124 Richard Rosenthal
about affluent and important women who are part of the movement for women’s liberation. They are observant Jews but are
fighting against some Torah laws; they also pray wearing a tallit and similar things. He answers by proclaiming the immutability of Torah and then attacks the women:“ordinary women who are not rich accept the obligation of raising boys and girls for it is a work most important to God and the Torah . God so created both
sexes... that women’s nature is better adapted to the raising of children and therefore they are not obligated to study Torah .” Women may accept mitzvot they have no obligation to perform and receive their reward. This includes hearing the shofar, lulav, and wearing zizit. Only the wearing of Tefilin is forbidden because they require“extra care to have a clean body.” It is interesting how the ancient folk belief about the uncleanliness of women never dies. He bases this on Tosfot,%® which he notes does not mention the reading of our verse by Targum Yonatan, which reads it forbidding women from wearing tallit and tefilin because they are male ornaments.” The women are using the mitzvot to try to change the Torah which is unchangeable. He then defends the Torah : women’s roles differ from those of men, but women are equally holy.
The responsa is strangely apologetic and angry. One can find the same tone in many responsa on the subject of women wearing trousers. A good introduction to our subject is a responsum of Rabbi Yossef written in 1973 to a principal of a religious high school.” The principal mentions that he is confronted with miniskirts, which break out of the limits of modesty. Wouldn't it be better, especially in winter, if the girls wear trousers?
Rabbi Yossef speaks first of miniskirts quoting Shabbat 62a: “‘Because the daughters of Zion are haughty?! That means that they walked with haughty bearing... and on coming near to the young men of Israel , they kicked their feet and spurted it on them, thus instilling them with passionate desire like with serpent’s poison.” He uses his erudition to give many references to the effect that women’s wanton behavior has on men:“they walk with leg and thigh revealed stimulating the evil inclination in the young men of Israel .” He adds a note:“thousands of young men were killed in battle in the late Yom Kippur war . Who knows if it was not for this grave sin... as it is said:‘For the Lord your God