[Avodah] Qaddish and Women

[Ben Waxman]

From: <rabbirichwolpoe at gmail.com>
> I am researching "qaddish" stuff for a series of postings and I'm looking
> for sources:

IIRC (and it has been a long time since I saw this) Rav Henkin writes about
qaddish in Bnei Banim. There he quotes his grandfather as allowing women to
say qaddish.

[See <http://www.aishdas.org/avodah/vol06/v06n072.shtml>, RYHHenkin's
"The Principle of Habituation" and a reply to a review of that article
by R' Emanuel Feldman.   -mi

[The following was sent in a 2nd email. -mi]

When a friend of mine did some research into the subject he came to the
following conclusion.

Those opinions which forbid women from saying Qaddish are based on an
incorrect assumption. The earliest pskei halakha dealing with the question
(of women saying Qaddish) were actually dealing with a different question.
Namely, where do women fit in, if at all, into the list of those who want to
say Qaddish. Qaddish used to be said by one person only (still that way in a
few shuls). There were detailed lists of who had the higher priority. Within
that list, where do women fit in? Answer - they don't, they are off the list
entirely. But it wasn't because it was forbidden for them to say it, just
that they simply don't get listed. After some time that not being on the
list got translated into "assur".

Ben