(יח) לא טוב היות האדם לבדו – ...לא טוב שיהי' לו נקבה כמו לשארי ברואים שאינם לעזר בכל הליכות החיים ורק בעת הזווג היא מזדמנת לפניו. אבל לא טוב שיהא האדם בזה האופן.
(18) "It is not good for the human to be alone " ...It is not good for him to have a female like the rest of the creatures, who is not a helpmeet in all the ways of life, but only at the time of mating does she appear before him. But it is not good that the human should exist in this fashion.
(44) 8) Originally, Adam had called Eve "ishah ", emphasizing her parity with man, i.e. ish. After the episode with the tree of knowledge, he called her chavah, emphasizing the female element within her, and the fact that she was the mother of all subsequent human beings. Between these two names, the two functions of woman are defined. On the one hand, as the "eyshet chayil", woman of valour, she possesses all the ingredients that can raise her to the status of prophetess; on the other hand her function is to become a mother. A woman who fails to give birth, just like a man who is sterile, has not forfeited her major function in life, as is proven from Isaiah 56,3-5, "Let not the barren proclaim I am but a dried out tree." We hold the view that man's major function is the performance of good deeds, something quite independent of procreation. If Jacob had been angry at Rachel for demanding children, else her life would not be worth living, (Genesis 30,1-2) it was precisely for this reason...
R. Simeon b. Pazzi pointed out a contradiction [between verses]. One verse says: And God made the two great lights,(Breishit 1:16) and immediately the verse continues: The greater light . . . and the lesser light. The moon said before the Holy One, blessed be He, ‘Master of the Universe! Is it possible for two kings to wear one crown’? He said to her: ‘Go then and make thyself smaller’. ‘Master of the Universe’! said she before Him, ‘Because I have said something which is proper must I make myself smaller’? He said to her: ‘Go and thou wilt rule by day and by night’. ‘But what is the advantage of this’? she said to Him; ‘Of what use is a lamp in broad daylight’? He said to her: ‘Go. Israel shall reckon by thee the days and the years’. ‘But it is impossible’, said she to Him, ‘to do without the sun for the reckoning of the seasons, as it is written: And let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years’.(Breishit 1:14) ‘Go. The righteous shall be named after thee (Amos 7:2) as we find, Jacob the Small, (I Samuel 17:14) Samuel the Small, David the Small’, On seeing that she would not be consoled the Holy One, blessed be He, said: ‘Bring an atonement for Me for making the moon smaller’. This is what was meant by R. Simeon b. Lakish when he declared: Why is it that the he-goat offered on the new moon is differemt, in that there is written concerning it "unto the Lord"? (B-Midbar 28:11) Because the Holy One, blessed be He, said: Let this he-goat be an atonement for Me for making the moon smaller.
(ה) ויקרב משה את משפטן. נִתְעַלְּמָה הֲלָכָה מִמֶּנּוּ...; דָּ"אַ — רְאוּיָה הָיְתָה פָרָשָׁה זוּ לְהִכָּתֵב עַל יְדֵי מֹשֶׁה, אֶלָּא שֶׁזָּכוּ בְנוֹת צְלָפְחָד וְנִכְתְּבָה עַל יָדָן (בבא בתרא קי"ט; סנהדרין ח'):
(5) ויקרב משה את משפטן AND MOSES BROUGHT THEIR CAUSE [BEFORE THE LORD] — The law on this subject escaped him (Sanhedrin 8a)...Another explanation: This chapter ought to have been written by Moses, but for the fact that the daughters of Zelophehad had so much merit, it was therefore written at their hand (Bava Batra 119a; Sanhedrin 8a).