[Avodah] bat mitzva "bo bayom"

[Micha Berger]

Thanks to Menuchah, I got to see the relevant qeta from the Qoheles
Rabba. Thanks to having more text to search with, I found a link I could
share: http://daat.ac.il/daat/toshba/kohelet/3-2.htm#2

(In general daat.ac.il is worth bookmarking; it has numerous primary
sources in full.)

It's interesting. For women, it lists three mitzvos whose zehirus is
assessed when they are in a common she'as saqanah - childbirth. And the
mal'akh hamaveh becomes her qeteigor. For men, it lists three she'os
saqanah in which we are judged: hanging out in delapidated structures,
traveling alone, and traversing the Mediterranean. And for men, it's
the satan who is described as becoming his qeteigor.

The original point, assuming that R' Shemuel bar Nachman singled out
these three aveiros as being the ones the mal'akh hamaves would focus
on because they are in some aspect more important than others, stands.


I'm not sure what to make of the contrast, but here's what came to mind
first:

It's like women are in the normal course of things put in danger, and
therefore "close" to the mal'akh hamaves who then prosecutes them for
their actions.

Men are assumed we'll sin, hanging out with the satan, who will
therefore accuse us whenever we are dumb enough to do something
dangerous.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Spirituality is like a bird: if you tighten
micha at aishdas.org        your grip on it, it chokes; slacken your grip,
http://www.aishdas.org   and it flies away.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                            - Rav Yisrael Salanter