Egalitarianism: Should women be required to wear a tallit?

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Jrosemary
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Egalitarianism: Should women be required to wear a tallit?

Post #1

Post by Jrosemary »

Gay marriage at my synagogue? No problem. Female rabbis? No problem. Female cantors? No problem. No, the controversial issue for us concerns whether or not women should be required to wear prayer shawls. (And I love that! I'm much happier having controversy over that than over the other issues!)

So here's the situation at my Conservative, egalitarian synagogue:

1. All men (Jewish or gentile) are required to wear a head covering of some sort while anywhere inside the synagogue.

2. Everyone--male or female, Jewish or gentile--is required to wear a head covering when going up to the bimah. (The bimah is a raised platform inside the sanctuary where people stand to read the Torah or say the Torah-reading blessings.)

3. All Jewish men, once they're past bar mitzvah age, are required to wear a tallit (prayer shawl) during morning services.

4. A Jewish woman, once she's past bat mitzvah age, is welcome to wear a tallit if she wants to, and even encouraged to, but she's not required to.

Is this real egalitarianism? The commandment to wear fringes (which are on our prayer shawls), according to the way most Conservative Jews interpret Jewish law, applies to both Jewish men and Jewish women. Traditionally, however, women don't wear prayer shawls, and some women are still uncomfortable donning them.

So should a Jewish woman be required to wear a tallit during morning services, just as a Jewish man is? That's the question facing my synagogue. Except that we're not quite brave enough to face that one, so what's on the table is making it a requirement only if the woman is going up to the bimah.

Any thoughts?

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Jrosemary
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Post #11

Post by Jrosemary »

Oh, stop kvetching! Beauty involves pain and sacrifice, my dear.

(So does tradition, I suppose, but I'm shallow so I'm focusing on how cool the long tallitot look. On the other hand, my shul runs the air conditioning on Shabbat.;)

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