← All Texts Beware the Widowed Woman's Beauty

Beware the Widowed Woman's Beauty

Apocrypha & Pseudepigrapha Alphabet of Ben Sira, Letter Ayin

Curated by The Jewish Mythology Team · Published March 15, 2026

<p>"Blind your eyes because of a widowed woman, and do not covet her beauty in your heart." That's what Ben Sira says, in the proverb attached to the Hebrew letter Ayin (ע) -- and it's a harsh one.</p>

<p>The Alphabet of Ben Sira, composed sometime between 700 and 1000 CE, doesn't pull punches. Here, the child prodigy warns his teacher against being lured by a widow's attractiveness, claiming that "her children are the children of straying." The implication is that a widow who remarries might carry complications from her previous life -- loyalties, obligations, and heirs whose allegiances lie elsewhere.</p>

<p>It's worth noting that this advice runs against the grain of much of rabbinic literature, which generally treats caring for widows as a sacred obligation. The Torah itself repeatedly commands protection of widows and orphans. The tension is part of what makes the Alphabet of Ben Sira such a fascinating text. It deliberately courts controversy, mixing genuine folk wisdom with provocative, even offensive, claims. Scholars have long debated whether the text is sincere or satirical -- a parody of overly confident wisdom literature.</p>

<p>The word Ayin (עין) itself means "eye," which makes the proverb's opening command to "blind your eyes" a clever wordplay. Ben Sira ties his advice directly to the letter he's reciting, a literary flourish that runs through the entire alphabetical section.</p>

Themes

Continue Reading

Other Texts Rectifying the Nefesh From Malchut to Keter It’s a question that’s wrestled with in the profound Kabbalistic text, Sha’ar HaGilgulim, or “The Gate of Reincarnations... Other Texts Partzufim and the Layered Structure of the Soul Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism, suggests that we do, in fact, possess layers upon layers, worlds within worlds. It's a conce... Other Texts Rabbi Chaim Vital on Tikkun of the Three Soul Parts In Jewish mysticism, particularly within the Kabbalah, this idea is explored in profound and intricate ways. Today, we'r... Other Texts Asiyah: Reincarnation of Souls Today, we're diving into a particularly intriguing text, Sha’ar HaGilgulim – "The Gate of Reincarnations" – specifically... Other Texts Gilgulim Versus Gehinom as Paths of Purification It’s a question that’s haunted humanity for, well, forever. And in the Jewish mystical tradition, particularly in the te... Other Texts Ari Beyond the Firmament It holds within it a reflection of every single Jewish soul. The text tells us something pretty : that there are precise... Kabbalah We Cannot Know God's Essence but We Can Study God's Actions And tackling it requires us to ask some fundamental questions of our own. But before you run screaming into the night, l... Kabbalah Baal HaSulam Rejects the Idea God Abandoned Us Ever felt like the universe is just... ignoring you? Like you're shouting into the void, and all you get back is silence... Kabbalah The Desire to Give Is the Soul's Lifeblood Think of it as a current flowing from the four sacred worlds of ABYA – Atziluth, Beriah, Yetzirah, and Assiyah – a conce...