Halakhah for Bekhorot 89:39
ובשאינה נספרת על גב היד
and is counted in the number of one hundred and twenty-five [limbs].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' If there is no flesh the size of an olive, the additional finger is counted as a limb among the one hundred and twenty-five limbs and joints, as this constitutes the greater number of limbs of the two hundred and forty-eight limbs and joints of which the human body is composed, the law being that the majority of the joints and limbs of a corpse causes tent uncleanness.');"><sup>21</sup></span>
Peninei Halakhah, Women's Prayer
Women, who do not pray in the synagogue, do not hear the ḥazan, and therefore must practice one would when praying individually. That is, according to Ashkenazic custom, before beginning Shema she says, “Kel Melekh ne’eman” (“God, faithful King”). Even though women have 252 limbs, as the womb has two doors and two hinges (Bekhorot 45a), since all people have 248 limbs, perhaps it is most important to direct the blessings toward them, and the blessing will then continue to the limbs unique to women (Minḥat Elazar 2:28; Ha-elef Lekha Shlomo OḤ 120).
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