Learning Torah is often associated with men and boys. As women, we often wonder what role we play in the arena of Torah learning. Hakham Yoseph Hayyim 'a"h, in his holy work 'Od Yoseph Hai, sheds light on the connection between Torah and women.
When G-d gave the Torah to the Jewish people, He did not send it through His messenger, Moshe Rabbenu 'a"h, who would be the intermediary between G-d and the Jewish people. Rather, He Himself revealed His glory to the entire Jewish nation: men, women and children, at Har Sinai (Mount Sinai). The Children of Israel saw with their own eyes, the awesome sight of thunder and lightning. They heard the voice of G-d with their own ears. Their receiving of the Torah was not done in a theoretical or philosophical way, but rather, in a clear obvious manner which cannot be misinterpreted in any way.
The Ben Ish Hai compares the obvious validity of the Torah to a mother and her baby. Who the mother is, is not a debatable matter since she was the one from whom the baby came - from her womb. The father, on the other hand, we cannot be quite as certain about. The same way we are certain about the mother, we know that the Torah is true since our entire nation heard the voice of G-d telling us the Torah. The validity of our Torah is irrefutable because of the fact that we got it directly from Hashem Himself, not even through Moshe Rabbenu 'a"h. In addition, every Jewish soul was present at that time.
Reading about this awesome occasion, the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people, often inspires a journey to our own personal Mattan Torah (receiving the Torah). Isn't it heartening to know that such an analogy between us as mothers and the special present that Hashem gave us -- His holy Torah -- exists?
