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To: Former Fetus

Ukshartam l’ot al yadeCHA v’hayu l’totafot bein eineCHA (You shall bind them for a sign upon your hands, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes) would mean that only men should put it on, since the Scripture uses the masculine second-person suffix. As for a tallit, the only biblical commandment involved is to put tzitzit on any four-cornered garment that you might wear in the daytime. Therefore, observant Jews go out of their way to put on such a garment during prayer, in order to fulfill that commandment. But women are exempt from that mitzvah, because it involves a time factor; only by day, not by night, and women are exempt from any positive (do it) commandment that has a time limit, unless it is specifically commanded to them, such as the sacrifices offered after giving birth. This is according to the orally transmitted part of the Torah, later recorded and called the Talmud. There have, however, been a few exceptional women who have, despite their exemption, put on talit and tefillin.


29 posted on 02/13/2013 1:52:33 PM PST by Eleutheria5 (End the occupation. Annex today.)
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To: Eleutheria5

Thanks! That’s what I wanted to know. One could argue that the masculine suffix could mean that only men should wear tefillin. But, the way you put it, it sounds like the tallit is different, women are exempted but not ordered not to wear it. It’s no different than when I was growing up in Spain, in a Catholic family, we were exempted from not eating meat on Fridays but my mom would frequently serve fish. She always said, just because you don’t have to do it it doesn’t mean you cannot do it!


31 posted on 02/13/2013 5:04:45 PM PST by Former Fetus (Saved by grace through faith)
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