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Rav Mayer Twersky, rosh yeshiva at YU and the Rav's grandson, wrote:
"The halakha prohibiting Torah study for women is not indiscriminate or
all-encompassing. There is complete unanimity that women are obligated to
study halakhot pertaining to mitsvot which are incumbent upon them. =20
Clearly men are allowed to provide instruction in these areas. A father's
obligation of hinukh relates equally to sons and daughters. The
prohibition of teaching Torah she-Ba'al Pe to women relates to optional
study. If ever circumstances dictate that the study of Torah she-Ba'al is
necessary to provide a firm foundation for faith, such study becomes
obligatory and obviously lies beyond the pale of any prohibition. =20
Undoubtedly, the Rav's prescription was more far-reaching that that of the
Hafetz Hayim and others. But the difference in magnitude should not
obscure their fundamental agreement: intuitively, it is clear that the
guidelines of the Talmud in Massekhet Sota were never intended for our
epoch. This is not an instance of modernism, but Torah intuition" ("A
Glimpse of the Rav," Tradition, 30:4,, Summer 1996, pp. 98-99).
[For a contemporary example of where women's learning is at, see the Jewish
Week article on women "Poskot" who just completed a course of study at
Nishmat in Jerusalem=20
[
www.thejewishweek.com]
The article could certainly be brought into class to round out a discussion
of women learning in the Orthodox community today. Shalom]=20</HTML>
