Halakhah for Ruth 4:11

Likewise, we find that in all the great events which occurred to the Jewish people, the great virtue of women was manifested, for they preceded men in choosing the path of faith. It seems, then, that masculine intellectual analysis is sufficient under normal circumstances; however, where additional spirituality and more faith are required, it is specifically the feminine attributes which are necessary. “R. Akiva preached, ‘In the merit of righteous women, the people of Israel left Egypt’” (Yalkut Shimoni, Tehilim 795, and see Rashi on Shemot 38:8). At the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, the women were addressed first (Rashi on Shemot 19:3, based on a midrash). Similarly, we learn how to honor the Torah from women (below, 7:1). Men even learn Torah in the merit of women’s profound insight (see Berakhot 17a and below, 7:1). Additionally, women did not participate in the sin of the Golden Calf (Pirkei De-Rabbi Eliezer §45) or the sin of the Spies (Tanḥuma Pinḥas §7). Concerning the future, the Sages say “Generations are only redeemed in the merit of its righteous women” (Midrash Zuta, Ruth 4:11).¹It seems that from the standpoint of the human intellectual virtue, men are more universal, whereas from the standpoint of the perception of the divine idea and faith, as expressed via intuitive vitality, women are more universal. Therefore, women grasp momentous historical divine processes to a greater degree.