[Avodah] women and kiddush levanah

[David Cohen]

RnCL wrote:
>> There seems to be (as far as I am aware) close to universal agreement
that it is a rabbinic mitzvah aseh shehazman grama, and hence women are
patur.

Based on the context on which it is brought in the Yerushalmi (Perek HaRoeh)
and in the Rambam (Hilkhos Berakhos), it seems to be a birkas hare'iyah,
just like many others.  With a standard mitzvas aseih shehazeman geramah,
the "mechayeiv" is the arrival of time.  Here, though, the "mechayeiv" is
seeing something, even if that particular sight is only visible at a certain
time of the month.  The logical extension of this approach would be that if
one does not see the moon for the entire relevant period, one would have no
obligation to say the berakhah.

In the Bavli (Sanhedrin 41b-42a), however, it appears to be something more,
as evidenced by the beraisa about greeting our Father in Heaven, and the
long nusach of Rav Yehudah.  Rn' Chana referenced Rav Ashi's remark to Rav
Acha about the Babylonian women saying the berakhah.  As I read that
exchange, Rav Acha reports the short nusach of Eretz Yisrael, and Rav Ashi
responds that "our women" (in Bavel) also say it *that way* (i.e. with the
short nusach), but that "we" (i.e. the men) use the long nusach of Rav
Yehudah, which follows.

Based on the above, I would like to suggest that there are "two dinim" in
kiddush levanah.  The first is that of a birkas hare'iyah.  Women are
obligated in this (as they are in other birkos hare'iyah) in the event that
they happen to see the moon, and the short nusach suffices.  This is the
only aspect of kiddush levanah recognized by the Yerushalmi.  The Bavli
includes another din *in addition* to this, which is to greet our Father in
Heaven once a month and say divrei shevach pertaining to the creation of the
heavens and the future moon-like renewal of Am Yisrael.  For understandable
reasons, Chazal chose to attach this monthly obligation (for which time
itself *is* the mechayeiv) to the birkas hare'iyah for seeing the renewed
moon, and the result is that men have an obligation to go out and make an
active effort to see the moon within the relevant time frame, in order to be
able to say the "combined" berakhah of which time is the mechayeiv of one
aspect and seeing the moon is the mechayeiv of the other aspect.

DISCLAIMER:  The above represents my theoretical musings only, and is not
intended to be motzi la'az on the long-standing and nearly universal minhag
of women not to say birkas halevanah (in any form)!

-- D.C.
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