Is it permitted for women to recite Tashlich?

Shalom u-vrachah,

Women are permitted to recite Tashlich, but they must be careful to find a modest place to say it.

Sources: In Sefer Zikaron Avraham by R. Avraham Bing, zt"l (Siman 583), it is written that women are not obligated to go to the river. See there. Some poskim wrote even further that they should refrain from saying it altogether. See Aruch HaShulchan (Siman 583, seif 4), which says that women should be warned not to go for the recitation of Tashlich. In Ketzot HaMatah (Siman 598, s.k. 7), it is brought that the Gaon Chacham Tzvi, zt"l, instructed his daughters to refrain from going to Tashlich on Rosh Hashanah, as brought in the introduction to Sefer Tzvi LaTzadik. In She'elot U-Teshuvot Yad Eliyahu (by R. Eliyahu Regoler, zt"l, at the beginning of the book in the testament of the author, letter 2), he wrote that women should not move from their place to go and say Tashlich at all. Likewise, in Sefer Pnei HaMayim (at the beginning of the book), in a letter from the authors brother, R. Yosef Schwartz, zt"l, it is written that the Gaon R. Yosef Shaul Natanzon, zt"l, established a regulation in Lvov that women should not go to Tashlich. See also Sefer Shulchan Yosef (p. 69) in the name of R. Ovadia Yosef, zt"l, that women are exempt from reciting the Tashlich service, and, on the contrary, better to sit and not act. See there. Of course, the reason for the restriction is modesty. Similarly, in Sefer Elef HaMagen (Siman 598, s.k. 3), it is written that the custom of women also going to Tashlich should be abolished, because it leads to mingling of women with men, etc. See there. According to this, if they find a modest place, there would seemingly be no impediment to their saying it. In Sefer Ashrei HaIsh, part 3 (chapter 14, seif 13), it is written in the name of R. Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, zt"l, that women are also obligated in reciting Tashlich, and they should find a modest place to say it. See also what is written about this in Kovetz Or Yisrael, part 9 (page 88 and onward).

With blessings,

Hillel Meirs