Learning Torah
Deracheha is all about women learning Torah. Here we look at what, why, and how.
- What is the mitzva of learning Torah? Does it apply to women? Exemption
- What Torah does a woman have to learn? Obligation
- How and why did text study open up to women? Openings to Study
- What texts should women study and why? What to Study
Daily Prayer
Day-to-day, what prayers do women really need to say? Why?
- What is the mitzva of prayer? Are women obligated to pray? Obligation
- Do women have to recite Shemoneh Esrei? How often? Shemoneh Esrei
- What should women say after waking up? What about birchot ha-Torah? Upon Arising
- Must women recite birchot ha-shachar? 100 berachot a day? Birchot Ha-shachar
- Why do we say “She-lo asani isha” or “She-asani kirtzono?” She-lo Asani Isha, She-asani Kirtzono
- What are korbanot and Pesukei De-zimra? Should women say them? Korbanot and Pesukei De-zimra
- What is the mitzva of Keri’at Shema for women? Keri’at Shema
- Should a woman say Birchot Keri’at Shema? Birchot Keri’at Shema
- What’s left to say after Shemoneh Esrei? End of Shacharit
- When time is limited, what prayers take priority? Priorities in Prayer
Tzitzit and Tefillin
Why are women taught not to fulfill these mitzvot?
- Is wearing tzitzit a violation of the prohibition of cross-dressing? Tzitzit: Keli Gever
- What else might be at issue when a woman wears tzitzit? Tzitzit: Yuhara
- What is the mitzva of tefillin? Why are women exempt from it? Tefillin I: Exemption
- What does guf naki mean? How is it connected to tefillin and to women laying tefillin? Tefillin II: Guf Naki
- May a woman choose to lay tefillin? What are the practical halachic rulings on this? Tefillin III: In Practice
Read on to see what else we’re planning for this section of the site–and let us know if you have a topic to suggest.
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Public Prayer
The Talmud teaches that God takes special heed of prayer in a minyan. Some parts of the synagogue service are only recited when a minyan is present. What is the significance of public prayer? And what is the relationship of women to it?
Birkat Ha-mazon
Is there a distinction between men and women reciting birkat ha-mazon, the grace after meals? How does the grouping together of people of differing halachic obligations affect zimmun, the invitation to birkat ha-mazon?
Gender Mixing
From Beit Ha-mikdash to an El Al flight, what, if any, gender separation is necessary?
Self-Presentation
Self-presentation is a matter of how we relate to God and to ourselves, not just to each other. What are the halachic parameters for appearance in public and in private?
Upcoming Topics
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