Why aren't women and men treated the same in Judaism?
By Tzvi Freeman
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Question: Why aren't women and men treated the same in Judaism?
Answer: In Torah, a woman has every obligation of a man, and a man every obligation of a woman.
Torah doesn't know of man and woman as separate beings. They are a single whole, whether they are cognizant of one another or not. Each act is performed once through a single body. A body that in our world may appear as two, but to the Torah is seen as one.
This is actually a statement of Rabbi Isaac Luria, the greatest of the kaballists. He explains that the man and woman are a single body--and that is how they are considered in halacha, as well. So, for example, a woman also puts on tefillin--only that she puts them on with her male body. If everything is working right, that should be her husband.
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I think that women also if they have taught the Torah should be eligible to wear a tefillin and a tallit. By merit she will have earned it .
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1. Kitzur Shulchan Aruch makes no mention of women putting on tefillin. (Apparently, because it is an "abridged" Code of Jewish Law, it makes no mention of a theoretical practice which was non-existent in the 19th century.)
2. The concept of doing something three times constituting a vow does not apply to everything. If you wear red shoes three days in a row, that doesn’t obligate you to continue to do so... It also certainly doesn’t apply to a deed -- such as women wearing tefillin -- which Jewish law frowns upon.
3. You write: "Therefore their example does not parallel this one about tefillin, where it used to be one way." a) It NEVER "used to be" that women put on tefillin. Throughout history it happened only as very isolated occurrences, practiced by extremely saintly women. b) There were many, many individuals who followed the rulings of Shammai -- and that was perfectly fine. Then the halachah CHANGED, and REQUIRED everyone to follow the rulings of Hillel.
4. Anyways, I think this discussion has progressed far enough. The bottom line remains, and this must be perfectly clear, that women putting on tefillin is in defiance of the wishes of established and accepted halachah.
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I bow to your familiarity with the Shulchan Aruch.
I saw it in the Kitsur Shulchan Aruch years ago. I would have to find it again. The Kitsur Shulchan Aruch is stricter.
Doing anything three times constitutes a vow unless one takes steps to obviate it.
Hillel and Shammai were contemporaries. Since they lived at the same time, it was never a case of one superseding the other, or of one halachah changing to another. Therefore their example does not parallel this one about tefillin, where it used to be one way and, you say, much later changed to another way. I certainly did not disparage Shammai. I tried to quote more but had no room. I have room now: "These AND these are the words of the living Gd; however the halachah is according to the house of HIllel..." A phrase is missing from the end because I am quoting from memory. However, this is enough to show that both Hillel and Shammai were fine rabbonim and that both their houses also were great men.
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