Can females wear a tallit also in the Synagogues?

Question

Is it appropiate for females to wear a tallit during a Shabbat service? If not, then why?

Answer 1

In Reform and Most Liberal and conservative shuls they allow it.But in Orthodoxy we wouldnt allow it.It depends on the community and the level of orthodoxy.

Answer 2

In the egalitarian congregations (some conservative and lots of the reform ones) women wear tallit if they want.
All of the Bat Mitzvahs I've been to in the past couple of years the girls have worn tallit when reading from the Torah. Some of the girls had also made their own tallit.

Answer 3

In most Reform synagogues, YES you may wear a tallit.

Answer 4

In reform and most conservative synagogues it is accepted, but otherwise it is frowned upon.

The reasons for this are varied, but one is the Biblical Prohibition of wearing clothing of the opposite sex. A tallit is considered the classic example of a garment, and considering the fact almost all are made for men, a woman wearing would would violate this commandment.

Answer 5

not being contained in usa, i don't be attentive to what a Conservative Egalitarian synagogue could be like, yet actual the Conservative synagogue I attended with a cousin in ny did not assume women human beings to cover their head. somewhat, i does not concern approximately it - basically positioned on some thing quite clever, basic yet presentable. it extremely is form of overdue to telephone forward, yet while once you pass in you say to somebody who seems 'valid' (there is in lots of circumstances a warden or somebody on the door) that it is your first time, they are going to type you out with some help from a prevalent so as which you would be able to persist with the provider. there is extremely distinctive Hebrew, yet you will basically could desire to stand while others stand, face whichever way they're dealing with and so on. And the rabbi's sermon would be in English. i'm hoping it is going properly for you - you may desire to even appreciate it in some techniques!

Answer 6

Not in my opinion, but mine is an Orthodox one. You won't see women wearing tallitot in Orthodox synagogues because of beged isha--men should not wear women's clothes. It is not a commandment for women to wear tallit but it is for men. If women were to start wearing tallitot then men wouldn't be able to, since men aren't allowed to wear women's clothes--making it impossible for men to fulfill the mitzvah. So, women don't wear them. However, in theory, if a woman's tallit was distinguishably different from a man's tallit, then she can wear one--but you know the Orthodox, we like tradition. In more liberal synagogues, I think you can wear one.

Some people would say to this: Then why do women not wear tzitzit? Because they don't need to be reminded of the commandments. Men need to be reminded of the mitzvot, women don't.

To which I would reply: but the Torah also says that a person who is not commanded to do a mitzvah but fulfills it any way has great honor. Like the woman who keeps all female mitzvot but still finds time to pray three times a day in shul--if women simply didn't need to wear it, wouldn't there be many women over the course of history who had worn it? But we find there are not, because women wearing man's garments makes it impossible for men to wear them, hence women shouldn't wear them.

Answer 7

At the Synagogue I visit, not only do the women wear tallitot but it is required in the Shul during the service, especially if you are called for Aliyah. I have a pink one that I wear in the Shul.

Answer 8

According to Rabbinic Judaism, the important part of the tallit is the tzitzis. The use of a tallit in the Reform community declined in the 20th century, but in recent years, both men and women have begun to wear them during prayer services. Various authorities differ on whether women are permitted to wear a tallit. Some Orthodox rabbis say it is forbidden, but in the modern Orthodox community, it is becoming more widespread, especially in women's minyanim (Hebrew: singular minyan in Judaism is a quorum of ten or more adult Jews (over the age of 12 for girls and 13 for boys)).


Views on use by women

Historically, women have not been obligated to don a tallit, as they are not bound to positive mitzvot which are time-specific (Babylonian Talmud, tractate Kiddushin 29a), and the obligation of donning a tallit only applies by day. Still, many early authorities permit women to wear a tallit, such as Isaac ibn Ghiyyat (b. 1038), Rashi (1040–1105), Rabbeinu Tam (ca 1100–1171), Zerachya ben Yitzhak Halevi of Lunel (ca. 1125–1186), Rambam (1135–1204), R. Eliezer ben Yoel Halevi (ca 1140–ca 1225), Rashba (1235–1310), Aharon Halevi of Barcelona (b. ca 1235?), R. Yisrael Yaaqob Alghazi (1680-1761), R. Yomtob ben Yisrael Alghazi (1726–1802)). There was, however, a gradual movement towards prohibition, mainly initiated by the Medieval Ashkenazi Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg (the Maharam). The Rema states that while women are technically allowed to don a tallit it would appear to be an act of arrogance (yuhara) for women to perform this commandment (Shulkhan Arukh, O.C. 17:2 in Mappah).

Within contemporary Orthodox Judaism, there is a debate on the appropriateness of women wearing tzitzit, which has hinged on whether women are allowed to perform commandments from which they are technically exempt. According to Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik the issue depends on the intention with which such an act is undertaken, e.g. whether it is intended to bring a person closer to the Almighty, or for political or protest purposes. Other commentators hold that women are prohibited generally, without making an individual inquiry. The view that women donning a tallit would be guilty of arrogance is cited as applying to attempts of making a political statement as to the ritual status of the genders, rather than an act of becoming closer to the Almighty. Other authorities, particularly in the Modern Orthodox community, are generally more inclined to regard contemporary women's intentions as religiously appropriate.

Amongst those commentators above who held that women could perform the mitzvah of tzitzit, R. Yisrael Yaaqob Alghazi (1680–1761) and R. Yomtob ben Yisrael Alghazi (1726–1802) held that the observance of this mitzvah by women was not only permitted but actually commendable, since such diligence amongst the non-obligated would inspire these women's male relatives to be even more diligent in their own observance.

Among Karaim, the mitzvah of tzitzit is viewed as equally binding for men and women, and both sexes therefore generally wear tallitot.

Since the 1970s, non-Orthodox denominations of Judaism permit women to wear a tallit.


Tallit and Women of the Wall

In modern Israel, the tallit has become one of the symbols of struggle between tradition and change in defining women's roles in Judaism. Women Of The Wall, an organization founded in 1989 by both Orthodox and non-Orthodox women, has sought the right for women to pray out loud at the kotel in separate women's prayer groups, to read from the Torah, to wear a tallit, tefillin, and kippah. In Jerusalem, the women of the Wall met each month on Rosh Hodesh for shacharit, before moving elsewhere to read from the Torah. At times they have been disrupted, and sometimes verbally or physically assaulted, during these monthly prayers. Their quest to pray at the Kotel has been passed around between religious and secular authorities, taken up at times by the Israel Supreme Court and the Knesset, but without formal resolution to date.

Answer 9

I belong to a Reform synagogue; I don't think I've ever seen a woman wearing a tallit, to be honest.

Answer 10

ORTHODOX...only men wear Tallit.

CONSERVATIVE...men wear them except if a woman is called to the Torah, she puts on a Tallit.

REFORM...what is a Tallit?