Standing-on-1-ft.book review: Women re halachah

The last time we visited Larry and Malka Esther Lennhoff, they were kind enough to lend me their copy of Jewish Legal Writings by Women, edited by Rabbi Micah D. Halpern and Dr. Chana Safrai. It was quite a lot to plow through, I must confess, since I'm not the studious type. But I managed to read the whole thing (minus the chapters written in Hebrew), except for "Red Strings: A Modern Case of Amulets and Charms," which I found just plain annoying and dumped halfway through, since I don't believe that such nonsense has any effect on one's health.

Naturally, I was particularly interested in Aliza Berger's "Wrapped Attention: May Women Wear Tefillin." The answer, as I should have expected, is that it depends on whom you ask. (1) Rama, R. Moshe Feinstein: No. (2) Yes, during the Sh'ma and the weekday-morning Amidah prayer, or for a minute. (3) Should be protested, per Aruch haShulchan text, based on Rama, who ruled that wearing tefillin should be done "only under conditions of obligation." (4) Yes, based on Maset Binyamin Ravaz, and the majority of Rishonim.

One objection seems to be that women cannot maintain a sufficient level of physical cleanliness. However, this also seems to be the reason why men no longer wear tefillin all day--that level of cleanliness is difficult to maintain. (Flatulence is not permissible while wearing tefillin. There's no really delicate way to say this: Just how long can any human being go without, um, "breaking wind?") Another objection seems to be that women are not obligated to wear tefillin, since it's one of the time-bound mitzvot (commandments) from which women are exempt. However, even men are only obligated to wear tefillin during the Sh'ma and the weekday-morning Amidah prayer, yet they put them on long before the Sh'ma and (generally) wear them for all of Shacharit (Morning Service). In addition, some Ashkenazim now have a custom that boys start wearing tefillin about a month before they become Bar Mitzvah (and are therefore not yet obligated), and Sefardi authority Rabbi Ovadia Yosef even permits boys to wear tefillin a few years before becoming B'nei Mitzvah. So much for the "only when obligated" argument.

I was also particularly interested in Chanah Henkin's "Women and the Issuing of Halakhic Rulings." The short version is that, yes, women are permitted to issue halachic rulings (rulings on matters of Jewish religious law). That said, Mrs. Henkin protests against the use of the term poskot (plural for poseket, a female halachic decisor). I confess to being somewhat skeptical about her insistence that the use of that term is not accurate, and am more convinced that her other argument, "constructive changes will not be made in the glare of spotlights," is her primary logic. She states that she is not interested in "empowering women," but only in "enabling women to observe mitzvot meticulously." Rabbanit Henkin's own Keren Ariel Yoatzot Halacha program trains Orthodox Women to help mostly other Orthodox women. It does not train them to rule on matters of halachah (Jewish religious law) in general. Rabbanit Henkin appears to have absolutely no interest in training a woman to be a rabbah (female equivalent of a rav/rabbi) who would serve the entire community as a halachic decisor in all matters. I can't help wondering whether she's sincere about this, or whether she truly believes that it's more effective in the long run to sneak women in through the back door. In Mrs. Henkin's defense, there's something to be said for making an end-run around the right wing--I am rather amused that the Riverdale Jewish Center avoids a good scolding by the Rabbinical Council of America and/or the Orthodox Union by calling its Yoetzet Halachah a member of the "Klei Kodesh/Holy Vessels" (roughly translation: clergy), rather than a member of the rabbinic staff.