Commentary: On Sifre and Sifra

And God said to Moses . . . and they shall make fringes for themselves (Numbers 15:37–38). Women are included as well. R. Simeon exempts women from the requirement to wear ritual fringes because women are exempt from positive commandments bound by time. For this is the general principle stated by R. Simeon: Regarding any positive commandment bound by time, women are exempt. [Sifre Numbers 115]

Commentary

Women are included as well: They too are obligated in the commandment of ritual fringes, as he [the first tanna] maintains that wearing ritual fringes is a positive commandment that is not bound by time, and therefore they are obligated. For he is of the opinion that the obligation of ritual fringes applies both by day and by night, and women are obligated in any positive commandment not bound by time. This is explained in the first chapter of tractate Kiddushin [34a]: It is derived from the commandment to fear one’s parents, as it is written: Every man shall fear [pl.] his mother and his father (Leviticus 19:3). Since this is a positive commandment not bound by time, and women are obligated, so too women are obligated in any positive commandment not bound by time, etc., as explained in the Gemara there.

R. Simeon exempts women, etc.: As he maintains that the obligation of ritual fringes applies only in the daytime, not at night. Consequently, it is a positive time-bound commandment, which means that women are exempt. R. Simeon’s reasoning is explained in tractate Menaḥot chapter four, toward the end of the Gemara’s commentary on the first mishnah [38a–b]: One is obligated in ritual fringes during the daytime, not at night, as it states: That you may look upon it (Numbers 15:39), which excludes a garment worn at night, etc., as stated there.

If you ask, from where do we learn that women are exempt from positive commandments bound by time, I will explain the exposition of the Gemara to you. It is derived from the case of tefillin [phylacteries]. The commandment of tefillin is a positive time-bound commandment, as it applies in the daytime and not at night. This is learned from the fact that it is written: You shall keep this ordinance in its season [me-yamim yamima] from year to year (Exodus 13:10). The Mekhilta explains that this verse refers specifically to tefillin, and it teaches that the obligation applies only by day [yom], not at night. Since women are exempt from tefillin, they are likewise exempt from all [positive time-bound commandments]. Now if you ask, how do we know that women are exempt from the commandment of tefillin itself, I will explain that this is derived from the commandment of studying Torah. For the commandments of tefillin and Torah study are written alongside one another, and thus tefillin are juxtaposed to Torah study. Just as women are exempt from Torah study, as it is written: And you shall teach them to your sons (Deuteronomy 11:19)—and not your daughters—so too women are exempt from tefillin [b. Kiddushin 29b].

The Gemara there [b. Kiddushin 34a] raises the following difficulty: Is it correct that women are exempt from all positive time-bound commandments? But there is the commandment of [matzah, and] rejoicing on festivals, and hakhel,¹ which are positive commandments [bound by time, and yet women are obligated in them]. [ . . . ]

The Gemara continues with another question: And furthermore, there are the commandments of Torah study, procreation, and the redemption of the firstborn son, which are not positive time-bound commandments, and yet women are exempt from them. They are exempt from Torah study because it is written: And you shall talk of them [when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up] (Deuteronomy 6:7), which implies both by day and by night. Concerning women [and procreation], this is as taught in Yevamot Chapter 6 [m. Yevamot 6:6]: Men are commanded to procreate, but not women. [ . . . ]

The Gemara answers that this is as R. Yoḥanan said: One may not learn from general statements, even when it states “except.”² As explained in Eruvin Chapter 3 [27a], even though the mishnah here states: “All positive time-bound commandments, etc.,” there are commandments that are bound by time and yet women are obligated in them, and equally there are commandments that are not bound by time and women are exempt. The Gemara also raises other difficulties in this regard, which it resolves.