The Rashbam explained: י ֵ שׁ means worlds, as the Gemara states (Sanhedrin 100a): עֲתִיד הקב"ה לְהַנְחִיל לְכָל צַדִּ יק ש"י עוֹלָמוֹת – In the future, Hakadosh Baruch Hu will bequeath to every righteous person 310 worlds.
The question arises – why specifically 310 worlds and not another number? The Ba’al HaTurim writes: The Aseret HaDibrot begin with alef and end with kaf, and they contain 620 letters corresponding to the 613 commandments plus the seven Noahide laws, totaling 620. Their sign is "Keter Torah" – to teach us that when a person learns Torah for its own sake, it becomes a crown for his head; if he learns not for its own sake, he will remain cut off. The Torat Chaim elaborates: One might think that a person should therefore have 620 worlds corresponding to these 620 letters. However, since man was created with two forms – male and female – and all souls likewise consist of male and female, only through the union of both man and woman is the complete human being formed, capable of fulfilling all of Hakadosh Baruch Hu's Mitzvot. Therefore, the 620 worlds are divided equally: half for the man and half for his wife. Thus, each righteous person receives 310 worlds.
Therefore, when Hakadosh Baruch Hu wished to give the Aseret HaDibrot, He first informed them of their reward. He commanded that the women be addressed separately and the men separately. This teaches that women and men are equal in receiving the reward that flows from the 613 letters of the Aseret HaDibrot, which correspond to all of Hakadosh Baruch Hu's Mitzvot. Man and woman form one body; both equally deserving of this reward. This is why Achashveirosh said to Esther: וְיִנָּתֵן לָך מַה שְּׁ אֵלָתְ ך וּ מַ ה ב ּ ַ ק עַד חֲצִי הַמַּלְכוּת וְתַעַשׂ – What is your petition? It shall be given you, even to the half of the kingdom. She is valued in his eyes as he is valued, and together they share the crown of kingship, ruling equally.
Sefer HaShir VeHashevach brings proof for these words from Sefer Kohelet: כָּל עֲמַ ל הָ אָ דָ ם לְ פִ יהוּ וְ גַם הַ נֶּפֶ שׁ לֹא תִ מָּ לֵא – All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his soul is not satisfied. The language פִ יהוּ (his mouth) requires explanation, for at first glance the letters ה and ו appear superfluous – it would have sufficed to say לְפָנָיו – before him. However, Chazal interpreted this word differently in another place. The Vilna Gaon wrote on וְאֵת כָּל רֶ מֶשׂ הָאֲדָמָה לְמִינָהוּ that לְ מִ ינָ הוּ is written with the letters ה and ו (and not לְ מִ ינוֹ ) because of Chazal’s interpretation of י ִ שׁ ְ ק ֵ נ ִ י מִ נ ּ ְ שׁ ִ י ק ו ֹ ת פּ ִ י ה ו ּ – Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. They said this because of the addition of the letters ה and ו. If it had said only פּ ִ יו (his mouth), it would sound like the kiss of a male; if it had said only פּ ִ יהָ (her mouth), it would sound like the kiss of a female. Now that it says פּ ִ יהוּ with both ה and ו, it sounds like the kiss of both male and female, which is what they meant by the kiss of bride and groom. Similarly, here לְ מִ ינָ הוּ alludes to both male and female kinds.
Thus, we find that the letter ה alludes to the feminine, and the letter ו alludes to the masculine. And when both letters appear together, they teach about both as one.
Now we must examine what the pasuk intends by saying לְ פִ יהוּ and for what purpose it alludes with this language that encompasses both male and female.
Chazal, in the Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 4:2), interpret the pasuk כָּל עֲמַ ל הָ אָ דָ ם לְ פִ יהוּ וְ גַם הַ נֶּפֶ שׁ לֹא תִ מָּ לֵא as follows: כָּל שׁ ֶאָדָם קוֹנֶה בִמְצוֹת וּבְמַעֲשִׂים טוֹבִים לְפִיו וְלֹא לִבְנוֹ וְלֹא לִבִתּוֹ . All that a person acquires in Mitzvot and good deeds is לְ פִ יו (for himself), and not for his son and not for his daughter.
The Maharal elaborated on this in Derech Chaim (Avot 1:12), writing: אִם אֵין אָנִי לִי מִי לִי – if a person does not perfect himself in Torah and Mitzvot, 'who will be for me' – the Torah and Mitzvot that others do will not bring him benefit or perfection. Even if his father studied Torah, his son inherits nothing from him, for this matter is not like wealth.
At first glance, it would seem that if a son and daughter cannot inherit their father's Torah and Mitzvot, then certainly his wife cannot either. However, this is not the case. On the contrary, Chazal's intention is that only his son and daughter have no connection to their father's Torah and Mitzvot, but his wife is very much connected to them. This is based on the Gemara in Berachot (17a): אָמַר לֵיהּ רַ ב לְרַ בִּי חִיָּא, נָשִׁים בְּמַאי זָכְיָן לְחֵי הָעוֹלָם הַבָּא? וּבְרַ יְיהוּ לְבֵי רַ בָּנָן, וּנְטָרִ ין בְאַקְ רוֹיֵי בְנַיְיהוּ לְבֵי כְנִשׁ ְ תָּא, וּבְאִ תְ נוּיֵי ג וּבְרַ יְיהוּ עַד דְּ אָתוּ מִבֵּי רַבָּנָן. Rav said to Rabbi Chiya: Through what do women merit life in the World to Come? Through bringing their children to the synagogue, and sending their husbands to the house of study, and waiting for their husbands until they return from the house of study.
Rashi explains: They wait for their husbands and give them permission to go and study Torah in another city. We thus learn that a woman's merit in Olam Haba is tied to her husband's study of Torah.
Now, it appears that this is what the pasuk hints at when it says לְ פִ יהוּ – which includes the female together with the male. For although it has been explained that Torah and Mitzvot are not inherited from father to son, and each person merits them only through the Torah and Mitzvot he himself learns and fulfills, nevertheless when it comes to his wife, we find the opposite: she can merit Olam Haba through the virtue of her husband's Torah.
Note the precise language of the pasuk לְ פִ יהוּ – not לְ פִ יו – for its intention is to hint that his labor in Torah and Mitzvot is not uniquely for his mouth, but also for her mouth, for the letter ה and the letter ו symbolize female and male together.
If this is so, I would like to add one more related point: In the pasuk כָּל עֲמַ ל הָ אָ דָ ם לְ פִ יהוּ , the woman comes before the man; the ה belongs to the woman, and the ו belongs to the man. If the woman comes before the man, it means the woman receives her reward even before the man – and why? It is very simple. It doesn't matter to the woman whether you attended the shiur and learned meticulously or attended the shiur and fell asleep within minutes! She doesn't care about that. She did her part by sending you to study and she has already received her reward. If you come home at 10:30pm, completely refreshed, and she sees you and says, "Look at this – you come home exhausted from work but from the shiur you return wide awake and refreshed!" What will you tell her? That you wasted an hour and a half?! She doesn't care about that. She fulfilled her obligation as your partner.
And even worse than that – if you went to the Beit Midrash and on the way you bumped into a friend, and instead of proceeding to the shiur you talked with him for an hour and a half – once again, she doesn't care about that either. She has already reaped her reward!
Someone might ask how this can be? Isn't this against all logic?! Chazal tell us כָּל עֲמַ ל הָ אָ דָ ם לְ פִ יהוּ – she did her part by sending you to learn Torah!
The Maharsha writes (Sota 21a): הַנָּשִׁים קִ בְּלוּ שָׂכָר עַל הַנְחַת הַמִּ רְ אוֹת וְגוֹ', כִּי כָּל הַנָּשִׁים בִּכְלַלוּת וֹדַעַת לֹא נִצְטַוְּתָה בִּלְמוֹדָהּ, נָתַן טַעַם ַח, שׁ ֶאַף עַל פִּי שׁ ֶהַי הַתּוֹרָ ה הִקֹאמֶר כֹּה תֹאמַר לְבֵית יַעֲקֹב וַי – ו ּ ה ַ נ ּ ָ שׁ ִ י ם א ֵ ל – ֵ יד לִ בְ וְ תַ גנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל,ִיד לִבָּנֶיהָ לִלְמוֹד, וְתַ שׁ ְ תַּ דְּ לִים בִּ לְמוּדָ ם. יֵשׁ בּוֹ רֶ מֶ ז עַל הַנְּקֵ בָה שׁ ֶ תַּ ג וּבִשְׂכַר זֶה הַנָּשִׁים יִהְיוּ בִּכְלַלוּת הַתּוֹרָ ה. וְעַל זֶה דִּ קְ דֵּק הַכָּתוּב לִקְ רוֹת הַנְּקֵבוֹת בַּמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה בֵּית יַעֲקֹב וְהַ זְּכָרִ ים בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל – כִּ י הִיא נִמְצֵאת בְּבֵיתָהּ, וְהִיא יוֹתֵר מוּכָנָה לְצַוּוֹת עַל בָּנֶיהָ עַל זֶה.
The women received a reward for bringing their mirrors, etc. Because all the women were included in Matan Torah, even though a woman is not commanded to study it, He gave a reason and said, 'Thus shall you say to Beit Yaakov' – these are the women – 'and tell Bnei Yisrael.' There is a hidden hint to the female that she should tell her children to study, and she should exert herself in their study. And in reward for this, the women will be included in the receiving of the Torah. This is why the pasuk was precise in calling the females in this place 'Beit Yaakov' and the males 'Bnei Yisrael' – because she is found in her home, she is more prepared to command her children regarding this.
