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The advice for a woman is that she learn The Wisest of Women, speaks respectfully and calmly—as the Ramban writes in his Epistle, Chapter Six:
in which I address in a fundamental manner all of the issues that a “Accustom yourself to always speak calmly”—she uses her speech
woman needs to work on: faith, joy, modesty, peace in the home, only to pray to Hashem and bless Him, to teach faith, to thank
patience with the children, rectifying speech, rectifying the desire Hashem, to appreciate people, to invigorate them, make them happy Cause a New Light to Shine on Zion
for food, and so on. These are the most important issues for a and bless them. That shows that she has rectified her speech. Then
woman to repair. Every woman must have a set structure of work her mind sends her a signal of satiety. As Rabbi Nachman writes The Perfection of the Work of the Will
in which she deals with all of her traits and cravings. She must in Sefer Hamidot (Emet 7): “Truth brings satiety.” She never feels
devote at least half an hour to her self-rectification. Every day, in the desire to eat, but she only eats when she understands that she
the course of an hour she should devote half an hour to the work of needs to. A person should eat based on understanding, and not on We are dealing with the work of the will, which is the ability
the will on one of the subjects discussed in The Wisest of Women. desire and appetite. When a person eats based on understanding, to have an effect, to transform ourselves and truly come close to
he is in control. He prays before he eats, he recites the blessing over Hashem. As I explained earlier, the work of the will consists of
The first item for a woman to work on is the rectification of the the food with feeling, he only eats as much as he requires, and he regular, extended and stubborn prayer day after day on a single
mouth. As our sages said, “Ten kab of speech descended into the only eats healthy foods. Because the woman feels sated, she is calm. topic until you see real, actual change. In this chapter, with the help
world, of which women took nine” (Kiddushin 49b). The rectification As a result, she can easily relate pleasantly to her husband, to her of Hashem I will describe a new path in the work of the will, a path
of the mouth involves both speech and eating. As Rabbi Nachman children, and to everyone around her. that is a new light, a very great light in serving Hashem.
emphatically states: “If a person is immersed in the craving for
eating, that is a sign that he is a liar. Even if a man is righteous and A Person’s Purpose This is a very pragmatic chapter. But before coming to the
no longer has that craving, he may fall from his level and descend practical part, I must delineate a number of important principles
to the craving for eating if falsehood has come out of his mouth” Both men and women must set aside a significant amount of time on which that practical guidance is based. If a person only takes
(Likutei Moharan I 47). the guidance without having deeply internalized the fundamentals
every day to work on acquiring the trait of faith. That is because of faith and intent that this chapter will discuss, the practical aspect

As a result of falsehood, a person is never satiated. And faith is the purpose of all creation, as I explain at length in my book, will have no value for him. He will be like a monkey imitating a
falsehood refers to every word that is not in accordance with the In the Garden of Faith. Every living soul must work on advancing human being. That is because this chapter is dealing with a deeply
will of Hashem! That includes all forbidden speech, such as gossip, in his faith. Everything that happens in every person’s life at every internal process that is at the core of the work of the will, which is
defamation, slander, sycophancy, expletives, invective, profanity, moment is a test of faith and an opportunity to acquire faith. All a person’s inner essence. Therefore, this is not a chapter to be read
derogatory nicknames, insults, and of course falsehood in its simple of a person’s imperfections come from a lack of faith. Therefore, a lightly, but a chapter that demands much attention and work so
sense—and more. This includes not only forbidden words, but even person has a very holy obligation to engage in the work of the will that you will truly internalize these principles.
shouting and threatening. That is called “falsehood” because every in order to acquire the trait of faith.
type of speech that hurts other people is not the will of Hashem, Since I am already on the topic of the trait of faith, I will quote What Is the Secret?
and it is thus false.
a passage that provides wonderful encouragement regarding the
When a woman blemishes her speech and pollutes her mouth, she great obligation to work on and acquire the trait of faith, by the The Gemara in Rosh Hashanah (18a) says:
feels hungry. As a result, she gorges herself and grows overweight— mashgiach, Rabbi Yechezkel Levinstein: We learned the following in a baraita. Rabbi Meir used
and that causes her great frustration. And it is known that the to say: Two people were on their sick beds with the same
feeling of hunger causes nervousness. Therefore, she is agitated and A person’s purpose is to recognize his Creator, to illness, and two people were on trial for the same capital
short-tempered, and has frequent outbursts of anger. She has great renew this awareness in his heart at every moment, and
difficulty raising her children and her relationship with her husband to attain new meaning in his faith—and not distract his offense. One sick person recovered, and the other did
is precarious. mind from this for even a moment. Faith is like air for the not. One defendant was saved, and the other was not.
body. At every moment we must inhale faith. Everything Why did one recover and the other did not? Why was
But when she rectifies her speech, guards her mouth perfectly, one saved and the other was not? The answer is that one