Havdalla: Women

We’re staying by my cousins in Yerushalaim. They’re was a misunderstanding and my mother went out. My father and brothers were yotse havdallah in shul by the rebbe. Me and my sister heard havdallah of my cousin. What should my mother do? Can one of my brothers or father do havdallah or does my mother need to do alone?

Shalom!

Thank you for your question!

Women are fully obligated in the mitzva of Havdalla, just like men. This is because, according to most authorities, Havdalla is part of the biblical mitzva of “zachor” – to remember Shabbat at its arrival and at its departure. Furthermore, men and women are equal in every way when it comes to Shabbat observance and this includes details that appear to be time-bound. Even those who rule that Havdalla is a rabbinic mitzva acknowledge that the sages required women to perform it, as well. Even if Havdalla is a rabbinic time-bound mitzva, there is no problem for women, especially Ashkenazi women, to recite it. Indeed, Ashkenazi women may perform most time-bound mitzvot and even recite the blessing when performing them. Nevertheless, a man may not fulfill his obligation of Havdalla from a woman’s recitation of Havdalla, but another woman may.

A woman may either fulfill her obligation of Havdalla by reciting it herself or by hearing it recited by someone else. Nevertheless, since it is a matter of dispute what the extent of a woman’s Havdalla obligation truly is, it is preferable for a woman to hear Havdalla from a man rather than to recite it herself. If there is no man available to recite Havdalla, then a woman must certainly recite it herself. It is also preferable for a woman to recite Havdalla herself rather than to have a man, who already recited Havdalla, recite it again specifically for her.

OC 296:8; Mishna Berura 296:34,36; Aruch Hashulchan, OC 296:5.

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