A rabbi was the head of a large yeshiva. Every night, before going to sleep, he prayed: “Master of the Universe, give me wisdom. The students ask me difficult questions. Give me the wisdom to answer them tomorrow.” He would then sleep after reciting the Shema.
He did not know that his wife heard all his prayers. When he fell asleep, she would turn on the light, take paper and pen, and write the questions the students would ask and the answers. She would place them under his head. In the morning he thought they had been revealed from Heaven and written by an angel.
One night he stayed awake and saw his wife writing the questions and answers. He said nothing and decided to test her.
During a sermon he said, “Women’s understanding is weak.” His wife replied, “Except for your wife.” Later she said the same thing again. The rabbi decided to test her further.
The woman was young and beautiful, and among the students was a handsome young man. The rabbi sent him to their house several times to ask for books. At first she simply gave him the books. Later she delayed him and began talking with him.
After several visits, the rabbi told the student to report what happened but not to let himself be led onto a bad path. The student said he could never betray his rabbi because the rabbi was his teacher and she was the Rabbanit.
At the house, the Rabbanit tried to persuade him to become her friend. He resisted. Eventually she persuaded him to meet her in the mikveh. The student stopped and said he could not do such a thing to his rabbi. He spat in her face and left.
Overcome with shame, the woman went under the water and drowned. The student returned to the yeshiva with the book. The rabbi saw him pale and asked what had happened. The student told him everything and said that the rabbi’s wife had died in the mikveh.
The rabbi turned to his students and said: “I told you that women’s understanding is weak! I thought she was an angel, that she understood Torah, that she was wise—everything. But there you have it. See how she behaved!”
Thanks to the Tavor (Cherkian) family.
The story was told by Baruch Tavor and recorded by Liora Behar.
The story is also recorded in the Israel Folktales Archives (IFA), named for Dov Noy at the University of Haifa, serial no. 10220.