Orthodox day schools to allow women to don tefillin at daily minyan

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http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/Orthodox-day-schools-to-allow-women-to-don-tefillin-at-daily-minyan-339090

NEW YORK – It began early last December when Salanter Akiba Riverdale High School, a modern-Orthodox Yeshiva in Riverdale, New York, allowed two female students to begin wearing tefillin at school during their morning prayers. On Tuesday, the Upper East Side modern-Orthodox school Ramaz announced it would allow its women to do the same during daily prayers should they wish to, the Jewish Week reported.

Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, the principal of Ramaz, told the Jewish Week that women were always allowed to wear tefillin during the weekly women-only prayer session, a practice that began in 2002. Now they will be able to do so, should they so desire, during the regular daily minyan, the principal said.

Lookstein said the first time he received a request from a woman to wear tefillin was back in the early 1990s. At the time he said no.

“If we were asked the question today – it’s 20 years later – we are in agreement that if a young woman wanted to put on tefillin and tallit, she could daven with us in our school minyan,” Lookstein said, though he noted that he has yet to actually receive such a request in the last 20 years from a woman at Ramaz.

The two students at SAR high school in Riverdale, junior Ronit Morris and sophomore Yael Marans, campaigned long and hard to be allowed to wear tallit and tefillin at their all-women’s prayer group

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It should be pointed out these 2 schools are exceptions, not the general rule of Orthodox Day Schools.

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What possible issues have to be considered when we look at this new trend.
1] Some sources would put this under the prohibition of a woman wearing men's clothing
2] Rabbi Rosner in one of his lectures said that Tefillin requires a clean body, if you don't therefore have the outright obligation to wear them (men do, women don't) he holds it is better for women not to wear Tefillin, because the potential negatives outweigh the benefits.
3] One at least has to wonder if the motivation for Tefillin by certain womens groups stem more for a desire to make a Woman's Lib statement.
4] The issue of Minhag also has to be dealt with

[Tag-MehirTzedek]

Its Muttar and shouldn't be made into a big issue. (many) women hear the Shofar, many women shake the Lulav, sit in the Sukkah etc. If they want they certainly CAN.