assorted thoughts on Parshat Yitro (relevalation at Sinai)

[cellio]

Yes, Shavu'ot was a couple weeks ago, but between LJ outages and general busy-ness I haven't written about it before now.
My rabbi's tikkun leil Shavu'ot (late-night torah study for the holiday) always begins with a study of Exodus 19-20. This year I noticed, or had pointed out, things I had not previously noticed.
The first is in 19:1, which

Comments

[ichur72]

>> God says "thus shall you say to the house of Ya'akov and tell the people of Israel". The house of Ya'akov and the people of Israel are, of course, one and the same. Saying and telling are similar; I wonder if there is nuance there or it's just part of the poetry.

The explanation I was taught goes something like this: The phrase "beis Yaakov" refers to the women, while "bnei Yisrael" refers to the men. Hashem instructed Moshe to give Torah over to the women first and the men second. Also, there is a difference between "say" and "tell", with "say" having the connotation of politeness, or perhaps more accurately a conversational approach, and "tell" being more in the style of a direct command. IOW, Moshe is being reminded of the different communication styles between men and women.

I wish I could give you a specific source for this, but my memory is failing and my Google Fu (TM) is flagging tonight.

[cellio]

Thank you! I knew that girls' schools were sometims called "beis Ya'akov" ("beis", because I've never heaed anyone who uses sephardi pronunciation make such a reference), but I had no idea why.

That interpretation of "say" versus "tell" could support the argument that men have more mitzvah obligations than women. Do you happen to know if it is fact used that way?

[ichur72]

I don't, sorry.

[magid]

Perhaps the 'say' v. 'tell' relates to the golden calf, with the women not giving their jewelry for it?