Why Are Some Women Wearing a Tallit?

Many people are asking "Why are some women wearing a tallit?" within the Progressive Movement today. In one sense they are straightforward questions; in another sense they are extremely complex. People ask "why?" for many different reasons: simply because they are curious; because they are bewildered; because they are astonished; because they are bemused; because they are angry...

This web site attempts in some small way to respond to all these "why's" - and the individual men and women asking them - by presenting the personal accounts of some of the different women who are now wearing a tallit for women.

The question "what does tradition have to say about wearing a tallit for women?" is both more and less complicated than the question "why?" Less complicated, because it addresses the issue of the halachah governing the performance of Jewish ritual; more complicated, because we are 'Progressive' Jews (...) and the received halachah is not our only guideline for working out our contemporary Jewish practice.

By documenting the 'sources', this web site 'answers' the questions of what 'tradition' has to say. But how do we as Progressive Jews respond to that tradition? Clearly, by taking the step of wearing a tallit for women for morning prayer on a regular basis, women are directly confronting the issue of the performance of mitzvot on the part of Progressive Jews. Hopefully, this web site may serve as a catalyst for further debate on this issue.

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