אַאַמוּ"ר כּוֹתֵב בְּאֶחָד מִמִּכְתָּבָיו: שָׁמַעְתִּי בְּשֵׁם כְּבוֹד קְדוּשַׁת אֲבוֹתֵינוּ הַקְּדוֹשִׁים, זֵכֶר צַדִּיקִים וּקְדוֹשִׁים לִבְרָכָה לְחַיֵּי הָעוֹלָם הַבָּא, נִשְׁמוֹתֵיהֶם עֵדֶן, זְכוּתָם יָגֵן עָלֵינוּ, שֶׁגַּם עַל בַּת צָרִיךְ לוֹמַר לְתּוֹרָה (וּלְחוּפָּה וּלְמַעֲשִׂים טוֹבִים), עַל פִּי מַה שֶׁאָמְרוּ רַזַ"ל (בְּרָכוֹת יז. א): נָשֵׁי בְּמַאי זָכְיָן בְּאִיקְרוֹי כו' וּבְאִתְנוֹי כו' וְנָטְרִין כו'.

My revered father, [the Rebbe Rashab,] writes in a letter:1 “I heard in the name of our forerunners — the Rebbeim, of blessed memory — that for a daughter, too, [in the prayer2 that is offered when the father of a newborn child is called to the Reading of the Torah, we ask that the parents should be blessed with success in raising her] ‘to Torah,’ and [not only] ‘to marriage, and to good deeds.’ For our Sages state (Berachos 17a): ‘By virtue of what do women earn merit?3 By seeing to it that their children attend the synagogue to study the Written Law, and that their husbands study the Oral Law in the house of the Sages, and by waiting for their husbands until they return from the house of the Sages.’”

Living in This World

Beyond the above duties, a woman herself is also required4 — for a start — to study all the laws and concepts needed to enable her to observe the mitzvos that she is obligated to fulfill. This vast curriculum includes the intricate laws of (for example): Shabbos, kashrus, and taharas hamishpachah (family purity); all the positive mitzvos that are not contingent on a specific time; and virtually all the prohibitive mitzvos, whether of Scriptural or Rabbinic authority. Indeed, many learned men would be happy if their Torah knowledge would be as complete.

In fact, however, even a knowledge of all the above subjects cannot suffice alone. All Jews, men and women alike, need guidance towards a satisfying philosophy of life; an appreciation of the dynamics set in motion by the observance of a mitzvah; an understanding of how a Jew connects with his Creator by studying His Torah; and an informed sensitivity to the way in which all Jews — to borrow the metaphor of the AriZal — are part of the same spiritual body.5

Hence, included among the many mitzvos that a woman is fully obligated to observe are the cardinal commandments of knowing G‑d, loving Him, fearing Him, and the like. (Indeed, these mitzvos6 “devolve upon us as a constant obligation, never ceasing [for either a man or a woman] for even a moment throughout his life.”) Obviously, one cannot wholeheartedly fulfill these ongoing obligations without a mastery of certain spiritual concepts. This is clearly spelled out in the verse,7 “Know the G‑d of your father and serve Him with a full heart.” This knowledge can be attained by studying pnimiyus haTorah, the Torah’s mystical dimension. And this dimension is articulated and accessible in the teachings of Chassidus.

“It is thus self-evident,” as the Rebbe writes, “that women too are obligated to study that dimension of the Torah which engenders and gives birth to a love and awe of the Al-mighty, explaining how His unity is utterly unique, and so on. For it is with regard to every Jew and Jewess that the Torah states,8 ‘For this thing is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.’ “9

Moreover, the fact that women today are so eager (and able) to study, more than ever in the past, has a cosmic significance. Indeed, it foreshadows the revelations of the Ultimate Future. To borrow the terms of the Kabbalah: Malchus is the Sefirah that represents the feminine aspect of the spiritual energy that animates the universe. In the present era, the superior source of that Sefirah is latent. In the Ultimate Future, by contrast, its superior source will become manifest10 — as indeed it is already beginning to surface with the current flowering of women’s Torah study programs worldwide.