Q&A: Tallit for Women
Tallit for Women
Question
Hello.
I wanted to ask about a tallit for women.
I understood that from the standpoint of the laws of tzitzit it cannot be forbidden, but there are other halakhic claims. I’ll list them briefly:
- A concern of pretentiousness / spiritual arrogance (Rema 17:2).
- It draws attention (in public) and is immodest.
- The prohibition of "a woman shall not wear a man's garment" — Targum Yonatan on that verse, Levush sec. 17, and others.
- That wearing it shows that she does not bow her head to the Jewish law that exempted a woman from positive time-bound commandments, in the words of Igrot Moshe: "because of her resentment toward the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Torah, this is not an act of commandment at all, but on the contrary an act of prohibition, for the prohibition is one of heresy, since she thinks that some change in the laws of the Torah could be relevant" (Igrot Moshe 4, 49).
- The feminist egalitarian value is an extra-Torah value (?) — and it is not proper that it should influence Jewish law.
- Because her intention is not for the sake of Heaven (assuming that is so) — Igrot Moshe there.
- Because this act contains a protest against the halakhic establishment, and thereby undermines the status of the rabbis who issue halakhic rulings and cheapens them.
I would be happy if you could elaborate, and if you could refer me to material you wrote on the subject.
More power to you.
Answer
Hello.
I haven’t written directly about this topic.
As for the points you presented here:
- I don’t see any concern of pretentiousness here. Especially according to what Atret Zekenim wrote in the name of Nachalat Tzvi, that this is because it is not women’s way to wear a four-cornered garment. Nowadays it is not men’s way either.
- Indeed. But if it is important to a woman, I don’t see any obstacle. Once a few start going with it, everyone will get used to it and it won’t draw attention.
- I don’t see this as violating "a woman shall not wear a man's garment," just like other male practices that a woman may do in connection with positive time-bound commandments (after all, the prohibition is not specifically about clothing but about all male practices).
- That would apply to every positive time-bound commandment, and nevertheless women do them and even recite the blessing.
- Why shouldn’t extra-Torah values have influence? If this is even an extra-Torah value at all. In my view every value is a Torah value.
- And if a man’s intention is not for the sake of Heaven, then should he also not wear tzitzit?
- If this act is a protest against the halakhic establishment, that in itself is a great commandment.
Bottom line: all these reasons are dubious, and it seems to me that nowadays they make no sense. I am sure that after women begin doing this, just as they began Torah study (which in the past was perceived as forbidden, and not merely as something improper), everyone will get used to it and there will be no problem at all. And about this I would say: "Whoever breaks a fence, a snake shall bite him."
Discussion on Answer
??
Who wants a kiss from a snake?
(From what I managed to understand from Wikipedia, "pedi" means snake in Greek, but I don’t know Greek at all, so maybe that’s a mistake.)
Who wants a snake bite? You get it because you deserve it. You also get a kiss from a snake because you deserve it.
But it’s supposed to be a kind of blessing, not a threat…
The blessing is that even if he encounters a snake, it should kiss him and not bite him. King Midas.
What is this pediphilia?