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<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman">Posted on Areivim</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman"> From <A
href="http://tinyurl.com/b7lnnwa">http://tinyurl.com/b7lnnwa</A><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman">"The Efrat Rabbi answered that while men
cannot keep the mitzvah of <BR>hearing the Esther Megillah by listening to a
woman's reading, it <BR>would be allowable with other megillahs (Ecclesiastics,
Song of <BR>Songs, Ruth and Lamentations)."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman">From the Efrat Discussion Group</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman"><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial>[efrat] Response
from Rav Riskin regarding women reading Megillat Rut on Shavuot<SPAN
style="COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>
<P style="BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="COLOR: black"> </SPAN><B><SPAN style="COLOR: black">Q. May women
read Megillat Rut from behind the mechitza on Shavuot morning? </SPAN></B><SPAN
style="COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="MARGIN-TOP: 5pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5pt">
<DIV>
<DIV>
<P style="BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="COLOR: black"></SPAN></B><SPAN
style="COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<P style="BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="COLOR: black">A.</SPAN></B><SPAN style="COLOR: black"> Let us first
analyze the one <I>megillah</I> which every individual is obligated to hear,
men and women: Megillat Esther. The Talmud (Arakhin 2b,3a) teaches that
"Everyone is obligated to read Megillat Esther and everyone is "kosher"
to read the Megillah, including women." Rashi explains that "women's reading
may fulfill the obligation for men" (ibid 3a), and Maimonides agrees (Laws of
the Megilla, Chapter 1, Law 1). The Sdei Hemed (<SPAN
style="BACKGROUND: white">Rabbi Hizkiyahu Medini</SPAN> <SPAN
style="BACKGROUND: white">1832-1904</SPAN>) derives from this that the
prohibition of <I>Kol Isha</I> does not apply to a sacred text, since women
would therefore be permitted to read the megillah with the musical
cantillations! <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<P style="BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<P style="BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black">The
Baalei Hatosafot (Arakhin 3a) bring down the view of the BeHaG (Baal Halakhot
Gedolot, <A title="Simeon Kayyara"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simeon_Kayyara" target=_blank><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: windowtext">Simeon Kayyara</SPAN></A><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND: white">, 9th century</SPAN>) who maintains that women who
read Megillat Esther cannot fulfill the obligation for men because men and
women have differing obligations regarding the Scroll of Esther: the men are
obligated to read the megillah whereas women are obligated only to hear the
megillah. Therefore, most Ashkenaz congregations (including all the synagogues
in Efrat) would not allow women to read Megillat Esther except for other
women, but clearly this exception only pertains to the Scroll of Esther where
there are different obligations between the sexes.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<P style="BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="COLOR: black"> </SPAN><SPAN style="COLOR: black">The Scroll of
Ruth is not a personal obligation on the part of each individual, but is
rather a communal obligation which devolves upon the entire community. Hence
there is no distinction between men and women; so women can certainly read it
for the entire congregation. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<P style="BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="COLOR: black"> </SPAN><SPAN style="COLOR: black">I truly believe
that in the 21<SUP>st</SUP> century whatever it is permissible for women to do
on halakhic grounds should be allowed for those women who wish to do them and
in those congregations which are willing to accommodate them. The Lubavitcher
Rebbe said very clearly to me that the greatest challenge facing
20<SUP>th</SUP> century Orthodox Jewry is making women feel included as much
as possible within our religious ritual. The Talmud went even further when it
overrode the hermeneutic teaching which excluded women from the activity of
laying their hands upon a sacrificial offering to the Temple during the
Festival; the Talmud insisted that women be allowed to do this ritual act "to
give religious satisfaction to women." (Babylonian Talmud Hagiga 16b and
Tosafot ad loc). <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<P style="BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="COLOR: black"></SPAN></B><SPAN
style="COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV></DIV></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face="Times New Roman"><STRONG></STRONG></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman"><STRONG>R. Riskin ignores Tosaphot Sukah 38a
explaining the Behag, Semag Esin Derabbanan 4, and Magen Avraham 689:5, who
maintain that the problem of women reading Megilat Esther for men is
<I>Kevod Hatzibbur</I> – which would apply equally for Ruth as it would for
Esther!</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT face="Times New Roman"></FONT></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman"><STRONG> </STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT
face="Times New Roman">--------------------------------<BR>Prof. Aryeh A.
Frimer<BR>Chemistry Dept., Bar-Ilan University<BR>Ramat Gan 5290002,
ISRAEL<BR>E-mail (office): <A
href="mailto:Aryeh.Frimer@biu.ac.il">Aryeh.Frimer@biu.ac.il</A><BR></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>