Regarding the arrest of Nofrat Frenkel at the women’s section of the Western Wall by allegedly wearing tzitzit and preparing to read from a Torah, I received a post on the Shefa list today with a response from Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C with this curious line:
“In light of this ruling, the site or Robinson’s Arch, which adjoins the Western Wall and is along the same retaining wall of the Temple Mount above, was designated to host egalitarian services that encourage both men and women to wear tallit and read from the Torah.”
Women of the Wall is not and has not been an egalitarian group in any way. Nofrat and Anat haven’t been arrested/questioned because of egalitarian services in the gender-separated area, but for practicing an authentic Jewish tradition. Not to beat a dead horse, but women may be traditionally exempt from Tzitzit and reading from the Torah, but there is no universal prohibition of it.
Simply put:
Menahot 43a
ת”ר הכל חייבין בציצית כהנים לוים וישראלים גרים נשים ועבדים ר”ש פוטר בנשים מפני שמצות עשה שהזמן
גרמא הוא וכל מצות עשה שהזמן גרמא נשים פטורותBaraita: All are obligated in tzitzit, priests, levites, israelites, converts, women, and slaves. R’ Shimon exempts women because is is a positive time-bound mitzvah of which women are exempt.
And if you want to get picky, wearing tzitzit without techelet (a blue fringe) might not even count for the positive commandment!
But see here as well for a progressive halakhic view:
An well-written article on women and tallit and tefillin
Also see custom drives Jewish law on women
Mechon Hadar in NYC recently put out a long summary teshuva that is interesting (http://www.halakhah.org/)
[...] section’s right to prayer as they see fit?(Though this still doesn’t address that Women of the Wall is an Orthodox group) IS THE ENTIRE KOTEL PLAZA REALLY A SYNAGOGUE?Volume 4, Issue No. 3, February 2010Rabbi Prof. David [...]