AboutDavid Gross Expertise If you are truly seeking answers or information I will do my best to answer questions related to any aspect of the LDS Church.
Experience I have been a member of the church for 27+ years after being raised as a not very active Reform Jew.
Question I would like to know about lds doctrine concerning women going to the temple. I understand that women can go to the temple without their husbands. Has it always been so? I seem to remember something about a man has to pull the wife through the vail? Would someone please explain this to me?
Answer Women typically attend the temple for the first time when they are preparing to serve a mission or be married. A woman can attend the temple if neither of these events happen. She would consult with her bishop and they would decide together if attending the temple would be in her best interest.
If a woman is married outside the temple and her husband is not eligible to attend then she may attend the temple. Again, this would be after consulting with her bishop and husband. In the past a wife would not normally go to the temple without her husband. I really don't know any details about why or when this policy started or changed.
Part of the ceremony for a couple being married in a temple involves the husband "pulling" his wife through a veil. If a woman is not getting married then it does not apply until she is getting married.
