Q:
The Rav said on one of his tapes that in the morning, when we say the ברכה of עוטר ישראל בתפארה, thanking Hashem for crowning us with glory, we should have in mind the glory of wearing a hat and a yarmulke. My wife asked me to find out why she says the ברכה of עוטר ישראל בתפארה?
A:
Of course women make the ברכה thanking Hashem that he crowned our Nation with glory. Why not?! When women look at men and see that they have a crown of glory on their heads – a hat or a yarmulke – they say ברוך אתה ה׳ that You crowned our Nation with glory. When a woman looks at her sons wearing yarmulkas, her husband wearing a black hat, it’s a glory for her. ברוך אתה ה׳ – you crowned our husbands, you crowned our sons, and we are all queens. If your husband wears a crown, then you’re a queen. You should be thinking, “We are the mothers of princes because our sons wear black hats.”
So therefore, it’s an honor for the women that the men are crowned. When a woman sees her son wearing tzitzis, it’s an honor for her. When she sees her son wearing tefillin, it’s an honor for her. Her husband learns Torah, it’s an honor for her. A woman gets a one hundred percent share in all the good things that she helps the men do. Not fifty percent – one hundred percent. They are training their children to learn Torah, to be frum. It’s their glory! נשים במאי זכיין (Brachos 17a). What’s a most important part of the merit of the women of the עם ישראל? All the results of a frum family comes from their toil. They are the builders of the עם ישראל. And they get the merit of a one hundred percent partnership.
And I want to tell you something else. Many times, the women become even greater than men when they say this ברכה. Greatness depends on your mind, on your thoughts. If a woman thinks about the glory of being part of the Holy Nation when she says עוטר ישראל בתפארה, and when she sees her brothers or husband or sons wearing hats, she feels a happiness – a happiness of being part of the glorious nation, then she is accomplishing much more than the man who wears the hat, but just mumbles the ברכה and doesn’t think.
And therefore, they should make a big loud ברכה of happiness, when they see their sons learning Torah and putting on tefillin and wearing tzitzis and yarmulkas. It’s a glory for them. It’s a happiness and glory.
TAPE # E-224
