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Why are challah, niddah, and hadlakas neir called "women's mitzvos" when men share the same halachic obligations? The shiur develops a yesod from Sarah and Rivka that these three mitzvos address the spiritual and emotional effects of Chavah's sin—feelings of worthlessness and depression tied to death, disconnection, and destruction. Observing these mitzvos restores a woman's sense of worth and enables her to fulfill her role as eizer k'negdo—empowering her husband as a mother empowers her child.
Rabbi Zweig opens with a foundational question: Why are challah, niddah, and hadlakas neir traditionally called "women's mitzvos" when men share the same halachic responsibilities? A man is equally obligated in the laws of niddah and the other mitzvos, so what makes these distinctively the domain of women? The answer emerges from the pasuk in Parshas Chayei Sarah describing Yitzchok's marriage to Rivka. The Torah (תורה) states, "Vayeviyeha Yitzchok ha'ohela Sarah imo... vayinachem Yitzchok acharei imo"—Yitzchok brought Rivka into Sarah's tent and was comforted after his mother. Rashi (רש"י) explains that three miraculous signs that had characterized Sarah's tent returned with Rivka's arrival: a ner dolek (candle) burning from erev Shabbos (שבת) to erev Shabbos, berachah metzuyah ba'isah (blessing found in the dough), and the anan (divine cloud) resting above the tent. These correspond precisely to the three mitzvos: hadlakas neir, challah, and niddah (represented by the divine presence of taharah).
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Bereishis 24:67, Parshas Chayei Sarah
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