From My Desk 2026-05 Thoughts about Mothers’ Day

My father (o.b.m.) was fond of quoting sentence 8 in Proverbs 1.

“My son, heed the discipline of your father, And do not forsake the instruction of your mother.” He referred to this especially when I was a teenager, and usually when he wanted to impress upon me the importance of respecting my mother (also, of blessed memory). Naturally, like so many teenagers, I had moments where I sought independence from my parents, either in thought or action. As parents, they understood my desires, but there were times when I felt they should allow me greater freedom. Sometimes, my desire for greater freedom clashed with my mother’s more restrictive expectations. It was usually then that my father invoked the famous line, referred to, above.

That sentence was written about 3000 years ago by King Solomon, the author of Proverbs. Remarkably, Proverbs 31, which is the source of the homage to women, “Eishet Chayil” (Woman of Valor), opens this way: ד ִּ֭ בְ רֵ י לְ מּואֵ ֵ֣ ל מֶ ֶ֑ לֶ ְך מ ַ֝ ש ָּׂ֗ א אֲֽשֶ ר־י סְ ר ַ֥ ּתּו א מּֽ ֹו

The words of Lemuel, king of Massa, with which his mother admonished him:

The Sages claim that Lemuel is none other than King Solomon, himself, who gives credit to his mother for continuing to teach him long after he has already assumed the Kingship over Israel. Consider the famous case of the two harlots who approach the King with the claim that the newborn baby present in the royal court as Exhibit A belongs to each of them (1 Kings, Chapter 3). According to a Midrash, on Solomon's left is his mother, Bathsheva, and on his right is Ruth, his aged great-great grandmother. Both are present in Court with him, as he continues to take counsel and advice from them, before issuing his famous solution to an exceedingly difficult problem.

Additionally, Midrash Tanhuma, Shmot 1 (a midrash on Exodus) claims that Solomon became the wisest of men because Bathsheva reproached him for adopting some bad habits, and taught him how a king should conduct himself! (For those who would like to read more about the influential role that Bathsheva played in the development of one of our most venerated Biblical leaders, see this article in the Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women:

https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/bathsheba-midrash-and-aggadah#pid-13747)

My point, of course, is that, Mothers’ Day is almost here. Let's recognize that Jewish tradition assigns great honor to women, especially to those who are mothers. In line with the mitzvah of learning Torah (about which we will have more to say during the upcoming holiday of Shavuot), it’s a good idea to familiarize ourselves with some of the most famous mothers in Jewish history, and appreciate the grand contributions they made to advancing the Jewish people throughout the ages. Indeed, our own mothers, who brought us into this world, deserve our recognition and respect on that basis alone. If they educated us, reproved us, sheltered us and even nursed us, how much more so do we owe them our respect.

Finally, according to Strong’s Biblical Concordance, the Hebrew word ם ֵא,) Mother, “(as the bond of the family)”) is related to the word

ה מ ֻא) nation “(from the same [root] as em)”. Thus, the bond in creating a family is the force which creates the nation. May we, the children of our nation’s mothers be blessed to continue into the future, enlarging our people with women blessed with the finest qualities and values endorsed by our Torah.