Relationships: Male and Female: Men are from Chessed, Women are from Gevurah
Kabbalah’s formulation of the ten soul powers – the make-up of the human psyche – sheds light on the differences between men and women to help better our relationships.
This lecture was produced and recorded in The Menachem Institute, Chabad of the Valley, Tarzana, CA.
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Join the Discussion
Leib Abrams from Richman Hill, Queens
October 24, 2013
Wow! The best explanation I ever heard on the male and female soul powers as well as the soul powers themselves. Yassha Koach. (I hope this is spelled correctly.) Either way, this was extraordinarily insightful and educational. Chabad Lubavitch strikes again. All the best. Reply
israel
nj
December 28, 2011
i loved this amazing knowledge Reply
This is really quite shocking. Saying that men have 'traditionally been better at math and science and women are better at history and literature' is so incredibly wrong, so out of touch. This entire lecture reeks of apologism and forced gender norm culture. There's no evidence to support what she's saying, it's all conjecture, it's all colloquial anecdotes. She's literally perpetuating the idea that women are relegated to feeling and communicating because that's how their souls are designed. Not a single comment about the fact that our entire human history has stolen agency and self-autonomy from women for millenia. Women have been relegated away from math and sciences because men decided to do so in the middle ages, by taking midwifery away from women, criminalizing them for practicing it, and converting all healing into medicine/ doctorship. Men can also speak, feel, and express themselves if taught, if given half a chance!
This whole lecture is so sad. Gross. Awful. It's 2019.
Dear Naamah,
Thank you for writing and for your perspective. I'm sorry you didn't like the audio talk or the points I was trying to convey.
In a nutshell, I was simply saying that there are 3 ways of looking at the differences between men and women. 1) We can deny there are any differences, even though it is apparent to most of us that there are. 2) We can say it is a product of nurture and the fact that women haven't had certain opportunities--and I do agree with this to some extent. 3) We can say it is a product of nature, that men and women are physically, emotionally and spiritually different--and that we need to value those differences.
The point of my talk was that by denying that women may innately be different is trying to forge women into being what they are not. Rather than appreciating their feminine characteristics and allowing them to shine in these qualities and valuing these qualities, professions or vocations, we instead are often trying to teach women to lose these and instead act more like men.
Thank you again for your response and for writing.