Women's role in Torah Education - Rav Moshe Feinstein

 Shemos (19:03) And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel;

Rashi citing the Mechilta says Beis Yakov is referring to the women

Rav Moshe ( Darosh Moshe page 55) notes  that this means Torah was given first to the women. Why should this be since it is the men not the women that are primarily obligated in mitzvos and to study the Torah?

He answers that the Torah was given to the Jewish community for all generations and thus  it needed to be accepted and sustained.   The Torah was never going to be given again so its survival was dependent on chinuch (education) of the young children not the adults.  Adults are already fixed in their ways and have trouble being educated (Bava Bara 21a). These children are prepared for the acceptance of Torah and mitzvos by their mothers who also  encourage them after they start school as well as taking care of them for many hours of the day. That is why women were given priority in the giving of the Torah since they are the critically important factor for the Torah to survive over the generations. They teach proper faith and desire to keep the mitzvos so the children are prepared for their formal studies.