The Exemption of Women From Time-bound Positive Commandments

he statement that women are not obligated to do positive time-bound mitzvos is part of the Oral Torah. It occurs as a anonymous statement in the Mishnah (Kiddushin 1:7); there are some differences of opinion among the Tannaim as to its exact scope, but they all accept it as a binding principle. The Talmud (Kiddushin 34a-35a) discusses how this principle might be inferred by generalization from specific commandments for which there are grounds for exempting women, but the principle itself does not depend on these inferences.