Women's Tefillin....KNOT!
WARNING....My husband , the "YID" does not like this blog, at all......read at your own risk....
Apparently, there is some heated discussions going on about women wearing tefillin. Everyone’s got an opinion. As of today, the obligation to don tefillin is only intended for men. Apparently, according to our rabbis, men need a few more “physical” reminders than we ladies do. We’ve been blessed with a spiritually elevated connection. That may be true. But, I can also see that it is nice to have an object to encourage focus and attention. I use a deck of “inspiration cards” that consistently remind me how uninspired I am. There is some discussion that Rashi’s daughters may have worn tefillin. According to Wikipedia (and you can take that for what its’ worth) “While there is no evidence that Rashi’s daughters themselves wore tefillin, it is known that some women in medieval France and Germany did, and that Rabbenu Tam, Rashi’s grandson, ruled that a woman doing any mitzvah that she is not obligated to, including tefillin, must make the appropriate blessing.”
Apparently, there is some heated discussions going on about women wearing tefillin. Everyone’s got an opinion. As of today, the obligation to don tefillin is only intended for men. Apparently, according to our rabbis, men need a few more “physical” reminders than we ladies do. We’ve been blessed with a spiritually elevated connection. That may be true. But, I can also see that it is nice to have an object to encourage focus and attention. I use a deck of “inspiration cards” that consistently remind me how uninspired I am. There is some discussion that Rashi’s daughters may have worn tefillin. According to Wikipedia (and you can take that for what its’ worth) “While there is no evidence that Rashi’s daughters themselves wore tefillin, it is known that some women in medieval France and Germany did, and that Rabbenu Tam, Rashi’s grandson, ruled that a woman doing any mitzvah that she is not obligated to, including tefillin, must make the appropriate blessing.”
I don't know a lot about Rashi's daughters, but from what I can tell, they were not only unique, but very knowledgeable in their study of the Torah. We have women today who think the whole idea is crazy, those who’d like to wear them and those who do. There are also women who wear tallis (prayer shawl) and kipput (skull caps otherwise known as yarmulkes…whoever made up that name?). They are not found in orthodox synagogue, so you’ll have to go to a more liberal synagogue to find them. The difference, though, between women’s religious accessories and men’s is that the women’s are really pretty with lots of cool colors, making them really distracting to anyone nearby….. I suppose no more distracting than a great looking sheitel (wig) or 4 foot tall streimel found in the orthodox synagogues.
Anyway, I was thinking back to our foremothers (the biblical
ones: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah) and even probably women from just a few
hundred years ago. Women did not wear any of these accessories. I don’t know
that they felt a need to do so. Then again, I don’t know how they felt at all. Maybe
just making gefilte fish from scratch, washing, cooking, cleaning and raising
kids was about all they could handle. It’s just about all most of us can
actually handle today too (minus the gefilte fish replaced with: open jar and
dump on plate, thus, leaving time for Pilates).
Now, orthodox men have a lot of accessories from kipput, to tefillin and for some black hats, streimels (furry bird nest looking hat), gartels (spirit belt), bekeshas (long black coat that looks like a pajama robe) to help them "connect." It seems to me that as time goes on, we need more and more clothing to get spiritually connected while the rest of society needs less and less, if you get my drift. Or, maybe retail is behind all of this. I do know that our forefathers (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob…) had a modest wardrobe (to say the least). They wore dresses and sandals, common to their culture, making me think that somehow things got flipped around. Of course the Kohen gadol (high priest) had some very specific clothing items he had to wear. We just read about that this past week in the Torah. He was really decked out with a 12-section breast plate and bells on his robe so even Fido knew when he was approaching.
I, personally, have no need for all the accessories. I barely have time to get myself dressed and the kids out to school. If I started added a bunch of rituals to my day, my family would for sure have to put me up for adoption. I can only imagine that I would wrap the tefillin the wrong way, on the wrong arm and would come up with some creative way to shorten the whole process. My ratings are already starting to slip, so I don’t need to go there. At any rate, I think these ladies are searching. But, I would suggest they not try and purchase from my husband or any other kosher sofer. And, I would warn them…..and take heed… pink streimels are going to raise a lot more havoc then tefillin. Don't go there.
PS...Why doesn't my husband like this? I suggest you reach out to him at torahdepot.com. He will be happy to explain. You can also read his comment below.
PS...Why doesn't my husband like this? I suggest you reach out to him at torahdepot.com. He will be happy to explain. You can also read his comment below.
Comments
Have you ever been in the nose-bleed section of a concert and noticed the patrons sitting on the first row? Have you ever wished you could have that experience as well? Probably. Now, if you have ever sat in the front row, have you ever looked up at those sitting in the nose-bleed section and wished you were sitting up there where you can't hear well and can't see? I doubt it. Do you also realize that most of those sitting in the front row were given the tickets as a gift? They are often the friends of the promoter or advertisers and may have put forth no effort of their own to gain such close access. The true fans that camp out in the cold for hours and pay the exorbitant price for the "good tickets" may end up on the 5th row at best.
Such is the case with women and men vis-a-vis the spiritual. Women are much more connected to G-d. G-d made them that way on purpose. They are already seated in the first few rows. Men are destined for the nose-bleed section unless they really work at it. That is why men need tefillin and tsitsis in order to move up to the good seats and women do not. Could you imagine someone who received front row tickets as a gift camping out and then shelling out the money anyway just to show that they are as big of a fan as the fans that do camp out? It would be ridiculous.
Wouldn't that be an insult to the promoter who gave you the tickets as a gift?
With all of the positive commandments that are only applicable to men and all of the work that they entail to do them right we are still looking at getting to the 5th row at best (except for the few Tzaddikim).
Women should enjoy the front row seats and not insult their creator who gave them as a gift.
I think this is somewhat similar to a man wearing a bra or any other inappropriate clothing item, simply doesn't belong... There is no point to it, and if a woman wants to wear a tefillin, let her wear a tefillin. It makes no sense at all, but I believe should not be such a "heated point in Orthodox circles. Of course it is inappropriate and will never be allowed in any real shul, but then again an Orthodox woman would never want to wear a tefillin to begin with.