[Avodah] women lighting candles

[Arie Folger]

> R. Eli Turkel wrote:
> > I say that the evidence that women should not light their own candles
> > is not exactly overwhelming.  I would even suggest that much of the
> > stress on their not lighting is anti-feminism more than strict halacha.
> > A similar phenomena occurs in zimmun.  many poskim agree that 3 women
> > together should make a zimmun. Nevertheless this rarely occrs especially
> > in chassidishe and litvishe homes more for reaons of anti-feminism than
> > strict halacha

RZS:
> How can it have anything to do with anti-feminism, when it goes back
> to before there was any feminism?  It may be difficult to explain, but
> that can't be the explanation.  Add to the mix: why, in those homes
> where every boy over bar-mitzvah has his own ke'arah, do the women not
> have one?  They're obligated in all the mitzvot of the night, just as
> are the men, so why do they not have ke'arot?  Again, this goes back to
> long before feminism, so it can't be a reaction to feminism.  But it
> still needs explaining.  Mayim Acharonim is another one that it would
> seem applies to women, but they just don't do.

Eh... is the practice necessarily correct? Could it be that women were simply 
sociologically not so much into participation, either because of a generally 
male dominated public sphere - not necessarily in Judaism, just everywhere -, 
or because women were less educated in a formal sense, or because women, in 
their subculture, were simply less interested in such things, or because male 
participants, who were often children and grandchildren of the ba'al habayit, 
were being trained for their later role, an argument that didn't apply to 
women? I don't know, I am just asking. After all, none of these oddities come 
from din, they are simply the way things are practiced. Many lines written 
about these practices were written ex post facto, justifying existing 
practice, wihtout regard to din.

This reminds me of my more rebellious former self. Once, a woman approached me 
at a kidush on Shabbos morning, in a flatbush shtiebl, and asked me, whether I 
could make kiddush for her. I asked why doesn't she do it, as halakhicly, she 
is perfectly capable. She looked at me as if I was from Mars.

...
...

But it is still codified halokho, that a woman has the same obligation as a man 
regarding kiddush (sometimes her obligation is greater, i.e., if the man 
fulfilled his obligation Friday night when reciting ma'ariv), and she can fulfil 
the obligation even for other men (though the MB considers that a lack of 
modesty).

Kol tuv,
-- 
Arie Folger
http://ariefolger.wordpress.com
http://www.ariefolger.googlepages.com