A Talmida Chachama
‘If He Is A Scholar, He Is Not Sworn’
(Shavuos 41a)
Our Sages interpreted the verse “Rise before old age and honor the appearance of an old man” (Vayikra 19:32) as meaning that we are to rise before either the elderly or one (who might even be young) who has acquired wisdom. (Zakein, the word for an elderly person, can also be defined as “zeh shekana chachma” – one who has acquired wisdom). Regarding rising before an elderly woman, Sefer Chassidim 578 states: “Rise before old age… and even before an elderly woman.”
Rabbi Wosner, in his Responsa Shevet Halevi 5:130 and 10:114, mentions that though there are other opinions (see Bris Olam on Sefer Chassidim, ibid.; Responsa Halachos Ketanos 1:154), it is an obligation to honor an elderly woman, and as a doubtful matter of the Torah this obligation should be treated strictly.
The Chidushei Sefas Emes on Yoreh Deah, referencing the Chidushei HaRim 244:8, writes that it is not fitting for a man to rise before a woman unless she is extremely old.
Rising Before a Chaver’s Wife
Our Gemara, supra 30b, teaches us that “a chaver’s wife is like a chaver [talmid chacham].” In other words, we must honor her because of the honor due her husband’s Torah. The Gemara relates that Rav Nachman rose before Rav Huna’s wife when she came to his beis din, although he did it in such a way as not to appear that he was giving her preferential treatment.
The Rishonim express different opinions as whether this halacha is Biblical or only a rabbinical decree (see Ramban, Rashba, Ritva, Rosh, and Ran on 30b and see Responsa She’elas Ya’vetz 2:135). Some simply explain that this halacha is only a measure of piety (middas chassidus) (see Knesses Hagedolah, Yoreh Deah 244). At any rate, according to all opinions, we must rise before a chaver’s wife and honor her.
A Matter of Incumbency
But we still have to clarify how we should behave with a talmida chachama, a wise woman expert in Torah, who merits honor solely of her own, independent of whether or not she is the wife of a scholar. The source of our doubt is whether a woman expert in Torah should really be considered a talmida chachama because knowledge of the Torah alone does not grant a person the status of a chacham unless his expertise was acquired through the mitzvah of learning Torah.
The author of Minchas Chinuch, mitzvah 257, writes that a woman expert in Torah does not have the status of a talmid chacham as “a chacham is only someone commanded to learn [and who] has acquired wisdom.” Therefore, there is no need to rise in her honor. So also is the opinion of the Ari, z”l (cited in Ben Ish Chai, Parashas Ki Tisa, 16).
Studying Her Laws
On the other hand, many poskim, including Mahari Ayash and the author of Responsa Beis Yehudah (Yoreh Deah 28), believe that as women are commanded to learn the halachos pertinent to them (Beis Yosef, Orach Chayyim 47:14, in the name of the Agur), a woman expert in Torah acquires the status of a chacham and should be honored accordingly.
The Unused Argument
The author of Sedei Chemed (1: p. 116, os 59) cites a perceptive proof from our sugya in the name of the “Rosh Yeshiva from Dvinsk” that there is no obligation to honor a talmida chachama. Our Gemara explains that a person claiming to have paid a promissory note presented by another may demand the latter to swear that the loan was not repaid.
The Gemara then asks: “So what is the difference between this situation and that of someone who devalues (pogeim) his promissory note?” In other words, a Mishna in Kesubos 87a rules that a divorced woman wanting to collect her kesubah when the kesubah has a pegam (an essential defect, when she admits that it was partially paid) can only collect the residual with an oath.
It appears, then, that a borrower can make a lender swear only if the promissory note has a defect. Why, then, does our sugya state that any borrower may demand of his lender to swear even if the note has no defect? (See the Gemara’s answer.) Our sugya also states that if the lender is a talmid chacham, he is not made to swear so as to avoid dishonor and prevent the impression that he might be presenting a false claim.
Apparently our Gemara could have answered that any borrower may indeed demand a lender to swear whereas the Mishna in Kesubos relates to a talmida chachama demanding her kesubah who, because she is a talmida chachama, is not made to swear unless her kesubah has a defect.
We must conclude, asserts the author of Sedei Chemed, that a woman does not have the status of a talmid chacham.
A Woman Who Is A “Master of Good Deeds”
Despite the above, Minchas Chinuch (ibid.) writes that since, aside from honoring the elderly and talmidei chachamim, we should honor someone who is a “Master of Good Deeds” (Shabbos 31b, Kiddushin 33b; Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 244:12; and Taz, s.k. 6), it is an obligation to honor a pious woman who is careful in her deeds and is worthy of that title.
