All Natural-Hair Wigs Banned Again!

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Forum -> Fashion and Beauty -> Sheitels & Tichels

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CDL

Sun, Sep 24 2017, 9:39 am

I think some rabanim are being very machmir with this perhaps because they are anyways opposed to human hair sheitels? So this is a good way to fight the practice without using "Tzniyus" again. I read an article by Rabbi Yair Hoffman and it seems like there is plenty of halachic basis for allowing human (Indian) hair sheitels.

newme

Sun, Sep 24 2017, 9:45 am

mevater, I'm a frum woman and I would give up the sheitel in an instant if I believed the poskim had arrived at a clear p'sak - and even the thought of avodah zarah is making me have doubts about wearing mine until things are clarified.
I would sure like to think that most ehrliche frum women would do the same.
Women are known for their yiras shamayim, in general. They are the ones who clean for Pesach most thoroughly, who go out of their way to do things right - why wouldn't frum women take AVODA ZARA (one of the 3 cardinal sins!) just as seriously as basar b'chalav? Rolling Eyes

newme

Sun, Sep 24 2017, 9:48 am

And as to your post, marina - since when do we always understand halacha?
Until I've studied shas and poskim for a few decades plus - it wouldn't occur to me to make such a statement. There are so many factors to every p'sak; such breadth and depth to the halachic process - it's pretty mind-boggling.

happysmile1

Sun, Sep 24 2017, 9:48 am

Indian woman say they sacrifice their beautiful hair to their god- and they want to lessen their ego and gain humility.
We take their sacrificed hair and turn it in to sheitels to wear for "modesty" to build our ego and look stunning! Hollywood actresses and models are wearing the same wigs we wear too- definitely not for modesty. Something is very wrong with this picture!
Of course there will be Rabbanim who try to find a loophole to allow Indian hair even its clearly linked to avoda Zora and Rav Elyashiv stated that it's definitely forbidden. Unfortunately we always manage to find a loophole in the areas that affects a woman's vanity but were so machmir in everything else. The Rabbanim think women are weak and that we could never give up our wigs, even if they are avoda Zora and totally hypocritical and immodest.
Somehow the Muslim women proudly wear their hijabs everywhere including in professional settings. They make so much fun of our wigs- it's a major joke to them.
if my friend who has been a shaitel macher for almost 20 years can give up her wig than surely a deep thinking and spiritually growing woman can give hers up too!

S1959

Sun, Sep 24 2017, 9:53 am

Some people oppose sheitels because they think sheitels make women beautiful . The Torah lists four women for their beauty. The reason they "researched" this in the first place is because they think married women have to cover their hair to hide their beauty - which is not the reason for covering hair, or else single girls would have to cover their hair.

newme

Sun, Sep 24 2017, 9:56 am

happysmile... I'm with you - let's give our women the credit they deserve.

grace413

Sun, Sep 24 2017, 10:06 am

happysmile1 wrote:

Somehow the Muslim women proudly wear their hijabs everywhere including in professional settings. They make so much fun of our wigs- it's a major joke to them.
I

Totally not interested in what Muslim women think or do.

happysmile1

Sun, Sep 24 2017, 10:08 am

We are NOT taking this seriously enough and to imply that the Rabbanim who signed this letter have an agenda is so wrong. Many Rabbanim have been saying for a while that many of the wigs aren't modest.
These Rabbanim (who are dayanim!) are saying there is avoda Zora in our wigs and they are forbidden. They mentioned the modesty issue too because as Rabbanim how could they not mention something that is so glaring and wrong. But their point and focus was the fact that the hechshers are not at all reliable.
Would everyone be so quick to dismiss this if Rabbanim came out saying that the hechsher on a certain meat wasn't reliable??? Of course not! No one would touch the meat until it was declared either trief or definitely kosher. Rav Hoffman wrote that the matter has to be looked in to again and that American Rabbanim need to address it again. Until than we should be stringent the same way we would be with any halachic area- avoda Zora is one of the three cardinal sins!

CDL

Sun, Sep 24 2017, 10:17 am

Happysmile1 it seems like you have an agenda against sheitels, regardless of the Indian hair. I think if it's the Indian hair we are worried about, we should stick to that aspect of sheitels and not any other. It's diluting the issue, not helping.
Many of us who wear sheitels really are unconcerned with what Muslim women do, with hair that has lice in it (they die and fall out), or with the ego of Indian women being worn on our heads, etc.

causemommysaid

Sun, Sep 24 2017, 10:20 am

I honestly dont care who says what.

I'm wearing my shaitel.

Its either that or I stop covering. I refuse to go to work in a tichel.

5mom

Sun, Sep 24 2017, 10:24 am

causemommysaid wrote:

I honestly dont care who says what.

I'm wearing my shaitel.

Its either that or I stop covering. I refuse to go to work in a tichel.

But if it turned out that your human hair wig really was part of an idolatry ritual (I stress the if, I don't know the facts here) you wouldn't go synthetic?

Chloe

Sun, Sep 24 2017, 10:25 am

marina wrote:

If you can buy a church and make it into a shul, I don't understand why you can't buy Indian hair and make it into a sheitel.

It's a global economy now. Are we now going to bar everyone from buying used laptops from Indians because maybe they used their computers to write religious messages?

Also, I don't understand why avodah zara is treated as some sort of evil by the poskim. It's just a misguided and inaccurate belief system like many others. Who cares what silly pagans do? If an atheist book was recycled into a chumash, would anyone bat an eye?

I was thinking this. The hair is so processed, you can't even tell it's origin.

causemommysaid

Sun, Sep 24 2017, 10:26 am

imasinger wrote:

If this is not meant as a joke, it's really sad.

And if it is meant as a joke, it's also sad.

Sad to think that "most frum women" engage in avoda zara of worshipping their looks.

Sad to think that those in India who sacrifice their hair are stronger in faith than those frum women who are unable to sacrifice their looks.

Luckily, I don't believe either of those things.

If there is a way to resolve the issue, the poskim will find it.

If not, people will adjust to the new norm.

I dont think its sad. I think its very normal that women care about their looks.

Look around the communities. Women care and have always cared.

I guarantee that women will not be giving up their wigs. Myself included. No one is adjusting.

causemommysaid

Sun, Sep 24 2017, 10:29 am

5mom wrote:

But if it turned out that your human hair wig really was part of an idolatry ritual (I stress the if, I don't know the facts here) you wouldn't go synthetic?

Not a chance.

The mitzvah is hard enough. I am not going to wear a shmatta on my head on a regular basis.

5mom

Sun, Sep 24 2017, 10:36 am

causemommysaid wrote:

Not a chance.

The mitzvah is hard enough. I am not going to wear a shmatta on my head on a regular basis.

I've worn my hats and berets in professional settings. It was my signature look. No big deal.

Avoda zara, however, is a big deal.

We're not talking chalav stam here, we're talking about the basis of our religious system.

Now, it may be that this scare is being dreamed up by misogynist rabbis who love nothing more than blaming women for all the ills of this world. I have no idea. But at least in theory, a Jew should recoil in horror at the thought of wearing hair that was sacrificed to an idol.

Ruchel

Sun, Sep 24 2017, 10:37 am

I don't pick up what random rabbis says.
Some say the traditional Pessach dishes are kitniot.
Some say gebrok is assur.
Some say wig is the only way.
Some say wig is assur.

So? I'm me. I follow mine.

causemommysaid

Sun, Sep 24 2017, 10:38 am

5mom wrote:

if shaitels are considered avodah zara I am getting a nice haircut and not covering.

going without a hair covering is absolutely not a basis of our religious system.

a shaitel is the only reason I agree to cover and if that gets taken away I am stopping.

Ruchel

Sun, Sep 24 2017, 10:40 am

I have Muslim (mean me, right) acquaintances. NO they don't make fun of wigs. They either get it, or not. Some have started wearing a wig since the events in France, feeling targeted. MANY have issues finding a good job. One that entails being in contact with the client, in a veil? Not happening, even less these days. I hear them speaking at job unemployment agency. Some uncover. Some try to get a bandana accept. Some do wig, yes.

happysmile1

Sun, Sep 24 2017, 10:46 am

Modesty is the PRIMARY reason why married women cover their hair.
I was really confused about this mitzvah so I did a lot of research on the topic.

A major part of the confusion is that women think that as long as their hair is physically covered they are perfectly fulfilling the mitzvah of kisui Rosh. Some women know that there is a vague connection between kisui Rosh and tznius but most are not aware that modesty is the primary purpose of the mitzvah. The reason that the Torah prohibits a married woman to reveal her hair is the following:
אסור גלוי הראש אינו אלא משום פריצות דגברי (תרומת הדשן)
The prohibition of revealing one’s hair is because hair is Pritzus. Since the hair of a married woman is attractive to another man and can cause him to sin, it must be covered. All the Rishonim and Achronim have said that this is the reason that a woman must cover her hair in public. (For many sources on this Divrei Shalom is a great resource.)

Rav Falk writes in his pamphlet Mitzvos Kisui Saaros that "The Torah requires a married women to conceal her hair from the eyes of the public in order to lessen attraction to herself." (page 7)
He continues: "An unmarried maiden may attract attention to herself (within the boundaries of tznius) so that she is sought after and eventually marries (Ta'anis 13a and Kesubos 52b). Similarly, a man may look at a girl and take an interest in her appearance, chein, mannerisms etc. if he is considering her for marriage for himself or someone else. A married woman may, however, neither attract attention to herself (Kesubos 73a Rashi v.s. Sahara. See also Rosh and Ritvo) nor may a man take an interest in the appearance of an eishes ish, as she is unavailable to everyone but her husband.
For this reason the hair of a girl may be seen, whilst the hair of a married woman, which is naturally a major source of attraction to her, must be covered and hidden from the eye of the public. Accordingly, for a married woman to wear a head covering that easily passes as her own hair, defeats the very function of this mitzvah, since a man seeing her can think that he is seeing her own hair and be attracted by it, especially when he does not know who she is and whether she is married or not.

happysmile1

Sun, Sep 24 2017, 10:49 am

Rav Falk continues:
A similar but different reason why just a married woman must cover her hair is based on the verse "stolen waters are sweet" (Mishlei 9:17). Due to this phenomenon there is a special yetzer hora towards a married woman since she is an eishes ish (see Sanhedrin 75a and Avoda Zarah 20a). The mitzvah of kisui sa'aros was given to lessen attraction to such a person and safeguard Kedushas Yisroel. See Oz Vehadar Levusha, page 265 that in numerous places in the Torah hair is highlighted as a major source of attraction. Accordingly, by commanding the married woman to withhold from the public how she looks in her true hair, there is far less danger of a person being drawn to her and Kedushas Yisroel is guaranteed.
A natural looking sheitel is furthermore forbidden because of Maris hoayin (it appears that the person is sinning), as some observers will not be able to discern whether this woman has covered her hair or not." (pages 7-9)

It's very clear that since hair is so attracting to men and it is therefore required to be covered after marriage, the less the head covering resembles hair the better the mitzvah of kisui Rosh is being fulfilled- with the Tichel being the ideal as it doesn't resemble hair at all. If a sheitel looks like hair it beautifies the woman wearing it and that goes against the entire purpose of the mitzvah of kisui Rosh. As it says in Rabbi Falk’s sefer Oz vehadar levusha: “Hair was given the status of ervah by Chazal because when part of a female that should be covered is uncovered it can affect a man who sees it and cause him to feel attracted to it.” (page 228)

In a powerful shiur given by Reb Kalmanovich, she explains how in a scientific study that was done on men to see what were the most attracting features of a woman, a woman’s hair and voice were the most attracting. It doesn't matter if it's your hair or someone else's hair- if it attracts other men, it's defeating the purpose of the mitzvah. While a shorter wig might appear more modest, many times it's not just the length of the wig that's problematic. It's the natural appearance of the wig that is the issue, and most of today's wigs are natural looking, closely resembling real hair.

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