Class 14: Havdalah

[Marsha1]

There were certain aspects of this class which were very thought-provoking, but I found I was missing fully understanding certain things because I'm not familiar with such terms as "choshaish" or "naf kiminei halacha".   

One thought I had is, if the argument for allowing women to say a bracha on shofar and lulav is that it is a "maaseh hamitzvah", that there is an action associated with the bracha, does the same follow for mitzvat tzitzit, which was mentioned earlier in the class but not subsequently?  ie. since there is an action associated with this mitzvah and it is not just the bracha itself, like kiddush levana is, would a woman who wants to wear tzitzit be allowed to say a bracha on it?  Also, is a woman allowed to say kiddush levana if she wants to, even though women generally do not?  ie. if the bottom line for Havdalah is that women say it if no man is present to say it for them, does this also apply to kiddush levana?

Also, I don't quite understand the argument about "borei me'orai ha'aish" regarding it bring a bracha of "shevach" and therefore women shouldn't say it.  Even if Hashem taught Adam HaRishon how to make fire on the first Motzei Shabbat, women could still thank Him for it as we certainly benefit from it as well--we couldn't cook for Shabbat without it!

I'm also wondering exactly what constitutes Havdalah--maybe that will come up in a future class.  Does it include wine, spices, fire, and HaMavdil or are some of those add-ons that are not part of Havdalah proper, as the Biur Halacha suggests with regard to bircat HaNer being "wrapped up" (or not) in Havdalah?

The class raised a lot of interesting questions but left me with even more!  I am glad to know that if my husband is not around, like he wasn't last week, that I should continue to do Havdalah for myself.

[Rabbi Isaacson]

First, I apologize for using Hebrew/Talmudic terminology that was not understood ("choshaish" means "to suspect," and "nafka mina l'halacha" means "practical halachic difference"). I will bli neder try and be more careful about this in future classes.

Technically speaking, an Ashkenazi woman who donned tzitzith could make a bracha.  What you say about Kiddush Levana is correct.  Although women typically do not say it, if it was recited it would be somewhat difficult to explain why an Ashkenazi woman could not say the bracha (despite the comment of the Magen Avraham discussed in the shiur).

The point regarding meorei haeish is that it is a mitzva asei shehazman grama of motzei Shabbos, for which women would be exempt. To say the bracha might constitute a hefsek in the middle of havdala.  R. Shimon Isaacson