Close To Torah

The Aishes Chayil song listed so many of the great gifts that Hashem bestows upon her and those that keep the Torah. She was blessed with: a spouse, children, health, success, nice clothing, beauty, wealth, charity, trust, love and so much more. Yet the Aishes Chayil is known to be modest and easy to get along with. How does she live life with so many blessings and not let it get to her head?

There is a story told regarding Margaret Thatcher as she began her term as Prime Minister (of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990). She was invited by the Queen of England to a private party. Eager to make a good impression, she went out and had the most magnificent and expensive blue dress made for her. She arrived at the party with great excitement and feeling very proud. Suddenly, her worst nightmare became a reality. The Queen was wearing the exact same dress as she was. She panicked and feared that her dress would be considered a deep insult against the Queen. Laying low and trying not to attract attention she left the party as quietly and quickly as she could. When she got home her heart was pounding as she wrote her sincere and heartfelt apology to the Queen. “I genuinely apologize for this terrible insult. It was truly unintentional. I have resolved to find out what the Queen will be wearing to future events so that my mistake will never be repeated again…” Immediately, she used her political connections and got the letter over to the secretary of the Queen. She waited anxiously for the reply. Her mind raced with all types of doubts about her future political career that hanged on the line. The secretary wrote back a one sentence reply: “The Queen never notices what anyone else is wearing- she’s the Queen!”

This idea finds root in Jewish thought. The Gemara in Shabbos (59b) discusses women wearing jewelry on Shabbos and talks about an expensive neck piece called, ‘The Golden Jerusalem’. One opinion states that it is considered an ornament and thus a woman cannot wear it outside on Shabbos as she may come to take it off to show it off to her friends and will be carrying without an Eruv. Rabbi Eliezer states that she is allowed to wear it outside on Shabbos. He explains that only a prominent lady (“Isha Chashuva”) would wear such a piece and “prominent women have no need to take off their jewelry to show to others!”

The Aishes Chayil has a deep-rooted sense of intrinsic value. She doesn’t do things because of what others will think. She doesn’t buy things so that others will look and feel jealous. She gets dressed in clothing befitting of a true Bas Yisrael Queen and she enjoys the bounty that Hashem gives her with a focus on appreciation towards Hashem for giving her precious blessings and without a thought of haughtiness and pride or superiority over others. She has a focus on internal value and thus she is modest and pleasant in her treatment of others. She is a truly prominent woman with a healthy self-esteem that is built from internal satisfaction and joy.

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Categories: Uncategorized Tags: Bas Yisrael, Margaret Thatcher