A Partner in Torah
At Matan Torah, HaShem told Moshe to first instruct the women, beis Yaakov, and then to speak to the men, bnei Yisroel.
Rebbi Tachlifa explained that this was done to save the Torah from neglect. When HaShem created the world and gave his command, first to Adam and then to Chava, the woman disobeyed the command and the world was corrupted forever. HaShem now had the women commanded first, so that they would encourage their sons to study Torah.
(שמות רבה כ"ח, ב)
HaShem promised a greater reward for Torah study to the women than he did to the men.
Rav asked Rebbi Chiya, "What is their special zechus? What entitles women to be rewarded for Torah study?"
Rebbi Chiya replied, "Their zechus is in sending their sons to study Torah in shul, waiting for their husbands to return from the beis midrash, and allowing them to travel to another city to learn Torah."
(ברכות י"ז ע"א)
In his Shulchan Aruch the Alter Rebbe explains that the woman's merit and reward for her husband's and sons' Torah study is greater than for her own study, for they fulfill an obligatory mitzva of Talmud Torah. Hence, by assisting them, she earns an actual share of the reward for their studies.
(הל' תלמוד תורה פ"א הי"ד)
Akiva was a shepherd for Kalba Savua, a wealthy resident of Yerushalayim. Kalba Savua had a daughter, Rochel, who recognized the modest shepherd's piety and potential. She asked him if he would study Torah if she married him. He agreed, and they were secretly engaged. When Kalba Savua found out, he was furious. He immediately threw his daughter out of his home and vowed that she was forbidden to use any of his possessions.
Soon after their marriage, Rochel sent off her husband to study Torah in a famed yeshiva. He arrived as an ignoramus, but quickly advanced to become one of the greatest chachomim, attracting thousands of students.
After twelve years, Rebbi Akiva traveled home, along with twelve thousand students. Approaching his house, he heard an old neighbor berating Rochel, “For how long will you live like a widow?” Rochel replied, “If my husband would follow my advice, he would sit and study Torah for another twelve years!” Hearing this, Rebbi Akiva turned around and headed back to the yeshiva for another twelve years.
When he returned home this time, he was accompanied by twenty-four thousand students. Hearing that he was coming she ran out to meet him, and fell on her face before him. When the students tried to push her away, Rebbi Akiva stopped them: Sheli veshelachem: shela hi! - "Leave her! My Torah study, and your Torah study, are all in her merit.”
[When Kalba Savua heard that a great chacham had come to town, he visited him in hope that he could release him from his vow so that he could be reconciled with his daughter. After he presented his dilemma, Rebbi Akiva asked him whether he would have made such a vow if his son-in-law was learned. Kalba Savua replied that if the man knew just one halacha, he would not have made the vow. When Rebbi Akiva then revealed his identity, Kalba Savua fell upon him and kissed him.]
(כתובות ס"ב ע"ב)
The Rebbe Rashab wrote:
I have heard in the name of our holy Rebbeim that when a girl is born, we wish the parents [just as is done when a boy is born] that they be privileged to raise the child [not only to the chuppah and to good deeds but also] to Torah. This harmonizes with what Chazal teach us, that women have a zechus in studying Torah by enabling their sons and husband to study Torah.
(היום יום כ"ה מנחם-אב)
Facilitating Devotion
When the Tomchei Temimim Yeshivah was established, Rebbetzin Rivka undertook to provide for the students, and they would be rostered to eat some meals (essen teg, which is Yiddish for "eating days") in her own home. She would take an interest in each bochur individually, asking how his learning was progressing, if he had a place to eat every day and the like, and would encourage him to increase his diligence in Torah and avoda.
Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah was likewise active in supporting the Yeshivah. She founded a women's organization to support the bochurim and established a kitchen for those bochurim who did not have teg.
(עטרת מלכות ע' 58, 104 ובהערות)
The Tzemach Tzedek would often praise his daughter Devorah Leah for the following deed:
When she reached marriageable age, the Tzemach Tzedek lacked the funds to marry her off. Seeing no other alternative, he agreed to travel around the country and collect funds for the chassuna.
The carriage was ready and about to set out when the Tzemach Tzedek called over his daughter and said, "I'm being advised to travel, but this is very difficult for me, for my time of learning is very precious to me. If you forgo the fur coat, I will be able to put together the rest of the money without traveling. But if you insist on having the coat, I will make the trip."
Devorah Leah replied, "Your learning time is very precious to me as well. With a full heart, I forgo the coat." The Tzemach Tzedek appreciated her sacrifice and mentioned it often. Once, when he was upset at her, her brother, the Rebbe Maharash, reminded him about that sacrifice and thus softened the hard feelings.
(תורת שלום ע' 18)
Consider
Why is the woman's reward for facilitating Torah study greater than the reward of the one who actually studied?
