Are women obligated to hear Havdala over wine or is it sufficient for them to recite it in tefilat arbit?

Question: Are women obligated to hear Havdala over wine or is it sufficient for them to recite it in tefilat arbit?

Answer:

Rambam writes that based on the pasuk זכור את יום השבת לקדשו, there is a Biblical positive mitzvah to make sanctify the Shabbat בדברים, through words; both in the beginning of Shabbat with Kiddush and in the end of Shabbat with Havdala. Rav Ovadia quotes a list of other poskim who agree that Havdala is a biblical obligation. Taking this one step further, despite being time bound mitzvot that generally cause an exemption for women, Rav Ovadia  says that women are obligated in this mitzvah based on the idea of ״זכור״ ו״שמור״ בדיבור אחד – כל שישנו בשמור ישנה בזכור, which means that the connection in the pesukim of the Aseret Hadibrot of Zachor and Shamor et Yom Hashabbat, tells us that whoever is obligated in shamor (the negative commandments) is obligated in zachor (the positive Shabbat commandments). So since women are obviously obligated in the negative mitzvot of Shabbat, they are obligated in the positive ones too, despite them being time bound, מצות עשה שהזמן גרמא.

The Rosh and some other poskim argue that the general obligation to recite Havdala is only Rabinnic in nature. If that is the case, one could argue that women are exempt as the connection between shamor and zachor relates specifically to biblical time bound mitzvot.

The Meiri has yet a third opinion that even if you were to argue that the general obligation of Havdala is only Rabbinic, women would be obligated as it is really part of the mitzvah of Kiddush and thus women would be obligated in Havdala on a rabbinic level just as men. A number of other poskim agree with this approach based on the principal of כל דתיקון רבנן כעין דאורייתא תיקון, that all Rabbinic mitzvot were created and patterned after biblical mizvot.

Rav Ovadia then utilizes the principle we have discussed before that ספק ספקא לחומרא במצוה דאורייתא, that a doubt within another doubt in a Biblical mitzvah forces us to be strict. One doubt is perhaps the halacha follows the Rambam that Havdala is Biblical in nature and thus applies equally to women. Even if it doesn’t and the requirement is Rabbinic in nature, perhaps the halacha follows the Meiri that women are still obligated.

Maran Beit Yosef in Shulchan Aruch says that women are obligated in Havdala just as they are in Kiddush. Rema writes that we should be concerned that perhaps they are not obligated and thus they should listen to a man recite havdala, but they should not recite it themselves. For bnei Ashkinaz, although it seems women should avoid reciting havdala on their own, depite the doubt they can recite it with a bracha if no one else can recite it for them. This is based on the principle that bnei Ashkinaz hold that a women may make a bracha when performing a mitzvah she is exempt from due to its time bound nature. Although bnei Sefarad typically argue with that, in this case Rav Ovadia says they can assume like the Rambam that they are equally obligated as men are and thus can recite it for themselves.

Based on the above, it is clear that a man may recite havdala for a woman even if he already fulfilled the mitzvah himself. But what about the bracha of  בורא מאורי האש? Are they obligated or not? Rav Ovadia suggests that this falls into the question above of is Havdala a biblical mitzvah for which women are certainly obligated or is Rabbinic, which raises some question as to their obligation?

The Mishnah Berurah adds a distinction that just because women are obligated biblically in Havdala, that doesn’t mean they are obligated in בורא מאורי האש. Havdala is connected to Kiddish which woman are clearly obligated in, but the bracha on the fire is totally independent in nature.

Summary: Women are obligated מן התורה to hear Havdala and they can even recite it for themselves when necessary, and even recite בורא מאורי האש.  With that said, it would be preferred for them to hear it from a man to adhere to the stricter opinion above (that bnei ashkinaz should treat as the halacha). Based on this, if men are to recite Havdala for women, they should recite havdala in tefillat arbit but have in mind not to fulfill the biblical obligation of Havdala. In this way, they can recite it for women without any reservations.