(27) And God created man in God's own image, in the image of God created God him; male and female created God them. (28) And God blessed them; and God said unto them: ‘Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that creepeth upon the earth.’
(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).
And a positive time-bound commandment is obligatory at a set time, and outside of this time, its obligation does not take effect... You already know that we have a principle that one does not learn from (heuristic) rules, and the term “all” (in the statements about women and positive commandments) truly means “most.” The specific details of women’s obligation in positive commandments have no general rule, rather they are passed on by tradition. Is it not the case that eating matzah on the first night of Pesah, joy on the festivals, the public reading of the Torah every seven years, tefillah, reading of the megillah, lighting Hanukkah candles, lighting Shabbat candles, and reciting kiddush are all positive time-bound commandments and for each of them a woman’s obligation is the same as a man’s obligation.
The mitzva (commandment) of tefillin is mentioned four times in the Torah, including in the Shema: “And you shall bind them for a sign upon your arm and they shall be totafot between your eyes” (Deut. 6:8). Tefillinsymbolize tying our physical and mental capacities to the service of God. We say when we wrap the tefillin on our hands: “I bind myself to you forever, I bind myself to you in Righteousness, in Justice, in Kindness and in Mercy; I bind myself to you forever, and in that way I come to Know You.” When we wear tefillin we bind ourselves to ideals through which we can come to know God.
Despite the Torah’s generic language, it was understood that women are exempt from this mitzva. The Mishna (the second-century CE law compendium) records: “Women, slaves and minors are exempt from the recitation of Shema and from tefillin, but are obligated for the Amida Prayer, mezuza, and Grace after meals” (Berakhot3:3).
Although exempt, may women voluntarily perform this mitzva? The Talmud states, “Mikhal the daughter of King Saul used to wear tefillin, and the sages did not protest” (Eruvin 96a). During the period of the Rishonim (1000 to 1500 CE), some sages, including posqim such as Rashi and Rambam, say that women may perform mitzvot from which they are exempt but do so without reciting a berakha (blessing), since the berakha‘s phrase “who has commanded us” would not apply. Rambam writes: “Women, slaves, and minors are exempt from tzitzit from the Torah…Women and slaves who want to wrap themselves in tzitzit may do so without aberakha. And so too with other such mitzvot from which women are exempt: if they want to perform them without a berakha, one does not protest” (Hilkhot Tsitsit 3:9).
The largest group of sages of this period rule that women may perform such mitzvot and recite the berakha as do men. These sages include Rabbenu Tam (1100-1171) and Rabbi Zerahia haLevi (12th c. Provence) among many others. The Rashba (1235-1310 Spain) states in a teshuva (responsum): “I agree with those who say that if they desire they can do all such mitzvot and recite the blessings, on the basis of Mikhal bat Shaul who used to wear tefillin and they did not protest; indeed she did so with the approval of the sages (kirtzon hakhamim) and by the nature of the matter since she puts on tefillin she blesses” (Teshuva 123).
In addition to the endorsement of many great sages, there is some precedent for prominent women wearingtefillin. Besides Mikhal the daughter of King Saul, stories persist of Rashi’s daughters wearing tefillin. Likewise, Fazonia, the first wife of Rabbi Haim ben Attar, wore tallit and tefillin, as did Rabbi Haim’s second wife. The Maid of Ludomir (Hanna Rachel Werbermacher) in the 19th century also wore tefillin. These are prominent cases; little is known of less prominent women.
Although Rabbi Meir of Rothenberg (d. 1293 Germany) and his followers opposed women wearing tefillin, it is safe to say that the vast majority of sages in the past two thousand years allowed specifically or in principle the wearing of tefillin by women.
(ה) יוֹסֵי בֶן יוֹחָנָן אִישׁ יְרוּשָׁלַיִם אוֹמֵר, יְהִי בֵיתְךָ פָתוּחַ לִרְוָחָה, וְיִהְיוּ עֲנִיִּים בְּנֵי בֵיתֶךָ, וְאַל תַּרְבֶּה שִׂיחָה עִם הָאִשָּׁה. בְּאִשְׁתּוֹ אָמְרוּ, קַל וָחֹמֶר בְּאֵשֶׁת חֲבֵרוֹ. מִכָּאן אָמְרוּ חֲכָמִים, כָּל זְמַן שֶׁאָדָם מַרְבֶּה שִׂיחָה עִם הָאִשָּׁה, גּוֹרֵם רָעָה לְעַצְמוֹ, וּבוֹטֵל מִדִּבְרֵי תוֹרָה, וְסוֹפוֹ יוֹרֵשׁ גֵּיהִנֹּם:
(5)Yosi ben Yochanan from Jerusalem says: Make your house open wide, let the poor be members of your household and do not engage in much talk with women. They said this with regard to one’s own wife, how much more so does this apply to another man’s wife. Hence the Sages said: whoever indulges in excessive conversation with women brings evil upon himself, neglects the study of the Torah and in the end will inherit Gehinnom.