(ז) כל מצות הבן על האב אנשים חיבין ונשים פטורות, וכל מצות האב על הבן אחד אנשים ואחד נשים חיבין, וכל מצות עשה שהזמן גרמה אנשים חיבין ונשים פטורות, וכל מצות עשה שלא הזמן גרמה אחד אנשים ואחד נשים חיבין, וכל מצות לא תעשה בין שהזמן גרמה בין שלא הזמן גרמה אחד אנשים ואחד נשים חיבין, חוץ מבל תשחית ובל תקיף ובל תטמא למתים.
(7) [With regard to] all commandments of the son which are [incumbent] upon the father, men are obligated, and women are exempt. And [with regard to] all commandments of the father which are [incumbent] upon the son, both men and women are obligated. And [with regard to] every positive commandment that is time-dependent, men are obligated and women are exempt. And [with regard to] every positive commandment which is not time-dependent, both men and women are obligated. And [with regard to] every negative commandment, whether it is time-dependent or it is not time-dependent, both men and women are obligated, except for: "You shall not round off [the corners of your head]" (Leviticus 19:27), "You shall not destroy [the corners of your beard]" (ibid.), and "You shall not become ritually impure for the dead" (Leviticus 21:1).
All are obligated in reading the Megilla. All are fit to read the Megilla to include
what? To include women, following Rabbi Joshua son of Levi, for Rabbi Joshua son of Levi said, "Women are obligated in reading the Megilla, for they too were included in the miracle."
לאתויי נשים - שחייבות במקרא מגילה וכשרות לקרותה ולהוציא זכרים ידי חובתם:
To include women - who are obligated in reading the Megilla, and are fit to read it and to enable men to fulfill their obligation.
(א) קְרִיאַת הַמְּגִלָּה בִּזְמַנָּהּ מִצְוַת עֲשֵׂה מִדִּבְרֵי סוֹפְרִים. וְהַדְּבָרִים יְדוּעִים שֶׁהִיא תַּקָּנַת הַנְּבִיאִים. וְהַכּל חַיָּבִים בִּקְרִיאָתָהּ אֲנָשִׁים וְנָשִׁים וְגֵרִים וַעֲבָדִים מְשֻׁחְרָרִים. וּמְחַנְּכִין אֶת הַקְּטַנִּים לִקְרוֹתָהּ. וַאֲפִלּוּ כֹּהֲנִים בַּעֲבוֹדָתָן מְבַטְּלִין עֲבוֹדָתָן וּבָאִין לִשְׁמֹעַ מִקְרָא מְגִלָּה. וְכֵן מְבַטְּלִים תַּלְמוּד תּוֹרָה לִשְׁמֹעַ מִקְרָא מְגִלָּה קַל וָחֹמֶר לִשְׁאָר מִצְוֹת שֶׁל תּוֹרָה שֶׁכֻּלָּן נִדְחִין מִפְּנֵי מִקְרָא מְגִלָּה. וְאֵין לְךָ דָּבָר שֶׁנִּדְחֶה מִקְרָא מְגִלָּה מִפָּנָיו חוּץ מִמֵּת מִצְוָה שֶׁאֵין לוֹ קוֹבְרִין שֶׁהַפּוֹגֵעַ בּוֹ קוֹבְרוֹ תְּחִלָּה וְאַחַר כָּךְ קוֹרֵא:
(1) The Reading of the Megillah in its (proper) time is a positive commandment of the Scribes. And it is known that it is an enactment of the Prophets. All are obligated in its reading: men, women, converts, and freed slaves. And we educate minors in its reading. Even Priests engaged in service [of the Temple] cease their service and come to hear the reading of the Megillah, and similarly do we cease Torah study to hear the reading of the Megillah. How much more so, then, are all other commandments of the Torah superseded by the reading of the Megillah. There is nothing that the reading of the Megillah does not supersede, except the burial of a deceased person who has no one to bury him; one who encounters his [corpse] buries it first, then reads [Megillah].
נשים חייבות במקרא מגילה. מכאן משמע שהנשים מוציאות את אחרים ידי חובתן מדלא קאמר לשמוע מקרא מגילה והכי נמי משמע בערכין (דף ב: ושם) דקאמר הכל כשרים לקרא את המגילה ומסיק הכל כשרים לאתויי מאי ומשני לאתויי נשים משמע להוציא אפילו אנשים וקשה דהא בתוספתא. תני בהדיא דטומטום אין מוציא לא את מינו ולא שאין מינו ואנדרוגינוס מוציא את מינו ואין מוציא את שאין מינו ופשיטא דלא עדיפא אשה מאנדרוגינוס וכן פסקו הה"ג דאשה מוציאה מינה אבל לא אנשים וי"ל דסלקא דעתך דלא יועיל קריאתן אפילו להוציא הנשים קמ"ל דחייבין דהכל חייבין בשמיעה עבדים נשים וקטנים:
Women are obligated in reading the Megilla. From here it appears that women may fulfill the obligation on behalf of others, from the fact that it does not say "to hear the reading of Megilla." And this is also implicit in Arachin (2b), which states, "All are obligated in the reading of Megilla." And it concludes, "All are obligated, to include whom?" And it answers, "To include women," implying that that can fulfill the obligation even for men. But there is a difficulty, because in the Tosefta it states explicitly that a tumtum cannot fulfill the obligation on behalf of his type or another type, and an androgynos can fulfill the obligation for his type and not for another type. And it is obvious that a woman is no greater than an androgynos [for this matter]. And so ruled the author of Halakhot Gedolot, that a woman may fulfill the obligation for her gender but not for men. And one can respond that we would have thought that their reading is ineffective even to fulfill the obligation for women; it comes to teach that they are obligated - that all are obligated in listening: servants, women and children.
אי נמי משום דרבים זילא בהו מלתא דהרי מגילה דנשים חייבות בה ופירש בה"ג דאין נשים מוציאות את הרבים ידי חובתן במגילה:
Alternatively, [it is] because for the public it is degrading. For in regard to reading the Megilla, concerning which women are obligated, the author of Halakhot Gedolot explained that women cannot fulfill the obligation on behalf of the public.
שהאשה מוציאה חברתה. אבל נשים רבות אין אשה מוציאן דזילא בהו מלתא וכמו שכתבו תוס' בסוכה דף ל"ח ע"ש וכדפירשתי:
That a women fulfills the obligation for her friend. But a woman may not fulfill the obligation on behalf of many women, for it is degrading to them. As Tosafot says in Sukkah 38a, see there, and as I have explained.
(א) הַכֹּל חַיָּבִים בִּקְרִיאָתָהּ, אֲנָשִׁים וְנָשִׂים וְגֵרִים וַעֲבָדִים מְשֻׁחְרָרִים; וּמְחַנְּכִים אֶת הַקְּטַנִּים לִקְרוֹתָהּ.
(ב) אֶחָד הַקּוֹרֵא וְאֶחָד הַשּׁוֹמֵעַ מִן הַקּוֹרֵא, יָצָא יְדֵי חוֹבָתוֹ; וְהוּא שֶׁיִּשְׁמַע מִפִּי שֶׁהוּא חַיָּב בִּקְרִיאָתָהּ. לְפִיכָךְ אִם הָיָה הַקּוֹרֵא חֵרֵשׁ אוֹ קָטָן אוֹ שׁוֹטֶה, הַשּׁוֹמֵעַ מִמֶּנּוּ לֹא יָצָא; וְיֵשׁ אוֹמְרִים שֶׁהַנָּשִׁים אֵינָם מוֹצִיאוֹת אֶת הָאֲנָשִׁים. הַגָּה: וְיֵשׁ אוֹמְרִים אִם הָאִשָּׁה קוֹרְאָהּ לְעַצְמָהּ מְבָרֶכֶת: לִשְׁמֹעַ מְגִלָּה, שֶׁאֵינָהּ חַיֶּבֶת בִּקְרִיאָה (מָרְדְּכַי פ''ק דִּמְגִלָּה).
(1) All are obligated in reading [the megillah]: men, women, resident aliens, and freed slaves. We teach the children to read.
(2) It is the same whether one reads or hears from someone who reads - he has fulfilled his obligation. That is, if he hears from someone who is obligated in reading it. Therefore, if the reader was a deafmute, or a minor, or mentally infirm, one who hears from him does not fulfill [his obligation]. And there are those who say that women do not fulfill the obligation for men. Gloss: And there are some who say, if a woman reads for herself, she blesses "to hear the megillah," because she is not obligated in reading (Mordechai first chapter of megillah)
מגן אברהם סימן תרפט
ו (פמ"ג) אם האשה קורא' - ובמדרש הנעלם רות כ' דלא תקרא לעצמ' רק תשמע מהאנשים:
Megan Avraham 689
6 (Peri Megadim) If a woman reads - And in the Hidden Midrash to Ruth it wrote that she should not read to herself but should hear from men.
(ח) (ח) אם האשה קראה וכו' - ועיין במ"א שמצדד דלא תקרא לעצמה כלל רק תשמע מהאנשים. וכ"ז ביש לה ממי לשמוע אבל אם אין לה מי שיקרא לפניה תקרא היא לעצמה במגילה כשרה ומברכת אקב"ו לשמוע מקרא מגילה [ח"א]:
(8) If a woman reads - See the Magen Avraham who maintains that she should not read to herself at all but should hear from men. And all this concerns who has no one from whom to hear. But if she does not have anyone to read before her, she should read for herself in a kosher Megilla. And she recites "who commanded us with His commandments to hear the reading of the Megilla" [Chayei Adam].
Rabbi Dov Frimer
Despite the stature of the scholars in the above "stringent school," a large number of posekim (the "lenient school") have permitted women's Megilla readings, the rulings of both Korban Netanel and Magen Avraham notwithstanding. Regarding the Korban Netanel, the "lenient school" scholars note that authorities of the stature of Magen Avraham, Ateret Zahav, and Arukh haShulhan do not view a women's reading of the Megilla as unseemly. Even more importantly the scholars of this school, as well as many others, argue that Korban Netanel erred in his understanding of the ba'alei haTosafot, who were in fact discussing the impropriety of a woman's reading of the Megilla for men. Neither Mishna Berura nor Kaf haHayyim were aware of the reading in the relatively recently discovered manuscript of Tosafot haRosh which confirms that Korban Netanel erred.
Frimer Article
71. Both of the past Chief Rabbis of Israel have published opinions against women's Megilla readings: Former Sefardi Chief Rabbi Mordecai Eliyahu is quoted by R. Moses Harari, Mikra'ei Kodesh - Hilkhot Purim, chap. 6, parag. 8, note 30. Former Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi Abraham Kahana Shapira is quoted by his assistant R. Zalman Koitner, in a letter distributed by a group called "Women of Efrat for the Achdut of Halakhah" and published in the newspaper Yom ha-Shishi, 15 Adar 5791 (March 1, 1991), p. 8. R. Shapira's letter indicates that although "...halakhically, a woman can read for other women", nevertheless "one should not change the prevalent custom" which has followed the more stringent ruling of the Mishnah Berurah (Korban Netanel). R. Menashe Klein, Mishneh Halakhot, Mahadurah Tanyana, vol. 1, O.H. sec 550 and R. Efraim Greenblatt, Resp. Rivevot Efrayyim, VII, 548, no. 3, also dissent. As mentioned below in notes 72c and 105, the Rav (Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik) preferred that women be machmir in order to be yotzei kol ha-de'ot. See also: R. Yoel Schwartz, Adar u-Furim, sec. 8, no.3.A.1; R. Tsvi Cohen, Purim veHodesh Adar, Sec. 10, no. 17; Nitei Gavriel, Dinei uMinhagei Purim, sec. 13, no. 1, p. 65; R. Isaac Ben-Shushan, Toldot Yitshak, sec. 12.
Frimer Article
72. (a) Published responsa: Beersheba Chief Rabbi Elijah Katz, haEshel (Bita'on haMoetsa haDatit Be'er Sheva), XIII (Nissan 5736), pp. 41, 42 and 48 - see also Letter to the Editor, Shirah Leibowitz Schmidt, Tradition, 33:2 (Spring 1999), p. 80-82; Ma'ale Adumim Chief Rabbis Joshua Katz and Mordechai Nagari, Ma'alot, no. 185, Parshat Tetsave 5756, Halakha Sedura, sec. B, no. 5 and conversation with Dov I. Frimer, March 23, 1996-this ruling was reprinted the following year as well in Ma'alot, Parshat VaYikra 5757, Halakha Sedura; R. Raphael Evers, Resp. vaShav veRafa, O.H., sec. 31; R. Ariel Pikar, Tehumin 18 (5758), pp. 361-368; R. Yehuda Herzl Henkin, "Mahu Kevod haTsibbur," HaDarom 55 (Elul 5746), pp. 33-41 (see especially top of page 37)-expanded and revised in Resp. Benei Vanim, II, no. 10; R. Yehuda Herzl Henkin, Tsibbur Nashim biKri'at haMegilla, Keshot, 4 (Adar II/Nisan 5755), sec. 14, pp. 8-10-reprinted in Resp. Benei Vanim, III, sec. 7; R. Yehuda Herzl Henkin, Equality Lost: Essays in Torah, Halacha and Jewish Thought (Jerusalem: Urim Publications, 1999), pp. 54-65; R. Yehuda Herzl Henkin, "Keriat haMegilla al Yedei Nashim - haMahloket eina be-Halakha," HaTsofe, 14 Adar 5759 (March 2, 1999), p. 9; R. Gedaliah Felder, cited by R. Henkin in HaDarom, ibid. In a conversation with Aryeh A. Frimer, April 29, 1992, R. Henkin reaffirmed the accuracy of this citation, despite its omission in the revised Benei Vanim presentation of this responsum.
(b) Similar opinions have been orally expressed by (in alphabetical order): R. Moshe Feinstein, as reported to R. Chaim Spring by R. Mordechai Tendler, October 1985; R. David Cohen, conversation with R. Shael I. Frimer, March 1979, and to Aryeh A. Frimer, March 1980; R. David Feinstein, conversation with Aryeh A. Frimer and Noach Dear, March 26, 1991, and to Aryeh A. Frimer, Dov I. Frimer and Noach Dear, March 19, 1995; and R. Levi Yitzchak haLevi Horowitz, The Bostoner Rebbi, conversation with Mr. Noach Dear, March 1990-however, on April 13th, 1997, the Rebbi's gabbai, Nesanel Peterman, wrote the following: "Since the Rebbi considered this issue in the early 1990's, the whole question of women's 'rights' has become more complex and the Rebbi would like to consider the wider issues further."
(c) R. Aharon Lichtenstein, conversation with R. Chaim Brovender, March 1992 and February 1994, and to Dov I. Frimer, October 21, 1992 and February 19, 1994, also permits a women's Megilla reading. Nevertheless, R. Lichtenstein does advise Jerusalemite women not to hold such a reading when the fifteenth of Adar falls on Shabbat (known as Purim me-shulash). In such an instance, Jerusalemites read on the fourteenth, and, as noted below (see section III.D), many posekim maintain that since this reading is not on its normally designated date, a minyan is an absolute requirement. (In all other years, a minyan is advisable but not a prerequisite to fulfillment.) While most authorities agree that ten women do constitute a minyan for mikra Megilla even on Purim meshulash, a minority dissent (see infra, end of note 93). R. Lichtenstein maintains, therefore, that it is best to be stringent so as to be sure that one's obligation has been fulfilled. R. Lichtenstein noted that his father-in-law, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik ("the Rav"), preferred that women be machmir for the same reasons (to be yotzei kol ha-dei'ot lekhathila) every year. Hence, the Rav preferred that women did not have their own service for mikra Megilla at all; see note 105, infra.
(d) R. Ahron Soloveichik, in a taped conversation with Dov I. Frimer, July 8, 1997, ruled that in those communities, such as in Israel, where there is already an established custom to have a second Megilla reading for women, it is irrelevant whether the reader is male or female. Elsewhere, where such a minhag is not so common, a special women's Megilla reading should not be permitted (for hashkafic and public policy reasons). Should the local rabbi be afraid, however, that a rift in the community might result, he should refrain from taking any position whatsoever on the matter. Similarly, Rabbi Jacob Ariel maintains that while basically women can read for other women they should not specifically break off from the rest of the community to do so (because of "pirsumei nisa") unless necessary or in an instance where a separate reading for women will take place anyway; see: Rabbi Jacob Ariel, Resp. beOhalah shel Torah, II, O.H., sec. 105 and his comments in Moshe Stern, Megillat haAtasma'ut, Mekor Rishon, 7 Adar 5761 (March 2, 2001) p. 16-17.
(e) R. Ovadiah Yosef, Yabia Omer, VIII, O.H., sec. 56, end of no. 4 writes: "...the custom of women who make a minyan by themselves for mikra Megilla...should be encouraged." Indeed, his son R. David Yosef, Torat ha-Moadim: Hilkhot u-Minhagei Purim ve-Hodesh Adar, sec. 5., note 9, p. 139, s.v ve-ha-Rema, indicates that despite the rulings of Magen Avraham and Korban Netanel, Ashkenazi (and certainly Sefardi) women can read for women.