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Women on Shavuot Night: Tikkun and Torah Reading

Question

Are women obligated to stay up all night on Shavuot night? Do women need to hear the Torah reading (the Ten Commandments) the next morning?

Answer

Women aren’t allowed to say the Tikkun. If they want to say Tehillim at night they are permitted. There is no need for them to hear the Torah reading nor the Ten Commandments.

Sources

Peninei Halacha writes that all agree women are exempt from the Torah reading on weekdays and on holidays. The only debate he records concerns Shabbat, and even there most poskim exempt women. On Shavuot, a festival, there is therefore no obligation for women to hear the Torah reading, including the Ten Commandments.

  • Peninei Halacha, Women’s Prayer 2:10 — all views agree women are exempt from Torah reading on weekdays and holidays; on Shabbat most poskim also exempt them because it is a time-bound mitzva, though hearing it is a voluntary mitzva

Author

Rabbi Shay Tahan

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