<HTML>The recent EIDAH conference published a birkhon which included a nusah for
a women's zimun. They base themselves upon a (published?) pesak halakhah
of Rabbi Yehudah Henkin which I assume they would be glad to share. Their
phone number is: 212 244-7501.
[A good book that deals with these issues and brings a wealth of primary
sources is Ellinson's 3 volume *HaIsha V'HaMitzvot*, recently translated
into English. In short, the issue is Kol she'aino mitzuveh b'davar eino
motzi aherim ydei hovatam (anyone who is not commanded cannot discharge
their fellow). Clearly the first question then becomes what level
obligation do women have? The three issues mentioned in the original post
are all different:
Kiddush - women are Biblically obligated (Shluhan Arukh Orah Hayim 271:2),
and the real question is whether a man (if he has already discharged his
obligation by saying Mikadesh Ha Shabbat in Tefilla) can "be Motzi" a
women (if she has not)
Kriat Megilla - both men and women are obligated Rabbinically, but women
might only have an obligation to hear, not to read (ibid 589:1,2)
Bentching - it is questionable whether women are obligated Biblically or
Rabbinically (ibid 186:1). They certainly can (and according to some must)
make a zimun (ibid 199:6). Similarly they answer to a men's zimun.
According to Rav Shlomo Zalmen Aurbach (quoted by his nephew in *Halikhot
Beitah*), men would respond to a women's zimun.
I tell my students to be sensitive to the reality of the expectations of
the communities in which they find themselves regarding these issues. I'd
be pleased to continue this discussion off list. Shalom]</HTML>
