Halakhah for Bekhorot 89:86
לא באיש ולא באשה:
- Here again the verse refers to 'hinges' of flesh. It also stands to reason. For if you will not say so,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' That zirim written in connection with a man is not an additional limb and thus there would be another limb in the case of a man.');"><sup>54</sup></span> to whom then will you apply the accepted statement that there exist two hundred and forty-eight limbs [in the human body], for it can apply neither to a man nor to a woman.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' On the number of human limbs given here v. Mak., Sonc. ed., p. 169 n. 5.');"><sup>55</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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