Source for why and who eishes chayil

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amother

Wed, Dec 30 2020, 1:52 pm

DH tells me that eishes chayil has nothing to do with a woman and is a song of praise for the Torah. I had thought was one explanation, but not the only one.
Anyone have sources for one or the other?

FranticFrummie

Wed, Dec 30 2020, 2:01 pm

My ex told me the same thing.

I asked him why he mumbled through it, instead of singing it to me.

He said "It's not about YOU."

I always had romantic fantasies about my husband singing to me at the Shabbos table, and that just crushed it. Can't it be about both?

amother

Taupe

Wed, Dec 30 2020, 2:15 pm

Sounds like the issue is about a lot more than Aishes Chayil.

The meforshim say that this was the hesped that Avraham said for Sarah.

Anyway, אין המקרא יוצא מידי פשוטו.

amother

Magenta

Wed, Dec 30 2020, 2:16 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

DH tells me that eishes chayil has nothing to do with a woman and is a song of praise for the Torah. I had thought was one explanation, but not the only one.
Anyone have sources for one or the other?

Just look at all the standard commentaries on the page.
The basic meaning is about a woman and the meforshim speak about all these praises as literally speaking about her greatness. On a deeper level there are many other things it refers to, including torah. Btw chazal say avraham said it as a eulogy for sara.

Thisisnotmyreal

Wed, Dec 30 2020, 2:33 pm

Read Mean loez on it.

zaq

Wed, Dec 30 2020, 2:44 pm

As my HS Chumash teacher said every time some student started spewing phantasmagorical interpretations of a simple pasuk: Don't ignore the pshat.

amother

Wed, Dec 30 2020, 2:50 pm

FranticFrummie wrote:

Yes. This is what happened. We've been married a lot of years and have had this conversation a few times and I've shelved it. Finally decided to get some clarity on this. Maybe I was just reading it wrong. Shir hashirim IS a mashal, so... maybe this is too?
BH he is great in many ways, but there are some things we struggle with. Was wondering whether this was part of it or I really just didn't know.

amother

Sapphire

Wed, Dec 30 2020, 2:58 pm

Dh doesn't sing it to me- we all sing it together.

I was taught that it's about Rus.

chicco

Wed, Dec 30 2020, 3:01 pm

It was the hesped Avraham said for Sarah.

מדרש תנחומי חיי שרה ד

avrahamama

Wed, Dec 30 2020, 3:06 pm

Rebetzin tamar tabak gave over a beautiful shiur on this. I'll try to find it.

Aishes chayil is a few different women in tanach. And if I remember correctly she is ultimately the shechinah. I have to reread

avrahamama

Wed, Dec 30 2020, 3:09 pm

https://docs.google.com/viewer.....8.pdf

amother

Magenta

Wed, Dec 30 2020, 3:42 pm

amother [ Sapphire ] wrote:

Dh doesn't sing it to me- we all sing it together.

I was taught that it's about Rus.

There is a midrash that goes through each passuk and says which woman in history it is referring to- one of those women is Rus.

But anyway, that's at the midrashic level. Pshat is praise to a great woman.

PinkFridge

Wed, Dec 30 2020, 6:42 pm

https://www.amazon.com/More-Pr.....66618

trixx

Wed, Dec 30 2020, 6:45 pm

It's what shlomo said in praise of his mother batsheva who was the only one who rebuked him after he overslept the morning of the bhmk dedication and it was delayed - it was the morning after he married the princess of Egypt and she made him sleep in - the sanhedrin sent in batsheva to wake him and get the key (midrash).

The last Rashi on eishes chayil explains how it's a mashal for the Torah.

amother

White

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 5:49 am

chicco wrote:

It was the hesped Avraham said for Sarah.

מדרש תנחומי חיי שרה ד

this is also what I learned. I think it's in the Tanya that goes through each pasuk and explains accoridng to Sarah and Avraham's life

solo

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 7:09 am

Have u read the translation. Do u fit the bill? I know I don’t. I always thought it was silly when ppl made it about their bride or wife or... there are so many genuinely nice things to be said about me these words are not it.
In our house we all sing it together and enjoy the moment

zaq

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 9:16 am

Well, I'm definitely "lo yichbeh balaylah nerah"--I'm up at all hours--as well as "vatakom be'od laylah"--especially this time of year, I'm up long before the sun. But I'm definitely not giving any "chok lenaaroteha" as I don't have any handmaids to give anything to. Not even a twice-monthly cleaning lady. Or a semi-annual window cleaning man.

amother

Olive

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 9:24 am

For Heavens sake, why can’t it be about complimenting the wife just once?

zaq

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 10:06 am

amother [ Olive ] wrote:

For Heavens sake, why can’t it be about complimenting the wife just once?

You'll get no argument from me. It's not a question of either/or--EITHER it's an allegory about the Torah, Am Yisrael, the Shechinah, etc. OR it's an ode to the ideal Jewish woman in general and the lady of the house in particular. These aren't mutually exclusive and there's no reason not to view it as both. The Torah has multiple levels of meaning from the literal and practical to the metaphysical and everything in between.

amother

Taupe

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 11:48 am

solo wrote:

I hope I qualify for בטח בה לב בעלה. That's the most important line, imo.

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