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50 | FESTSCHRIFT

us” to study Torah, he asks, if she is not commanded to do so? He answers that this is
in keeping with the position of Tosafot who allow a woman to recite such a blessing
even on time-bound mitzvot from which she is exempt. In other words, not being
5
obligated in a mitzvah does not preclude a woman for stating that God “commanded”
her to perform that mitzvah. 6

From the question and answer of the Gra it is apparent that, for him, birkhat ha-Torah is
not a birkhat hoda’ah, as the Ramban maintains, but is a birkhat ha-mitzvah, similar to
other such brakhot that precede the performance of a mitzvah. Hence he wonders how
women can recite a birkhat ha-mitvah before an act that, for them, is not a mitzvah.

For the Ramban, birkhat ha-Torah is a blessing expressing gratitude for Torah; for the
Gra it is a blessing expressing the obligation to study Torah.

The question of the Gra was also raised by Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik who was un-
happy with the answer given by the Gra because, while Tosafot allow a woman to
recite a birkhat ha-mitzvah even on time-bound mitzvot from which she is exempt,
the Rambam disagrees. For the Rambam, a woman cannot recite a blessing which

includes “and commanded us” prior to an act she was not commanded to perform.
7
How, then, can women recite birkhat ha-Torah?

He answers that birkhat ha-Torah is not a blessing for the fulfillment of a mitzvah.
Rather, it reflects the fact that “Torah requires a brakhah (הרות . . . הכרב יעב הרות
הכרב הנועט המצע).” Since women studying Torah are engaging with Torah even
though they are not obligated to do so, they too need to recite a brakhah beforehand.
Any engagement with Torah, per se, mandates that a blessing be recited prior to com-
mencing study. I suggest that this dovetails with the Ramban’s position that birkhat
ha-Torah is a birkhat hoda’ah, an expression of gratitude to God “for the great good He
did for us,” a sentiment most appropriate for women as well.
8

Another relevant source. The Talmud (Nedarim 81a), in commenting on verses in
Yirmiyah (9:11-12), states that the Land was destroyed (“avdah ha-aretz”) because the

5 Tosafot, Kiddushin 31a, s.v. delo mafkidna, See too Rama, Orach Chaim 17:2.
6 Bi’ur ha-Gra, Orach Chaim 47:14
7 Mishneh Torah, Hil. Tzitzit 3:9.
8 See R. Noach Eizik Ohelbaum, “Ha-Im Tzarich le-Varekh Birkhat ha-Torah ba-Amidah: Ezeh Birchat ha-
Mitzvot Mevarkhin ba-Amidah,” Ha-Ma’or 65:5 (2012):11-13.