Q&A: Women Being Called Up to the Torah, Tefillin, and Torah Study
Women Being Called Up to the Torah, Tefillin, and Torah Study
Question
Hello Rabbi, is it permitted for women to put on tefillin, study Talmud, or be called up to the Torah?
Answer
I’ll answer briefly, since it’s hard to go into detail here.
1. Studying Talmud is permitted and is a commandment. True, women are exempt from the commandment of Torah study, but they are allowed to learn. Moreover, elsewhere I argued that they are exempt from the commandment but obligated in the learning itself. See my article on logical reasoning on my site (before note 31): https://mikyab.net/%D7%9B%D7%AA%D7%91%D7%99%D7%9D/%D7%9E%D7%90%D7%9E%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%9D/%D7%A1%D7%91%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%AA%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%95%D7%9E%D7%A2%D7%9E%D7%93%D7%9F-%D7%94%D7%94%D7%9C%D7%9B%D7%AA%D7%99/
2. Being called up to the Torah is technically permitted according to the law. However, the Talmud says it is forbidden because of the dignity of the congregation, though many argue that today this no longer compromises the congregation’s dignity. Most halakhic decisors forbid it, but in my personal opinion it is reasonable to permit it.
3. Putting on tefillin is permitted if one maintains bodily cleanliness. See Shulchan Arukh, section 38, paragraph 3, where it is explained that women should not put them on because they do not know how to keep their bodies clean. Some understood this to refer to their menstrual periods, but that is not a reasonable argument (menstruation does not make the body unclean in this sense; ritual impurity does not prohibit putting on tefillin). Moreover, the commentaries there make it clear that this is not what was meant. Therefore, nowadays I do not see why women should not be trusted to maintain cleanliness just like men, and in my opinion there is no obstacle to their putting on tefillin.