I heard that the Maharal says that women are naturally on a higher level than men. Where can I locate this Maharal and are there any other sources on this subject. Thank you.
From Mail-Jewish archives:
From: Eli Clark
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The are in fact three sources which discuss the superiority of a woman’s soul. .. One is from the Maharal of Prague, the 16th century Jewish thinker. In his Derush al ha-Torah (publ. together with Be’er ha-Golah in Sifrei Maharal, p. 27a), he explains the exemption of women from certain time-bound commandments by reference to their spiritual superiority, which requires fewer mitzvot to achieve perfection.
An earlier source for this idea appears in the midrash anthology Yalkut Shim’oni (I Sam. 1:13), which describes women as having “lev ehad”—one heart. In other words, women do not have the same struggle between a good and evil inclination.
Finally, R. Samson R. Hirsch, the 19th century thinker and exegete, writes in his Commentary to Lev. 23:43 that women do not need as many commandments because they have greater fervor in their service of God and are exposed to fewer temptations.
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