<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1601" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"
bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=role_document
face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2><BR>But for a seminary to preach to all of <BR>> their students that
the Gra is the correct opinion, and they should <BR>> all abandon their
tradition of not doing it, is arguably, Poretz <BR>> Geder.<BR><BR>In which
case, every seminary and yeshiva that I am aware of is
poretz<BR>geder.<BR>================================================<BR><BR>>>IIRC
there's a tshuva of either R' MF or the Chasam Sofer that<BR>specifically allows
a talmid to change his minhag to follow that of his<BR>Yeshiva.
.<<<BR><BR>KT<BR>Joel Rich<BR></FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV>>>>>></DIV>
<DIV>There is a difference between a man changing his minhag to conform with his
yeshiva's and a woman changing her minhag to conform with her seminary's
minhagim. A woman is much more under the authority of her father
while single, and of her husband when married. So IMO girls should not be
encouraged to take on new minhagim. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>However, I concede that bentshing with a mezuman has enough textual support
to permit it that I guess if a woman takes it on, she isn't really "changing a
minhag." Any more than if she took it upon herself to say Tehillim every
day, that she would be "changing her minhag." Just because she
didn't use to say Tehillim doesn't mean she had a "minhag /not/ to say
Tehillim." So unless her father or husband has a specific objection to her
bentshing with a mezuman, I guess a woman could choose to take on that
practice. But the same would not be true of /every/ minhag -- that a woman
should do what her sem taught her, rather than what her father or husband
does.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>One other point about women davening with a mezuman: For reasons
that have already been discussed a bit on Areivim, there are specific public
policy issues in today's political climate that would require a woman to do a
serious cheshbon hanefesh as to WHY she wants to take on zimun, before she does
so.</DIV>
<DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"><B><BR></B><BR><B>--Toby
Katz<BR>=============</B></FONT></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">See what's new at <A title="http://www.aol.com?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001170" href="http://www.aol.com?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001170" target="_blank">AOL.com</A> and <A title="http://www.aol.com/mksplash.adp?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001169" href="http://www.aol.com/mksplash.adp?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001169" target="_blank">Make AOL Your Homepage</A>.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>