[Avodah] Women and Tallis

[Chana Luntz]

RMB writes:

> But as in the example of tying the minhagim of the omer and the 3 weeks
> to the forms of aveilus, RYGB doesn't actually always require that
> the obligation be halachic. Rather, that it follows the forms
> established
> by halakhah.
> 
> Which is arguably true for women who put their hands on the cow without
> the ability to actually move its head any.
> 
> But not of the woman who wears a 4 cornered garment without tassles.

Of course it follows the forms established by the halacha.

The minhag is for (a man) to perform the mitzvah of davenning in an
enwrapping (probably white with black stripes) thing with four corners on it
(which for halachic reasons therefore needs tzitzis). This came about
because of the halachic mitzvah (kiyumis) to put tzitzis on a four cornered
garment.  Somewhere long long in our past somebody decided that a really
great way of doing this mitzvah was to do it at the same time as performing
the other mitzvah, that of davening and that became the minhag.  Over time
there developed a specifically identifiable garment used for this purpose
(so identifiable that when a fashion designer decides to use it as an
"influence" it is quite recognisable).

What this woman therefore clearly did was perform the mitzvah of davenning
in an enwrapping (probably white with black stripes) thing *without tzitzis
on it*.  To anybody looking at her (unless they got up close and
specifically looked for the tzitzis or absence of them) it would look to
them like she was performing the mitzvah of davening in the minhag
sanctified way that men have davened for centuries (just as for a person
looking at the women with the animals would have thought they were
performing the mitzvah of bringing korbanos just the way the men do when
involved in the mitzvah of bringing korbanos, ie by doing smicha, even
though in reality they were not).

This woman found the experience of putting on special dedicated (and
historically dedicated) clothes to daven in inspiring and uplifting, just as
the women found the experience of bringing korbanos (or according to the
Ra'avid, not even actually and technically bringing korbanos, probably more
like them believing that they were halachically involved in bringing the
korbanos, even though it was really a korban brought by their husband) more
inspiring and uplifting if they were permitted to do (quasi) smicha.

It seems to me that the parallel is pretty close to exact (unless you are
going to tell me that davening is not a mitzvah for women but korbanos is).

> Tir'u baTov!
> -Micha

Shavuah tov

Chana