Much Ado: Women Reading Megillah for Men

Rav Ovadia Yosef has publicly ruled that women may read the Megilla for men, if competent men are not available. Haaretz has made a big deal about this, calling it 'a landmark decision liable to outrage many of his Ashkenazi counterparts.' Indeed, it may well outrage his Ashkenazi counterparts. However, it's hardly a landmark decision (except for the ignoramuses at Haaretz). On the contrary, it's perfectly consistent with Rav Ovadia's previously enunciated positions. (See the thorough, and insightful survey and analysis by Rabbi Professor Aryeh Frimer, here, and the parallel discussion by R. Yehudah Herzl Henkin, here.)

Briefly stated, Rav Ovadia's position is based upon the following considerations:

1) The Rambam states explicitly that women and men have the same level of obligation as far as מקרא מגילה is concerned.

הלכות מגילה וחנוכה פרק א
הלכה א:

קריאת המגילה בזמנה מצות עשה מדברי סופרים, והדברים ידועים שהיא תקנת נביאים, והכל חייבים בקריאתה אנשים

ונשים א וגרים ועבדים משוחררים.

הלכה ב:
אחד הקורא ואחד השומע מן הקורא יצא ידי חובתו והוא שישמע ממי שהוא חייב בקריאתה, לפיכך אם היה הקורא קטן או שוטה השומע ממנו לא יצא.

2) Rav Ovadia maintains that the Rambam's ruling is endorsed by R. Joseph Caro in the Shulhan Arukh:

שולחן ערוך אורח חיים סימן תרפט
אחד הקורא ואחד השומע מן הקורא, יצא ידי חובתו; והוא שישמע ממי שהוא חייב בקריאתה. לפיכך אם היה הקורא חרש או קטן או שוטה, השומע ממנו לא יצא; וי"א שהנשים ה אינם מוציאות את האנשים.

3) Rav Ovadia, decades ago, ruled that there is no problem hearing a woman's voice chanting blessings, prayers and so on. (Resp. Yehaveh Daat IV, no. 15). Furthermore, over the years he emphasized that many of those who do not allow a woman to read the Megillah for men, do so largely out of concern for the unseemliness of a woman chanting for men. (Though, he obviously does note the opinion of the בה"ג, the alternative opinion cited by R. Joseph Caro, that the level of obligation for men and women regarding Megillah reading is different.)

In a word, Rav Ovadia's ruling is another of his assertions of the classic Sephardic position that women may read for men, and that Sephardim (if not everybody) should follow the opinions of R. Joseph Caro. The latter, for various reasons, should be given priority. However, if there is no qualified male, Spanish tradition is certainly comfortable with a woman reading for a man, especially since, in Rav Ovadia's opinion, there is no unseemliness in a woman's voice when she prays or chants prayers.

All of this, though, is only relevant for Sephardim. It has no implications for Ashkenazim, who accept the view of R. Simon Qayyara in the הלכות גדולות, that men and women are not equally obligated to read the Megilla. Therefore, an Ashkenazi woman cannot read for an Ashkenazi man.