[Avodah] Kol kevudah: a woman's place is in the home

[Micha Berger]

I was instantly taken by RSRH's explanation of the pasuq, which was
pointed out to me by RMPoppers in Avodah's early days. (It doesn't
change any halachic / minhagic observations hung on it, just discussing
peshat in the pasuq.)

I developed the whole thing further after one of the iterations in
between at <http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2008/06/gender-differences.shtml>.

Quoting my blog:
    Rav Hirsch speaks in terms of "inside" vs. "outside", community in
    service of its members, vs the expansion of the community's domain,
    reach, and standard of living. The similarity to Rav Aharon's
    dichotomy of qibbush extending our reach vs. chazaqah developing
    what we have is quite strong, although not identical.

    Thus, his "kol kevudah bas melekh penimah" (Tehillim 45:14) is
    "But the king's daughter is all glorious within, more than the
    golden borders of her raiment." As R Michael Poppers pointed out a
    long while back, this better fits the hyphenation of "kol-kevudah"
    as well as the use of "kevudah" not "kevudas". The commentary reads:

	"But", the singer adds with infinite tact and delicacy, "though
	the princess may appear glorious and splendid in public, she
	reveals her true glory in quiet, more private circles, and the
	splendid qualities she shows there are much greater than the
	exquisite beauty of the gold borders which shine at the hem of
	her garment." Penimah "within," is always used to designate an
	inner recess as opposed to the outer chambers.

:-)BBii!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             When faced with a decision ask yourself,
micha at aishdas.org        "How would I decide if it were Ne'ilah now,
http://www.aishdas.org   at the closing moments of Yom Kippur?"
Fax: (270) 514-1507                            - Rav Yisrael Salanter