebbe continues, "Timel," just, uh, just recently, "Kibalti mechtaiv meyedidenu Rav Pinchas shiahi." I received a letter from Rav Pinchas Mintz, who we mentioned earlier, "Chanal. Asher bematzoh Shabbos Kodesh," that, uh, matzoh Shabbos Kodesh, uh, Parshah Sh'mos, right after Parshah Sh'mos, that Shabbos finished. "Hizchal limadi mimbitteh tichia, uh, veim eid achades mechavadesei hayichiu lima d'archa meimar, tashuri meireish amanah." So he says, uh, "I, uh, got a letter from him just recently," and, uh, the letter said that right after he received my letter, I suppose, that he-- I told him about this and he got excited and he started learning this. Rav Pinchas started learning a Mimar with his daughter, "Meireish amanah," uh, of Reish Peh Tes, "Tashuri meireish amanah," of Reish Peh Tes. And he was learning this with his daughter and also with a bunch of her friends, and so he's taken this to heart. Now he's starting to educate his daughter and the girls around his daughter. And the Friediker Rebbe writes, "Megmazvei azat Hashem," it is my hope with God's help, "Lashrish bahena natia

22:34 tov," to plant in them, uh, a good planting, "L'darkei haChasidus," in the ways of Chassidus, "Ve'regesh pnimi," with an internal feeling. "V'lo yadim bedi et sikhl be'haskalas dach ikar." The main thing is not the haskala of Chassidus, and by the way, this applies to men and women equally. The main thing is not the, uh, intellectual approach to Chassidus, although that's important too. "Ki im regesh alei," the most important thing is what does it make you feel and what does it make you do? So the Friediker Rebbe says the most important thing is, "Ki im regesh alei," which should make you feel something. "L'chol davar tov," uh, for all good things, "L'meil hu ikar," and what it ends up doing in the end, the outcome is what matters the most. So we have here the Friediker Rebbe talking about how excited he is that there is, uh, one of his Chassidim who have taken this to heart and started teaching his daughter and her friends Chassidus, um, that he's excited about the establishment of the Achas Atmimim in Riga, and, uh, that his main goal in women learning Chassidus, and I would add in men learning Chassidus, I don't see a real difference here between the two approaches. The real goal in learning Chassidus is not so much the big ideas, but what it ends up doing to a person. Which I guess makes a point, and the point seems to be the Friediker Rebbe saying that, uh, I, I, I'm not doing this necessarily because

23:33 I think there's an inherent value in women knowing the ins and outs of Seder HaIshutalus. I'm doing this because if women know the ins and outs of Seder HaIshutalus, they'll become better Chassidim, and I want better Chassidim. I want Yiras Shamayim. I want people to build their lives a certain way, and they'll build their lives a certain way if they know Chassidus. I, I think that's what he's saying. We have another letter here. This is Tav Tav Yod Ches. It's from Tes Kis Lev of Tav Reish, Tav Tav Reish Tadik Vav. So we are going back in time even further. Now it's nineteen thirty-six, written in Ant tatk, uh, in Poland, and the Friediker Rebbe writes, "Bedavar b'keshes yedidenu yakar banashim baal midas Chassidus," regarding the, uh, request of our mutual friend who has a whole bunch of honorifics in front of his name. This is Rav Mordechai Dubin. Uh, "Sha'alima she--" Uh, excuse me. "Lilmod divrei Chassidus im me'uades li'haskalas lamazal tov." He asked if it's okay for him to learn Chassidus with the girl who will become his daughter-in-law. So she's not his daughter-in-law yet, but lamazal tov she's going to be soon. He wants to sort of prepare her, and part of the way of him preparing his future daughter-in-law is he wants to learn this. Mordechai Dubin wants to learn Chassidus with his daughter-in-law. And the Friediker Rebbe writes, "Hadaver nachen me'od." This is very good, very good, very appropriate, very correct. And the Friediker Rebbe continues. We're gonna jump a

24:40 bunch of paragraphs and go right into the middle of the letter. "Among the things," says the Friediker Rebbe, "that the Chassid Rav Eliyahu Simpson," I believe, Reish Alef Samech, probably Rav Eliyahu Simpson. "That the Rav Eliyahu Simpson, hanal, said over, 'Misichais of shal,' from the sichas of the-- my grandfather," the Rebbe. This would be the Rav, Rav Maharash. "Yesh namargoliot hanegia bechai haChassidim mamash." There are margoliot. There are, uh, pearls regarding the daily life of Chassidim. So he says, "I have now some sichas from the Rav Maharash, and in those sichas you get pearls about what it used to be like, the way the Chassidim used to live." And the Friediker Has-- Friediker Rebbe says, "In gezechas Chassidim,"it came to the original foundational Hasidim is ." There was no difference between a boy and a girl. Hasidim didn't treat boys and girls differently. Uh, nonetheless, Hasidim , said, "Nonetheless, uh, they would educate their boys in the ways of Hasidim, and when it came to the education of the girls, they would forget about it." So even back then, this was a problem. And then he writes, uh, he continues, , the Aruch HaChaim, uh, the Aruch HaChaim, the, the commentary on the Chumash that people know so well. Uh, he had a daughter, and, uh, he would , he would learn Chumash with her. and the Perush Aruch HaChaim on the Torah, the commentary of the Aruch HaChaim on Torah that we all read today, it comes from the discussions, the classes that

26:01 the Aruch HaChaim had with, uh, the Aruch HaChaim had with his daughter. So, uh, this is absolutely not appropriate, right? Hasidim, they always consider the boys and the girls the same, but when it comes to their education, they treat them differently. They forget about women's education, and that doesn't make sense. The Aruch HaChaim himself, the Perush of Aruch HaChaim comes from his conversations with his daughter. And the Fr-- and the, uh, Friediker Rebbe continues, . These things should be a nowadays. It's even more so. Even fifty-five years ago, when in every one of the houses of Anash, there was a light of the ways of Hasidim burning in those houses in an internal light, uh, and in a fundamental light, nonetheless, even back then when Hasidim was strong, it was felt a lack when it came to the education of the daughters. when it came to their education in the ways of-- in their education and in the ways of Hasidim. and then certainly nowadays. Certainly nowadays even more. That nowadays it is even more pressing to, uh, raise-- to, uh, to inspire the fundamental point that comes by inheritance of-- from parents to children, which is, of course, in this context, Darkei Hasidut. So the Friediker Rebbe is saying that the Rebbe Ma'arash was already concerned fifty-five years ago about the fact that his best Hasidim, who had Hasidim all over their houses, where you sort of got Hasidim by osmosis, even they, he was worried about the fact that they weren't educating their

27:23 daughters enough. Certainly nowadays, where that is not the case, where houses are not like that, the Friediker Rebbe is writing in his time. Nowadays, it's back to-- nowadays it's back to being like the Rebbe Ma'arash. Houses are full of Hasidim. But, uh, nowadays, uh, i- it says the Friediker Rebbe in his time, the houses are not so full of Hasidim. They really, really need to make sure that they focus on educating their daughters in the ways of Hasidim. The Friediker Rebbe continues, . Says it's understood that th-- that teaching Hasidim to girls is not always easy, and one of the reasons why is because at least at this point in time, this doesn't apply anymore. Nowadays, thank God, women are fully educated. But back then, they didn't know so much, so teaching them Hasidim was difficult because Hasidim requires a basic background in a lot of other parts of the Torah that we just have been, uh, lagging on at this point. So the Friediker Rebbe writes to that generation where the women were being-- where he wanted them to learn Hasidim, and it wasn't so easy 'cause not all of them had the head for it or had the background for it. Uh, so he writes, . I understand the teaching of them. It can be hard for them to understand . It can be hard to explain it to them. Certain ideas in Hasidim require great background knowledge and a lot of breadth, uh, in all sorts of deep ideas. There's only gonna

28:29 be some of them who are going to be able to pick up that kind of wisdom. Not all of them. So the Friediker Rebbe says, "I do understand that there's a barrier to this, which is that women's education has not been good up until now, and therefore their minds are not trained in this material, and I'm telling you to throw them into the deep end in Hasidim Chabad, which is incredibly complex." The Friediker Rebbe says, "Obviously, some of them will get it, but most of them won't get it. I have a solution for you." There are some things in Hasidim that you can explain even to people who don't have much background, even to them. They'll be able to accept them in a good way. You're going to have to explain things to them deeply and carefully. You know, you have to-- you're gonna have to very-- uh, not so much deeply. You're gonna have to carefully explain these ideas to them, and you're going to have to couch them in stories. That will help them, uh, maintain and understand the topic better. This is in the same style as the sikhas that the Friediker Rebbe is now putting out, uh, that he's been putting out since Latvia, that, uh, that both in Latvia and in, in Riga and in, uh, in Poland, the Friediker Rebbe started, uh, sort of couching his deeper ideas, Hasidim's deeper ma'amarim, into more understandable sikhas, and they started putting out more understandable stories. So the Friediker Rebbe says, "This

29:38 is a style I've been using kind of for everybody, not just for the women. I've been taking these complex ideas and putting them into stories." My main intent, says the Friediker Rebbe-- This is just really interesting historical note. Friediker Rebbe says, "My main intent in allowing people to publish the sikhas that have been coming out lately, which are a little lighter, a little more story-ish, a little more explanation that, uh, is not--" You know, the Friediker Rebbe's ma'amarim are incredibly deep. "I've been," says the Friediker Rebbe, "lately I've been letting you put out things that are a little easier to digest, have more stories in them." Number one, I'm giving this out because I want-- I allowed them to publish these easier works of Hasidim because I wanted there to be something for Anash to talk about when they were farbrengen together. Also though, because I wanted to give Anash something to talk about in their homes with their family members. And this you'll be able to bring them close in a good way, and this will affect-- you will be able to guide them and educate them in the ways of Hasidim. So says the Friediker Rebbe, "The whole reason I started putting out the easier sikhas-" And these-- and the sichas that are, uh, with, with deep ideas and chasidus couched in stories, explained in stories, was number one, because I wanted the Nash to have something to fabreng with. I want regular Chasidim to have something to fabreng about. You don't want

30:50 them to sit around and talk about nothing, and my Marom can be difficult for some people, so it's the easier stuff that, you know, is very approachable for the men, but also in the hope that the men would then bring these approachable ideas home and educate their daughters with it, educate their families with it. if you're asking me what to learn, he goes on to give advice about what exactly to learn. He says, um, what you should learn first. you should learn the Maimon with our Kinyan Achron. but when you're teaching this to the women, you should do so, uh, not so quickly. you should make sure you explain it very well. Go nice and slowly. you should also learn a couple sichas because as the Frieda Keruba just mentioned, those are tailored for women who are not yet ready for the deeper my Marom because of the lack of education up until now. also don't go so quickly, even through the sicha. Even though the sichas are easier, don't go slow-- don't, don't go so quickly through those either. Uh, I could take that advice. Don't go so quickly. Slow down a little. uh, explain and, uh, and, uh, and, and, and illustrate. it doesn't really matter who's learning these sichas. They're for everybody. and he gives a bracha to our dear friend, uh, and to everybody involved for their children and for, uh, and for Rav Dubin and his, uh, daughter-in-law who was mentioned, uh, once again. And, um, the, the Frieda Keruba

32:03 gives brachos for everybody. I have another letter . We're gonna keep on hitting this point. But today, today is the Frieda Keruba, uh, invests in the chinuch of, uh, of, of women, um, women's education. I will remind you, the letter that we started with from the Rebbe started off by saying, "You have no idea just how much effort the Frieda Keruba invested in women's education." I think now you're starting to get an idea. Uh, the Fr-- the Rebbe says some of these things have not yet been revealed, and, uh, I think some of them will never be revealed. We'll probably never know the extent to which the Frieda Keruba invest in women's education. But we have letter upon letter upon letter where you really see the Frieda Keruba pouring his heart into explaining how important it is for him that women have an education, not just an education, uh, in Migler, but specifically an education in Chasidus. So this letter is labeled . This is from the winter of nineteen thirty-six. I really hope I'm getting my dates right. You know me with the dates. Uh, he writes, "I'm responding to your letter where you gave me good news, uh, that you have been learning with your daughter-in-law." This is the same person. This is Rav Mordechai Dubin again. So this is, "I'm responding. Uh, good, good news, you have been learning with your daughter-in-law. That's great. You started. Um," "but then I heard that the sicha that you learned, uh, was an it was

33:10 a very deep thing, that you ended up teaching her a sicha that was a very deep sicha. and it's one that I know requires sufficient explanation. and you're telling me that you got through it very quickly, and I don't like that." So the Frieda Keruba isn't saying, "I'm upset that you learned something complicated with her. Feel free to learn something complicated with her. The problem is you're telling me you finished it quickly, and that doesn't sit well with me." The sicha that you're referencing, says the Frieda Keruba, definitely required more time than you put into it, and I don't want you to do this in a quick way. I don't know for sure the context here. I don't know the story. But it's possible the Frieda Keruba is sort of defending the girl in this case and saying, "You know, you learned with her, but you learned with her too quickly. Um, y- she deserves more of your time." It could be that too. I just don't know. we're jumping all the way down. that's regarding the past. Now let's talk about the future learning with you and your daughter-in-law and you and women in general. What, what the future learning of women in Chasidus. I'd like you to learn the Maimon Kinyan Achron. I believe he asked for that earlier. I want you to learn every single section of this Maimon twice and three times. until it is really well absorbed. and how will you know that she's really absorbed the information if she

34:13 can say over each topic in her own way, in her own words? certainly she will chazer what she's learning. She'll review. also to herself several times. if not, if she's not used to already reviewing the material she's learning, if that's not something that she's learned to do, get her used to it. That's the way a person learns Chasidus. furthermore, she's . She should also get used to learning on her own. Give her the tools to learn on her own. and then she can just ask you anything she doesn't understand. You can explain to her. But I don't want this to be a case where you're constantly, uh, tutoring her. I'd like her to learn-- know how to learn on her own and get to the point where she's just asking you about the stuff she doesn't understand. the main point, the main thing is I really don't need you teaching her a step by step. I'd like her learning on her own. The most important thing is that I need you there to make sure that since she's uniniti- uninitiated to Chasidus, that she doesn't make a mistake in the-- in her understanding of what's going on in the Maimon. I need her to-- or the sicha. I need her to understand the material properly. So you should be there to answer her questions and to make sure she's not misunderstanding. But I would like her to become independent in this. and Hashem should help you in physicality and spirituality. Gives brachos to everybody, uh,

35:19 to her parents and to your parents and everybody's parents. everybody gets a bracha. and then the Frieda Keruba continues. It would be good to advise her. that when it comes to certain things that she understands very well, she really gets the Maimon, once she fully understands it, and after she's thought about it twice or three times, there's the next step. how about she writes it down? in the same language that she is used to, the language that she writes all of her personal thoughts in. So whatever that happens to be, she should write down, once she fully understands the topic, write it down in her own words, in her own language. and she should sort of try to explain it to herself in writing, which is-- these are just-- I, I'll tell you in a minute what I-- you know, I'll tell you right now. These are all the top line pieces of advice for understanding a Maimon that's given to men. This is, uh, th- there's no difference. The Frieda Keruba is giving advice to a woman in how to learn a Maimon the same way Mashpiyim taught us to learn Maimon, which is that, uh, which is that we should be reviewing each thing several times, and we should make sure we can say it to ourselves in our own words. And maybe we should write it down in the language we're familiar with as if we're explaining it to ourselves. The Frieda Keruba is not just having her sort of skim Maimonim

36:25 or skim Sichas. The Frieda Keruba is giving her advice on how to totally absorb a Maimon the same way that men are given this advice. and if she-- when she's just starting out in writing down, you know, learning how to write bits of Chasidus for yourself in your own words is, uh, is difficult. And therefore, when she's starting off, have her start off by putting a story, uh, from one of the Sichas in her own words, and then bit by bit, she'll get used to putting the Sichas and the Maimon in her own words. And the Frieda Keruba concludes, says the Frieda Keruba, it is a great thing, a v-- great and very lofty thing that you are doing, that you're learning with her. And because of this, Hashem should give strength to you, uh, strength to your health, strength to the health of your wife, uh, strength to, uh, excuse me, health to your children and all the members of your household. And you should get a ton of nachas from them, We're nearing the end of our Frieda K'reba letters. There are more. These are the ones that I found that I wanted to show you, but I-- I-- they're, they're, they're, they're even more than this. These are some of the big ones. These are definitely some of the big ones. One more letter in Lashon HaKodesh, and then believe it or not, I'm going to show you an English letter. Spoilers. This letter is labeled Taf Taf Kuf Samech Alef. This

37:40 is from the year nineteen thirty-eight, Yud Dalet Kislev of nineteen thirty-eight, and the Frieda K'reba writes, "Be'arikhis kideilah," at incredible length, "biir ve'hisper az, kav ha'nir Shenavi, Avi Amar." That is that at incredible length, uh, it was explained by the Rebbe Rashab. "Ad kam l'chutza simas leiv haherem ha'meirim la'adrich banei bnei ha'chasin bad'racha shel chasidus." The Rebbe, Rebbe Rashab explained at length with a deep explanation of just how important it was for parents and teachers to focus their efforts on, uh, pay attention to, and focus their efforts on hadracha, on, uh, on leading, um, guiding their sons and daughters, daughters as well, uh, in the ways of chasidus. "Uvechem, kol echad mehanash," and therefore every one of anash, "va'tmimim yichyu," and all of the tmimim, may they live. "Tzar achlasum liba ha'chinuch la'adracha bnei seviv darkei ha'chasidus." Therefore, I expect all of anash and all of the tmimim, uh, may they, may they live and be well, to focus themselves on the education and on the hadracha and on the guidance of their daughters in the ways of chasidus. "K'mei ha'chinuch la'adracha b'ano," the same way they do in the chinuch and the hadracha of their sons. "Li'sben v'neitei b'chalis," I want them to think about this all the time. Very well. "Eich malivar lasfi ha'hen darkei ha'chasidus abav yudish meherem le'olam de'ah." Says the Frieda K'reba, I want you to spend a lot of time thinking well about how to convey darkei chasidus, uh, that is the inheritance from the parents to the children.

39:00 "V'zoleich var nis'eiru b'nei sechasidim yichyu," uh, in Riga. "L'sadar b'neiam limud divrei chasidus." The Frieda K'reba says it is, uh, recent, but it's already happened that this has happened among the, uh, uh, the establishment of Aches et Tmimim in Riga, uh, that the-- that, uh, among them they are establishing limud divrei chasidus to learn words of chasidus. "V'maimar ya'aveda," specifically to focus on ma'marim that are focused on practical implementation. "V'gam yani yefados," they also are involved in farbrengens. "V'teda lakeim matzlichim v'limudam." And thank God, they are succeeding in their studies. So says the Frieda K'reba, this has already sort of started in Riga, and it's going well. They're learning ma'marim. The easy ones are the Avedidic ones, the ones that are shayach to, uh-- that are related to practical action. They seem to be farbrenging together, and it's having good outcomes. "U'netzet zal teves," says good outcomes. "V'Hashem yisbarach yatzliach lahen b'gashmiyus v'ruchniyus." And Hashem should give them more success in gashmiyus v'ruchniyus. And the Frieda K'reba then gives a whole bunch of berachos to them and everybody involved in them. And last paragraph for us, uh, "Nachon ha'davar v'nachotsu." It is appropriate and urgent. "Ashar anash v'tamidiya tmimim yichyu l'makomei seyam." That anash and, uh, the tmimim, wherever they are around the world, "yikholan lemeyfes," that they should take this as a sign. They should take this personally, and that they should do this. They should act like Riga, and they should establish these groups as well of women learning Torah, turn it-- Torah--

40:10 specifically Torah chasidus, uh, together. "Uv'midi efshar zot ya'ased keyin gam b'makom la'achiyes es leiv b'nei seim yichyu." And insofar as it's possible, each one in their own place, I want you to work very hard to establish what we've modeled in Riga. We've modeled in Riga this women's education edifice. I want you to export this and do this wherever you happen to be. And "v'taltei shel darkei neiam ha'chasidus," that is that, uh, this should enliven them with the, uh, enlivening dew of the pleasant ways of chasidus. It's flowery Frieda K'reba language. "V'Hashem yisbarach yehi be'ezram b'gashmiyus v'ruchniyus." And Hashem should help them, "b'gashmiyus u'v'ruchniyus." Now, the last letter that I want to show you today is a letter showing that this actually worked. The Frieda K'reba pushes this really hard, tells chasidim, "I want this," tells chasidim, "The thing going on in Riga makes me happy and is successful. I want you to export this and do this elsewhere in the world." And we have, believe it or not, a letter in English to people living in-- to chasidim living in America, uh, an original English letter from the Frieda K'reba. There are not a lot of these, and it is to congratulate the American chasidim on actually doing it, on actually listening to the Frieda K'reba and establishing a way for women to be educated in the ways of chasidus and in the learning of chasidus. This letter is labeled Alef Lamed Zayin. It is from twenty-seven Sivan of, uh, nineteen thirty-eight, and the Rebbe

41:20 writes, these are his words, "To the daughters of the Timimim and the Chasidim, Greater New York, New York, greetings of peace and blessing. In reply to your letter advising me about your excellent resolution to interest yourselves in the study of Chasidism and to be called the Society of the Sisters of the Timimim, I wish to inform you that I was greatly gratified with your good decision. I hereby express my approval of your organizing the Sisterhood of the Timimim within Greater New York, and I am extending to you my blessings and congratulations. May the Almighty, blessed be He, aid you in realizing your excellent resolution in an organized manner and in conformity with the teachings of Chasidism." He goes on to discuss some details with them, and then he concludes with a blessing. "I wish to avail myself of this opportunity to bless you all, and may the Almighty, blessed be He, bless each and every one of you with all that you may require materially and spiritually. May you be successful in your studies." Remember, he's talking to girls. He's saying to these women, "May you be successful in your studies. May the Almighty strengthen your hearts to observe, to do, and realize the righteous ways of life, that you may apply yourselves with all your hearts to a life of goodness and righteousness. May your parents live long and be blessed with abundance, both materially and spiritually, and may they realize in themselves and in, in-- and their families abundant happiness, both materially and

42:26 also spiritually. With blessings," the Frieda K'reba's signature. So we have one case of this actually happening in America, where they took the Frieda K'reba's ideas to heart and began a society to educate women in the ways of Chasidism, uh, education for women by women, where women are learning Ma'amarim together and farbrenging together, and we see this coming to some degree of fruition. However, as we saw at the beginning of our shiur today, uh, by the year nineteen fifty-two, this was still not a top priority for Chasidim. The Rebbe is writing, as we saw earlier, to a group in Chabad saying, "Why is women's education not a priority? I guess it's because you weren't raised that way, but time to make it a priority now. If you had any idea how much the Frieda K'reba cared about women's education, you'd have built this building already and started a women's education edifice in your town." And now I think, uh, and now I think we do. And now I think we do know. I think, I think we do have an idea now of just how much the Frieda K'reba has invested in women's education, and I think by extension, you know, the Frieda K'reba quoted the Rebbe Rashab as caring about this a lot. He quoted the, uh, he quoted the Rebbe Maharash as complaining about the fact that good Chasidim were not taking care of this. It seems this isn't really just the obsession of the Frieda K'reba. This is an obsession that goes back

43:23 at least to the Rebbe Maharash. You see it a little bit in the Alter Rebbe. The Alter Rebbe already in his p-- in his-- in the sp-- be-- in the piece of Hilchos Tahmas Torah that we learned together is talking about how important it is to, uh, make sure women know the halachas that are relevant to them. The Rebbe Maharash is, uh, obsessed that Chasidim are not taking this more seriously. The Rebbe Rashab is talking about it at length. "Be'arikhis kideilah," says the Frieda K'reba. And the Frieda K'reba himself is hitting this point again and again, which brings us to our Rebbe. Our Rebbe trying to figure out why people have not figured out the message of our Rebbeim yet. And, uh, he does give them some latitude. The Rebbe says, "I understand this isn't the way you were raised." So, uh, he's not really saying in that tone. The Rebbe isn't saying, "How do you not know this yet?" I don't know how much was published back then. But, uh, we now know. We now know. We certainly have many, many letters from the Frieda K'reba. I think we saw how many? One, two, three, four, five, six. We saw seven letters from the Frieda K'reba focused on women's education and specifically women learning Chasidism. And with God's help tomorrow, we will focus on the Rebbe's letters on this topic with a deep dive into just how much Torah the Rebbe wants women to learn. And, uh, I think you'll be surprised by just

44:19 how much it is. As we talked about at the very beginning, I think you'll be surprised to learn that, uh, that the w-women, if-- I know-- Best way to put it is this. The Rebbe puts it this way in a sicha, "Halavai we had men who learned as much as the Rebbe would like women to learn." Uh, but it's a, it's a ton of topics, a ton of depth, a ton of breadth, and we'll see that all tomorrow, how this-- how these, uh, sort of basic ideas, I don't wanna call them basic, but fundamental, fundamental ideas of the Frieda K'reba end up developing into a comprehensive shita that spreads around the entire world under our Rebbe. But that's for tomorrow. For today, thank you all very much.