Q. A woman in our zoom group of learning Sifrei Hashkafa daily lost L’A her father and is seating Shiva. Can she still join the shiur or is she prohibited like men to learn Torah?
A. Emek Hateshuva (1: 163), Chazon Ovadya (Avelus 2: p. 213), Mispedi Lemachol (p. 77), Haavelus Behalacha Veagadah (p. 208) and others maintain that women similar to men also acquire Simcha and joy from learning Torah and when in mourning are equally prohibited.
However, learning serious and strict Hashkafa or Mussar sefarim is likely permitted even for men.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon Miller and Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu Shlit’a