A few weeks ago 2 ppl i know got into a huge debate that is still going on about the fact that girls arent meant to to time related mitzvot. what is the basic answer? also are girls allowed to time related mitzvot?
There also may be a prohibition in regards to wearing a tallis and putting on tefillin because these articles are primarily men’s clothing, and for a women to wear them may transgress the prohibition of transvesticism (see Devarim 22:5). Additionally, if a woman decides to to take on a certain commandment that no other woman in the orthodox world has the custom to do, it may be a problem of Al Tifrosh Min Hatzibbur (don’t separate yourself from the community). I am not completely sure about either of these, but it is what I have heard and it seems to make sense.
ok… that makes sense but the debate seemed to revolve around whether a not a girl is supposed to say maariv and do things like shake the lulav. also if women arent supposed to do timedependant mitzvot, then how do all the mitzvot that women have to do, time dependant?
women arent obligated to do time dependant mitzvot yet all the mitzvot that are only supposed or can only be done by women are time dependant. for example, shabbos candles if they arent done at a certain time they cant be lit.
The exemption of women from mitvos assei shehazeman gerama (positive time bound mitzvos) is a general rule for the mitzvos in the Torah, and there are exceptions to the rule. Women are still obligated in time bound mitzvos which specifically pertain to them, such as lighting the shabbos candles. Another example of this is in regards to Chanukah, because the decrees of the Greeks against the Jewish people also affected the women, and when the miracle of Chanukah occured, the women also benefited from the removal of the Greek oppression. Therefore, women are also obligated to light the menorah, although in many places the father or the husband lights for her. However, if neither of these options are available, then a woman does, in fact, light the Menorah herself.
also...women are obligated in mitzvos asei shehazman gram with regards to shabbos...(kiddush, etc)...i believe it’s from “shamor v’zachor b’dibur echad”
That is true, but for a different reason. Women are only exempt from positive commandments, not negative ones. That pasuk teaches us that in regards to shabbos, the negative commandments and the positive commandents are inseparable, and since women are obligated in the negative commandments, they are also obligated in the positive ones.
also...women are obligated in mitzvos asei shehazman gram with regards to shabbos...(kiddush, etc)...i believe it’s from “shamor v’zachor b’dibur echad"
translation please… what are the mitzvot asei shehazman and shamor v’zachor b’dibur echad?
Mitzvos Assei Shehazeman Gerama: positive commandments (such as “Honor your father and mother!” as opposed to “Don’t murder!”, which is a negative commandment) which are time bound, meaning that they only apply at a specific time.
Shamor Vezachor Be’dibbur Echad: A statement of the Talmud in tractate Shevuos (20b) in regards to Shabbos observance (it is more commonly known from the song that is commonly sung on Friday nights, Lecha Dodi, however the source is the statement of the Talmud) which literally means “guarding and remembering (were stated) in a single utterance”. It is reffering to a seeming discrepancy in the two places in the Torah where the Ten Commandments are stated, once in Shemos 20 and once in Devarim 5. The two accounts of the the Ten Commandments are virtually identical, except for a few small changes. One of these discrepencies is that in the version in Shemos, the verse dealing with Shabbos observance (20:8) says the phrase “Zachor es Yom Hashabbos Lekadesho” (lit. remember the Shabbos day to keep it holy) whereas the verse in Devarim dealing with Shabbos observance (5:12) uses the terminology of “Shamor es yom hashabbos lekadesho” (lit. Guard the Shabbos day to keep it holy). The rabbis derive from here that there are two aspects of Shabbos observance, the aspect of not doing work on Shabbos, which is a prohibition, and the aspect of making Kiddush on Shabbos and treating it as a holy day, which is a positive commandment. But because of the fact that both terms are applied in the Ten Commandments, although they are in different places in the Torah, the rabbis derive that the “prohibition” aspect of Shabbos was somehow said at the exact same time that the “positive commandment”, and because they were said at the same time, they are inseparable. Since women are obligated in all negative commadments, even those that are time bound, they are also obligated in the positive commandments of Shabbos, since they are “attached” to the negative commandments.
Sorry I’ve been absent from the Board - I was occupied with Yarchei Kallah - which I am now at. Men and women are different and, just like they have different physical and emotional needs, they have different spiritual needs. Accordingly, G-d has given us different sets of mitzvos. Women are not forbidden from doing most of them, but they are not accustomed to do all of them. Tefillin, according to at least one Talmudic opinion, is a problem because men and women may not wear garments that are exclusive to the other gender. Women may certainly say Maariv (girls say it in NCSY!) and shake a lulav. Because women are not obligated to shake the lulav, there are some different customs about the blessing. (Generally speaking, I believe that Ashkenazi girls make the bracha and Sefardi girls don’t. Being neither a girl nor Sephardi, I can’t tell you how universal that is.)
Women *are* obligated in mitzvos - just not necessarily in all the same ones as men! Kohanim, Leviim and Yisroelim have different mitzvos, even Jews and non-Jews have different mitzvos. G-d has given everyone a set of mitzvos consistent with the spiritual role He has assigned them!
is that why guys say the bracha she’lo asani isha? because then they are able to do more mitzvot. also if a woman does one of those mitzvot, would she be given extra tzrus?
