Q:
Is embroidery a waste of time for women, as it could be used instead for saying Tehillim or learning mussar?
A:
Now, let me explain this. Saying Tehillim is a waste of time unless you say it right. You have to say Tehillim with some understanding of the words. Just to be a prayer machine without any thought, it’s a waste of time. I don’t care what people will tell you.
Now, it may not be necessary to understand everything, but you must know you’re talking to Hashem. At least that. If a person thinks he’s talking to Hashem, it’s not a waste of time saying Tehillim. But if he just sits down and says Tehillim without thinking about Hashem at all – that happens, you know – then it’s nothing. Not thinking of Hakadosh Baruch Hu when you’re saying Tehillim!
Learning mussar is always an excellent occupation. But you can’t always learn mussar and you can’t always say Tehillim. And sometimes it won’t do the trick. Sometimes people need something to repair their emotions, to mend their character. People sometimes have a tear in their emotions, they have a wound in their emotions. Their minds are off track. They’re disturbed mentally. They’ve lost their equilibrium emotionally. They’re on the borderline of insanity. Many people are like that. And therefore they have to do some therapy. And it’s very good to do something creative. And embroidery or sewing or something else that’s creative is important as a medicine.
So do you say, “Instead of taking medicines I’ll say Tehillim instead or I’ll learn mussar instead”? Do both. But the medicines you must have. And therefore, these domestic arts that women can use to employ their time are really a medicine; it’s a refuah for the character. It makes happiness in one’s life. Everybody needs something to keep him busy. You can’t be busy all the time with learning.
And some people sit in the yeshiva and they’re just deteriorating emotionally. Their minds are going to pieces; because they’re not learning successfully and they’re not doing anything else. And it’s important for somebody to be busy all the time! That’s therapy.
And therefore I cannot spend too many words on this great subject of being busy with creative subjects.
(April 1983)
