Kiddushin, Daf Lammed Daled, Part 4
Introduction
The Talmud continues to deal with other cases of positive time-bound commandments.
והרי ראיה דמצות עשה שהזמן גרמא וטעמא דכתב רחמנא (שמות כג, יז) זכורך להוציא הנשים הא לאו הכי נשים חייבות
But what of pilgrimage to the Temple, which is a positive time-bound commandment, yet the reason [women are exempt] is that the Torah wrote, [Three times a year all] your males [shall appear before the Lord your God] (Exodus 23:17) this excludes women; but were it not for this word, they would be liable?
The mitzvah to appear at the Temple during a festival is a positive time-bound commandment it should not apply to women. So why then do we need a verse to exclude women?
איצטריך סד"א נילף ראיה ראיה מהקהל
It is necessary: Lest I would say that we learn about the laws of pilgrimage from the laws of gathering.
Women are obligated to gather at the Temple at the end of the Sabbatical cycle (Deuteronomy 31:11). I might have thought that since they are obligated for this mitzvah, they are also obligated for the pilgrimage, despite its being a positive time-bound commandment. Therefore, the Torah specifically exempts women from the pilgrimage.