What moved me to write about this issue again (aside from the referenced article) is the way hair covering is treated today in the more right wing segments of the Charedi world. Especially in Israel. I can’t help but notice that young single girls in that world go out of their way to avoid styling their hair. Most Charedi elementary and high school girls tend toward tying their hair up in pony tails or cutting it very short. I assume this is done as some sort of nod the the Sair B’Isha Erva concept even in singlehood – and avoiding any attention from men
But what happens is that once these young women get married, they go through a metamorphosis. The high end custom Shaitels (wigs) of today are so real looking and so attractive, that in many cases you cannot tell they are wigs. I have heard more than once a young married woman say that her real hair never looked that good… and she couldn’t get it to look that way no matter how much she tried.
Which to me seems like the opposite of the intent of what young woman are supposed to look like before and after they are married. Because here is the net result of this phenomenon in the Charedi world. When women are supposed to look good for a potential mate, they are told to pretty much hide their hair and not style it too attractively. But as soon as they get married, and they cover their hair, they start to look stunningly beautiful… never having looked anything like that before they were married.
So in essence they end up being more attractive after they are married than before when they were dating. Doesn’t this turn the intent of hair covering on its head?
I believe that there are some Poskim that have forbidden these kinds of wigs for married women based on the very concerns I have just mentioned. So I understand where they are coming from. But I do not believe that there is any kind of enforcement of it. Besides – I am in favor or people looking their best in public. Since hair covering as Erva has always been such a conundrum, in my view all anyone should be concerned with is the letter of the law in this matter. As long as that is honored, I am in favor of any kind of hair covering one chooses.
What about the inconsistency of how Charedim practice this custom? I suggest that they allow – and perhaps even encourage single women to look their best and style their hair any way they choose. This way when they do get married there won’t be such a shocking change in how they look.
