The Hebrew word for “rib” is tzela. Oral tradition tells us that Woman was created specifically from a rib, rather than from any other part of the body. A rib is a part of the human body that is constantly covered by the arms. And as the Creator was creating Woman, He repeated to her again and again, “Be modest.”
He did not make her from the eyes, so that she would not peep; nor from the ears, so that she would not eavesdrop on everything; nor from the hands, so that she would not touch everything; nor from the feet, so that she would not go where she should not; nor from the mouth, so that she would not chatter excessively.
Examining the word for that from which Woman was created can help us understand her essence and purpose.
Let us turn to a familiar method and recall that all Hebrew letters can be divided into five families: guttural, labial, palatal, dental, and lingual letters.
There is a rule in Hebrew. If you take a word and replace one letter with another from the same family, the word's nuance will change, but not its meaning.
Let us give a clear and vivid example. Rashi uses this rule in his commentary on the Torah. In the book of Vayikra, chapter 19, verse 16, we read: «Do not go about as a talebearer among your people.» The Hebrew word for a talebearer is «rachil». «Ch» belongs to the family of palatal letters—ch, g, k, y. If «ch» is replaced with «g», then instead of «rachil» we get «ragil», which means «foot» in Hebrew. Thus, do not carry gossip by running on your feet from person to person, or «do not go about as a talebearer.»
Psalm 15 demonstrates the same thing when it says, “...did not walk with his feet upon his tongue,” meaning that he did not gossip.
Using the same rule, let us examine the word tzela—rib. The middle letter, “l,” belongs to the lingual family, which includes l, d, n, t and another t (there are two in Hebrew). I may replace l with n (from the same family), and then, instead of the word “rib,” we get the root of the word for “modesty”—tzniut.
In Russian, the concept of modesty is used in a somewhat different sense than in Hebrew. Describing someone as “he is modest” or “she is modest” often implies shyness, indecisiveness, a lack of emotion, or blandness (a “wallflower”). In Hebrew, “modesty” is best expressed by the idea of “remaining hidden within oneself.” It is a kind of introversion, and it is something inherent in Woman (or, at any rate, something that should be inherent in her).
We will examine this quality in greater detail later, when we discuss three women: Rachel, Yaakov's wife; Michal, King Shaul's daughter and King David's wife; and Esther.