Halakhah do Wyjścia 19:3

However, when it comes to the general connection to the Torah, we find that women precede men. For example, when the Torah was given Moshe was instructed to address the women first. It is written: “Thus you shall say (tomar) to the house of Yaakov and tell (tageid) the sons of Israel” (Shemot 19:3). The Sages teach, “The house of Yaakov” (“Beit Yaakov”) refers to the women, who he must address in a gentle voice. “The sons of Israel” refers to the men, to whom he must speak more harshly, telling them of punishments and particular details. The word “tageid” alludes to the body’s tough sinews (“gidin”), connoting harshness. Further, the Sages derive from the introductory phrase “Thus you shall say” that God instructed Moshe to be meticulous about this sequence, namely, first the women and then the men (Mekhilta, cited in Rashi).

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.