A noblewoman once asked Rabbi Yosei, saying to him: ‘Why [did God create Eve as if] by theft?’25Why did He take Adam’s side or ribs away from him without first seeking his permission? He said to her: ‘The analogy is: If one deposited with you an ounce of silver in private, and you returned to him a pound of gold in public, is that theft?’26Adam received something much more valuable than what was taken from him.
She said to him: ‘Why was it done in stealth?’ He said to her: ‘At first He created her for him, but he saw that she was full of viscera and blood,27Having just been taken from his body. See Bereshit Rabba 18:4. so He took her away from him. He then fashioned her a second time.’
She said to him: ‘I will add to what you said: I was intended to marry my mother’s brother, but because I grew up with him in the same house, I was unattractive in his eyes,28Because he was familiar with how I looked as a small child. and He went and married a different woman who is less pretty than I.’ It happened once that there was a certain pious man who was married to a pious woman, and they did not produce offspring together.
They said: We are of no use to the Holy One blessed be He [if we remain childless]. They arose and divorced each other. He went and married a wicked woman, and she turned him wicked. She went and married a wicked man, and she turned him righteous. Thus, everything comes from the woman.29The spiritual tone of the family is set by the wife.