Women express Chesed, men express Gevurah:[1]
[Earlier it was stated that women come from Gevurah and men come from Chesed. At first glance, this matter appears rather puzzling, as women seem so much kinder and gentler than men, who display more of a tough and stern demeanor. Thus how can we say that in truth the tough man is Chesed and the soft-spoken woman is Gevurah? The explanation is as follows: Although the root of a woman in the Sefiros is from Gevurah, nevertheless she also contains within her an aspect of Chesed, which is called Chesed Shebegvurah. Likewise, although men are from Chesed, they nevertheless contain an aspect of Gevurah that is Gevurah Shebichesed. Furthermore, not only do men and women contain the opposite aspects, but their primary natural disposition is of the opposite aspect, meaning that women mainly express Chesed of Gevurah while men mainly express Gevurah of Chesed. This can be seen in the following difference of approach taken by men and women in childrearing. When a child needs to be reprimanded, the father naturally takes the task of hitting him, thus revealing his Gevurah aspect found within his Chesed root, which desires the child to become a good and upright person and Jew. Thus the father is expressing an external act of Gevurah that is rooted in the motivation and goal of Chesed. The mother, on the other hand, is more naturally inclined to yield to the child’s unfitting behavior and give him all the good that he desires. Although externally the act of giving to the child is an expression of Chesed, nevertheless it is rooted in Gevurah, as by doing so the child loses a much greater benefit of becoming an educated and proper human being and Jew. Thus the woman is committing an external act of Chesed, which is rooted in a natural character of Gevurah.
[1] Likkutei Torah Tazria
