Dr. Lisa Aiken in her book "to be a jewish woman", explains a lot of those
questions, in a very satisfactory manner, even for a feminist as I am, and
the Minchat Chinuch, is a good source as well.The main point is, that
whatever men achieve with a minyan, woman have it in themselves!!Isha, the
term Torah uses for the spiritual part, is a natural status by a woman,
while men, in order to achieve the status of Ish, need to perform all these
mitzvot, that for woman are not an obligation!!A man, will not know until
his death, weather he achieved the status of Ish....therefore he cannot say
thank You for making me an Ish!!....and with this blessing....they mean that
being a woman, is much more difficoult than being a man: men have their
pattern defined, step by step, while women, have to use their gift of
intuition very often and with this, get the right answer for the whole
family!No wonder men are happy to get away with "only" having to make
mitzvoth....
Alisa Majer Antwerp Belgium