Berakhot 057

נושא: Berakhot

Berakhot 057

BET MIDRASH VIRTUALI

Women, slaves and children are excused from reciting the Shema and from Tefillin, but they are required [to recite] the Amidah and [to affix] a Mezuzzah and [to recite] Birkhat ha-Mazon [Grace after Meals].

Further to my comment that Tefillin do not have to be worn in public; the mitzvah can be performed privately, Tara Cazaubon replies:

True, but considering the mitzvah of praying with a minyan (and since Conservative Jews count women in minyans) this was the issue I was thinking of.

I respond:

First a relatively unimportant quibble: some, maybe most, Conservative synagogues count women in the minyan – but not all do so. And now to the point of Tara's message. I am going to make an astounding revelation, but it is made with full halakhic responsibility. There is no mitzvah of praying with a minyan. Period. The great poskim [decisors] – such as Rambam and Karo – define participation in a minyan as a great and earnestly to be sought after virtue – but there is no absolute requirement. I guess that later in our Tractate, when we discuss the Amidah, we shall return to this topic.

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