Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin taught in the name of Rabbi Levi that when the Holy One, Blessed be He, prepared to fashion the first woman, He held a quiet council with Himself about anatomy.
He did not take her from Adam's head, said Rabbi Levi, lest she become proud. He did not take her from his eyes, lest she want to see everything. Not from his mouth, lest she become overly talkative. Not from his ear, lest she strain to hear every word. Not from his heart, lest she grow jealous. Not from his hand, lest she reach into every business. Not from his feet, lest she become a wanderer.
Instead He took her from the rib — the tzela — the most hidden part of the body, covered even when a man stands naked. A place not of display, not of authority, but of protection. The rib guards the heart and the lungs. It is the armor of the breath.
The midrash can be read as ancient politics or as quiet theology. Either way, the Holy One chose the one place in the body that already understood how to shield something fragile. Eve was made from the part of Adam that existed to protect.