עברית
Faith
What is the source in Chazal that one who honors his wife merits wealth?
Question
Hello Rabbi,
First of all, I apologize in advance if my assumptions are incorrect, and I would appreciate your corrections.
As far as I know, the Gemara was written on the five books of the Torah. This means that everything written in the Gemara has a source in the holy Torah.
Yesterday, I spoke to a secular woman and I shared what I wrote in the title of my question, "Honor your wives so that you may prosper." I explained to her that the interpretation is that if a person wants sustenance and abundance, he must honor his wife because that is the recipe.
She asked me what the source for this is and on what the sages based this when they wrote it.
I had no answer and promised her that I would find out.
I would greatly appreciate if you could enlighten me.
And if possible, please send me the answer to my email, that would be very helpful.
Best wishes and all blessings.
Answer
Greetings,
The source is in Tractate Baba Metzia (page 59b), where Rabbi Halbo said, "One should always be careful about the honor of his wife, for there is no blessing found in a person's home except for the sake of his wife." He learned this from what is stated in the Torah (Genesis 12:16) "And he treated Abram well for her sake" (and the continuation of the verse there is "and he had sheep, cattle, donkeys, servants, maidservants, and camels"), and this is what Rava said to the people of Machoza: "Honor your wives so that you may prosper."
The Maharsha explained this teaching by stating that it could have been phrased to say "And he treated Abram well for the sake of Pharaoh," as Rashi interprets in the Torah there, but since the verse omitted his name, Chazal learned from this that "he treated well" refers to the One who has goodness and blessing, which is Hashem, who treated him well for the sake of his wife Sarah.
And the Torah Temimah explained this teaching, stating that although the term "he treated well" refers to Pharaoh, all goodness from Hashem is channeled and comes through people.
Wishing you much success,
Hillel Meirs
