Maran HaGaon HaRav Ovadia Yosef Shlita on motzei Shabbos spoke out against women affiliated with the Reform Movement. “The Reform come to the Kosel and put on a tallis and thereby transgress Halacha. They are not doing a mitzvah. They are doing an avreira because they are wearing a ‘klei gever’ (בגלל ‘לא יהיה כלי גבר על אישה’).”
The Torah giant added that since women do not have a chiyuv for reciting Kriyat Shema, it is clear that have no chiyuv to wear and tallis and therefore, they may not recite a bracha.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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9 Responses
As if they care about R’ Ovadia’s psak…
Pointless article.
title make it sound like rav ovadia is pro women wearing a talis because of the double negative
If he thinks that is the “worst” that the Reform Jews are doing, that means everyone is so polite and respectful that they aren’t discussing the other things that the “Reform” religion engages in (which in any event YWN won’t allow us to mention).
The Rambam codifies the Law clearly:
hilchot tzitzit, chapter 3:9
Women and servants who wish to wrap themselves in tzitzit may do so without reciting a blessing. Similarly, regarding the other positive commandments which women are not required to fulfill, if they desire to fulfill them without reciting a blessing, they should not be prevented from doing so.
Quite pshut what the Rav says, yet who is changing their attire because of this psak?
jacbo2626 quoted the actual words of the Rambam- that allow a woman to wear a talit,albeit without a brocho. Additionally, look in hilchos tzitis ,siman 17, se’if 2 , in the Remo that clearly allows women to wear a talis (tosfos, rosh,ran concur) and make a brocho on them. Only because of ‘jehuro’ (self importance) does the remo discourage women from wearing a talis. So ,what R’Ovadia Josef is purported to have said cannot be that it is “klei gever’- would be in contradiction to all poskim. A clarification must be added, and i suspect it has to do with the Reform aspect, rather than the talis aspect.
Additionally, the chiyuv of saying Krias Shema has nothing to do with the mitzva of Tzitzis. The mitzvah of Tzitzis is written in a Parashah that is said alongside Krias Shema but is not part of that mitzvah but rather of the mitzvah to recall the exodus from Egypt.
Thus, and because of what “rabbiofberlin” wrote, I strongly suspect that nothing in this article was spoken by Rav Ovadia at all.
The Rambam and other Poskim have nothing to do with the issue. All it says in halacha is that a woman can wear a begged that is chayiv in tzitzis and has tzitzis, whichcan be any begged with arba kanfos. But certainly a woman can’t wear the distinctive “Tallis” as worn by men, why should a Tallis be any different than any begged meyuchad l’ish.
Please give Rav Ovadia a little credit and think for a minute!
The Targum Yonason says that if a women wears a tallis or teffilin they would be oiver kli gever.