Rashi writes (Shemos 19:3) that Hashem instructed Moshe to speak to the women about accepting the Torah before the men. Wouldn’t it have been more appropriate to discuss it first with the men?
Answers:
The Medrash (Shemos Rabbah 28:2) gives three explanations for asking the women first: because women perform mitzvos with more alacrity; so that they should send their sons to study Torah and educate them properly; and because destruction resulted when Hashem commanded Adam regarding the forbidden fruit before Chava.
The Beis HaLevi answers based on the Gemara in Gittin (55b), which rules that if a person purchases land first from a man and then from his wife, the purchase is invalid because of a fear that the woman’s agreement was only to please her husband and was not genuine. Similarly, if the men accepted the Torah first, there would be a concern that the subsequent acceptance of the women was insincere and was done only to make the men happy.
Rav Shmaryahu Arieli (Mishmeres Ariel) suggests that Moshe spoke to the women first because the Medrash says (Bereishis Rabbah 17:7) that the spiritual level of a home is determined by the woman.
