"The Woman is Called a Wall, So That She Ensures Her Husband Prays, Studies

Before you is the full daily lesson as delivered by our teacher, the Rav, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a - yesterday after the Ma'ariv (evening) prayer, Monday, Parshat Shemini, the night of the 23rd of Adar II:

"So all the women drove the husbands out of the house, from the 17th of Tammuz until Yom Kippur when Moshe (Moses) came with the second tablets. Therefore, they bring a Machatzis HaShekel (half-shekel), not a whole shekel, because women do not sin; women are not capable of sinning. Women do not have the same Yetzer Hara (evil inclination) that a man has. The inclination that a man has is the most dangerous, wild inclination; it is a literal demon that drives him crazy. He doesn't study, doesn't pray, he just runs after the Yetzer Hara day and night in the streets—doesn't study, doesn't pray, doesn't put on Tefillin (phylacteries), and the woman sees this. Therefore, the woman is called a 'chomah' (wall), for she must be strict with her husband so that he prays, studies, and comes to the Tzaddik.

And therefore, the wife of On ben Pelet brought him high-quality champagne, a bottle for 110 shekels—she didn't even have it, they collected it for her. Because champagne... Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki) lived in the Champagne region, there in Troyes, there the wine is the most excellent in the merit of Rashi. Because all wine is in the merit of the Tzaddik; only in the merit of Rashi did the wine from the Champagne region become the most excellent. And she gave this to him [the wife of On ben Pelet] to drink and he slept for twenty-four hours. He said, 'What will be with Tefillin? Will I not put on Tefillin?' So she says, 'You are exempt from Tefillin; if you do not believe in the Tzaddik, you are exempt from Tefillin, you don't need to put them on, if you oppose the Tzaddik.' Everyone will be swallowed by the earth, I promise you. When you wake up, everyone will be swallowed by the earth. And may we merit the complete Geulah (Redemption) speedily in our days, Amen!"‏.