Thursday, May 16, 2024

letter to a rabbi about tefillin

 I listened to your shiur “Tefillin? By Rav B....” where you say basically that women don’t wear tefillin because they are better than men. You don’t give a source for this, but I assume that you see the source as Rav Hirsch. 

However, Rav Hirsch never says that women are better than men. He says many times that men and women are equal. As for the exemption from some mitzvos, he says women don’t need these mitzvos “for their job.” But they have a different job from the men. You can’t make an absolute comparison. 

If women were better than men, shouldn’t they be the rabbis? Shouldn’t they be the leaders of the home? Why does the Gemara say that the man who goes about in the counsel of his wife goes to gehennom (Baba Matzia 59a)? 

You say men should honor women more because the women need it. Why would such a spiritual being need honor? And why do they get a ring upon marriage while the husband gets a Gemara?

Your explanation turns tefillin into a kind of embarrassment. The men wear them because they are so low. I don’t find that inspiring. So why does the Shulchan Aruch say that only a very pious person should wear Rabbeinu Tom tefillin?  

Yes, mitzvos improve us. Women do mitzvos all day long. Are you saying that when they are in the kitchen they are not doing a mitzvah? Should I say women are commanded to do more chesed because they are lacking in that quality?  Mitzvos are not a sign post for our weaknesses. Rather they engage our strengths.

Why do Kohanim have more mitzvos? They have more kiddusha.  

The Baal Magen Avraham (Zies Rananan) on Yalkut Shemoni, Shmuel 1:1 says that women are exempt from positive time bound commandments because their yetzer tov is smaller. The Maharal (Tiferes Yisroel 4 and Chidushei Maakos 23b) says women are exempt because they are less b’zelem Elokim. 

I’m sorry but I believe that your presentation is not correct. And I believe it sends a bad message to women, which is, your husband is inferior to you. That’s not what we need. 

May you be blessed.