Your Feb. 7 article, “For Orthodox Women, Catch-22 on Tefillin,” ends with a quotation that suggests that the reason Orthodox women have little to no interest in wearing tefillin is that “Not only is it a huge undertaking, but there is so much cultural animosity towards it, why would you do it?”
As an Orthodox woman, my life is filled with observances that are a huge undertaking. A few that come to mind include, covering my hair, observing the laws of niddah [family purity] and mikveh, keeping a kosher kitchen and making Shabbos — all of which, while accepted in my immediate circle, are not normative or accepted in the broader Jewish culture, let alone, the secular culture.
Following in the tradition of the women of valor that came before us, Orthodox women do not shy away from huge undertakings (cleaning for Pesach!), and rather welcome them with open arms if we believe it is what God wants of us. But God does not appear in your article. He was there implicitly in the sincere comments that spoke of increasing “commitment” or “Jewish connection,” but His name is not mentioned, and I found that telling. I may believe that God wants a lot of things from me on a daily basis, but putting on tefillin is not one of them.
