Women and Shofar – Do They Need Hataras Nedarim?
The שו״ע או״ח תקפ״ט סי׳ ו says that even though women are not חייב in shofar, they are still allowed to blow and to hear shofar. He adds that even a man who already fulfilled his mitzvah can blow again to help a woman fulfill it.
The משנ״ב ס״ק ח׳-יא explains why the שו״ע had to tell us this. Since blowing shofar on Yom Tov is normally asur, it’s only allowed for the sake of the mitzvah. You might think that because women are not obligated, maybe they are not allowed to blow at all. That’s why the שו״ע tells us: they can, because women are allowed to take it upon themselves as if it were their mitzvah.
Now, the Magen Avraham (או״ח 489:1, Hilchos Sefiras HaOmer) says that women are also patur from counting sefiras ha’omer, since it’s a מ״ע שהזמ״ג. But he adds: women accepted it upon themselves as an obligation.
But not everyone agrees. The Minchas Chinuch (mitzvah 306) argues: how can a woman make herself חייב in a mitzvah that the Torah said she is פטור from? And you can’t compare it to Maariv. Originally, Maariv was only a reshus, but Klal Yisrael accepted it as an obligation. Look into the Rishonim why maariv is different.
The Neziros Shimshon also asks on the Magen Avraham. He brings the Darkei Moshe, who says: you can only accept a mitzvah as a chova if there’s at least one opinion that it’s really a chova. By Maariv there were such opinions, but by shofar and sefira no one says women are chayav. So how can they make it into a chiyuv?
Still, the Maharil in Hilchos Shofar says that women did accept shofar as an obligation. That’s why women get dressed early and make sure to come on time to shul for tekiyos. So the Magen Avraham can hold like the Maharil.
If a woman has been going to shul to hear shofar for 20 years, and this year she can’t because she had a baby, does she need to do hataras nedarim? In Hilchos Nedarim (Y.D. 214:1), the Mechaber says that if someone accepted to fast on Erev Rosh Hashanah or to avoid meat during the Nine Days, and now he wants to stop, he needs to go to 3 people for hataras nedarim. So maybe shofar should be the same and she would need hatara.
In fact, the Ben Ish Chai, Kaf HaChaim, and the Shach (Y.D. 214:2) all say yes — if a woman accepted shofar as an obligation, she needs hataras nedarim if she wants to stop.
But the question is, The Shach himself asks a question on the Rema. In O.C. 568:2, the Rema says that someone who accepted to fast during bahab or Aseres Yemei Teshuva, but there’s a bris that day, he can eat without hatarah. But in Hilchos Nedarim we just said that the Rema says you do need hatarah! Which one is it?
The Shach answers: when someone accepted to fast, he accepted it with the condition that if there’s a bris, he won’t fast. So he doesn’t need hatara. But in hilchos nedarim he never thought about getting sick, so if he gets sick, he does need hatara.
The Noda B’Yehuda (Dagul M’revava) gives a different answer: if the change is only temporary like there’s a bris this year, but next year you’ll fast again, then no hatarah is needed. You’ll continue the practice next time. But if you want to cancel your practice forever, then you need hatarah. That’s the difference.
Nafka Mina:
According to the Shach: if a woman is sick and can’t come to shofar, she needs hatarah, whether it’s one year or forever.
According to the Noda B’Yehuda: if she’s only missing this year (for example, she just had a baby and can’t come), no hatarah is needed. But if she decides to stop going to shul for shofar altogether, she would need hatarah.
