Ruth Seldin writes from White Plains, N.Y.:
“The Hebrew term for a wig, pe’ah nokhrit, strikes me as odd and paradoxical. It is odd because it’s made up of two biblical words, neither of which seems related to a wig: Pe’ah, which refers in the Bible to the hair of the beard or the upper cheeks, and nokhri, ‘foreign’ or characterizing non-Israelites. The paradox is that the Hebrew term implies that a hairpiece is a foreign object, while most of us today think of it as a very Jewish object, commonly worn by extremely Orthodox women. I’d love to know more about the origin of the term and its history — and do you happen to know when Orthodox women took to wearing wigs?”
In answering Ms. Seldin’s question, we have to begin by distinguishing between two English words that she has conflated: “wig” and “hairpiece.” A hairpiece is a shaped cluster of human or artificial hair added to the natural hair of the wearer; a wig entirely covers or takes the place of the wearer’s own hair. And with this in mind, let’s address the subject at hand.
The word pe’ah occurs many times in the Bible, generally with the meaning of “direction,” “side” or “corner.” Its connection to hair is limited to several passages in the books of Leviticus and Jeremiah, in the first in which we find the injunction “Ye shall not round the corners [pe’ot; also translatable as “sides”] of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.” From here comes the age-old Jewish custom of growing beards and the long ear locks known in Hebrew as pe’ot and in Yiddish as peyes. The custom may have arisen in opposition to the ancient Egyptian practice of shaving the chin and cutting hair short or in tonsured form, but in any case, the word pe’ah in Leviticus would seem to refer to the curls, wisps or locks of hair that grow from the sides of the chin or upper jaw.
The term pe’ah nokhrit, on the other hand, is first found in the tractate of Shabbat in the Mishnah, the sixth chapter of which deals with the jewelry and other adornments that may be worn by a woman when stepping out of her house on the Sabbath if she is to observe the laws against carrying objects on the day of rest. A pe’ah nokhrit or “foreign curl” is one of the adornments considered permissible, and there are good reasons for believing that the term denotes a hairpiece rather than a wig.
One reason is that a “foreign curl” (Roman and Roman-influenced women in the period of the Mishnah commonly wore hairpieces to enhance their looks) does not sound like the entire head of hair that constitutes a wig. Another is that ancient rabbinic Hebrew had a separate word for wig, kafletin (from Latin capillitium). This occurs in the Jerusalem Talmud, which rules that a woman who leaves her house with a kafletin does not violate the rabbinic prohibition on being seen in public with her hair uncovered. Presumably, had the rabbis of the Mishnah felt the need to make it clear that wearing a wig on the Sabbath was also not a forbidden form of carrying, they would have used the word kafletin there, too. This would seem to be the opinion of authoritative Mishnaic commentator Ovadia of Bartinoro (1440-1516), who defines the wearer of a pe’ah nokhrit as “a woman without enough of her own hair who takes the hair of other women and puts it on her head as though it were her own.”
Interestingly, the sheytl, which is the wig worn, with talmudic permission, in place of their own hair by many ultra-Orthodox women, started out linguistically as a hairpiece also, because German Scheitel (which is the medieval source of the Yiddish word) denotes the crown or top of the head — ergo, a sheytl was originally an addition fitted atop a woman’s natural hair to make it look more abundant or fancily coifed. It was only in the 16th century, when wigs first started coming into fashion in European society (the trend kept growing stronger until the end of the 18th century), that some Jewish women started wearing them instead of covering their heads with hats or kerchiefs, and sheytl (and with it, pe’ah nokhrit) changed its meaning accordingly. One of our earliest references to the sheytl qua wig is found in the 16th-century code of law the Shulchan Aruch, which cites a rabbinical authority as relying on the Jerusalem Talmud in permitting it.
Subsequently, however, other rabbis challenged the permissibility of the sheytl, with some quite eminent ones coming out against it, and the topic continues to cause lively debate in the ultra-Orthodox community to this day. The arguments against it are not just legalistic ones. As many ultra-Orthodox Jews themselves point out, it is a dubious practice to use a rabbinic law that was meant to lessen women’s sexual allure in public in order to justify expensive wigs that cannot be told apart from real hair and are no less attractive. But being an amateur linguist, not an amateur talmudist or moralist, I will stop here.
Questions for Philologos can be sent to philologos@forward.com.
The Forward welcomes reader comments in order to promote thoughtful discussion on issues of importance to the Jewish community. In the interest of maintaining a civil forum, the Forward requires that all commenters be appropriately respectful toward our writers, other commenters and the subjects of the articles. Vigorous debate and reasoned critique are welcome; name-calling and personal invective are not. While we generally do not seek to edit or actively moderate comments, the Forward reserves the right to remove comments for any reason.
Copyright © 2013, Forward Association, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Cleveland Kidnapping, Elizabeth Smart and Us
Tracing the Jewish Origins of the Holy Ghost
Magen Tzedek, Ethical Kosher Seal, Stalled Amid Orthodox Opposition
Forced Out by Nazis, Grandmother Returns With Family to Germany
Baby Boomers’ Rocky Road to Jewish Love
You've successfully signed up!
Fascinating history, for which thank you. Like the garb of Hassidim, the sheytel is another cultural borrowing that stuck (appealing outfits), and then acquired sanctity. If the Orthodox accepted this cultural process as inherent in life, perhaps they would be more accepting of the accommodations and creative innovations introduced into contemporary Judaism by the non-halakhic branches. I don't hold out much hope for that.
I am writing to inform you that there is No codified Halacha that a married woman must cover her hair totally and constantly whenever she steps out of her house. The Halachah has been MISinterpreted.The true interpretation of the Halachah is as follows:
A married woman is required to cover her hair when she lights the candles to welcome in Shabbat and Yom Tov – lechavod Shabbat ve Yom Tov - and when she goes to the Synagogue, because that is the place of Kedusha. The Halacha does not require anything more from married women.
This misinterpretation of the Torah is completely Assur, and a TWISTING of the Torah.The Torah must remain straight.
In ancient times, a woman would only cover her hair upon entering the Beit Hamikdash.Similarly for the Sotah-otherwise she would not be required to cover her hair ordinarily, day to day.
It is very important for people to know and realise that when a married woman covers her hair with 'Real Hair' the woman is covering herself with 100% Tumah. This is totally against the Torah.
Nothing could be more nonsensical than for a Jewish woman to cover her hair with someone else's hair -who was not Jewish as well!She can never fully be sure that this 'hair' has not come from meitim-despite any guarantee by the seller.This 'real hair' is doubly and in some circumstances, triply Tumah.
1.It will contain the leftover dead hair cells from another person - however much it has been treated, the tumah is still there.
2.This other person (likely to be a non-Jew who most likely was involved in some kind of Avodah Zarah) may have eaten bacon, ham, lobster etc, all of which are totally forbidden as unclean and non-kosher foods in Halacha.
3.If the woman happens to be the wife of a COHEN, then she is bringing her husband into close contact and proximity with meitim and Tumah Every day, and throughout their married life. This is clearly strictly against the Torah.
There is nothing more degrading and demeaning to a woman than to make her cover her hair FOR LIFE upon marriage.It is an abhorrent practice.
Any man who makes such a ridiculous demand on his wife, or wife-to-be, should similarly also be required by his wife to wear: long white stockings, even in the summer; a fur streimel; grow a long beard; wear a black hat and coat constantly, and cover his face when he speaks to his wife.Wigs-“la perruque”- were merely a fashion item in the time of Louis XIV-they are not for the Jewish woman!
Rabbi Menachem Schneeersohn tz”l, was unfortunately wrong in this instance.He gave the directive that a married woman must cover her head with a “sheitel.”This needs to be corrected.Rabbi Schneersohn a"h, was a Tzaddik, – but on this – he was, unfortunately not correct.
It is extremely unhealthy and unhygienic for a woman to cover her hair constantly.The hair needs oxygen to breathe.A woman's hair will lose its natural beauty and shine, she may have scalp problems, some of her hair may fall out, she may get headaches, and she may end up cutting it short like a man, when she always wore it long, in order not to have too much discomfort from her hair covering.
Do you think that HaKadosh Baruch Hu commanded this of women? I can assure you that He did not.The commmandments are not meant to cause so much repression and oppression in women.Was Chava created with a wig? Of course not! Did she start wearing a wig? Of course not!
Not a single “dayan” or “rabbi” has the slightest bit of interest in correcting the situation for the women.Therefore, the women will have to correct the situation for themselves. Whether you wish to accept the correction–which is true–is up to you.Are you going to live by the truth?Are you going to use the spark of intelligence that Hashem gave to you and all women?Or are you going to follow rabbis and dayanim who tell you to wear a wig in a Heat Wave–and you thank them for it as well?
Please Wake Up.
Use the spark of intelligence that Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave to you and blessed you with. And give your wig back to your husband if you wear one.
There is No codified Halacha that a married woman must cover her hair totally and constantly whenever she steps out of her house.
The Halachah has been MISinterpreted.The true interpretation of the Halachah is as follows:
A married woman is required to cover her hair when she lights the candles to welcome in Shabbat and Yom Tov – lechavod Shabbat ve Yom Tov – and when she goes to the Synagogue, because that is the place of Kedusha.
The Halacha does not require anything more from married women.
This misinterpretation of the Torah is completely Assur, and a TWISTING of the Torah.The Torah must remain straight.
1. To all the women who are wondering about the sources:
We have all been created, "Betselem Elokim" - "in the image of Elokim." This means that we have been given something called "intelligence." The source is the very first Parsha, Bereishit - 1:27. It is time that people use the spark of intelligence and Kedusha with which Hashem has blessed them.
If your rabbi will tell you to go and jump into the depths of a glacier, presumably you would do that too – and give me a source for it?
“According to the Zohar”, I should also be covering my hair with a wig when I have a bath. “According to the Zohar and the Gemara” and all the sources that have misinterpreted the Halachah, and MIStranslated the Zohar, I should also have been born with a WIG on my head.
Those who tell me about their sources which are incorrect, should also tell me about these “translations” and these “sources.”
2.Remember that the Jewish women are very, very holy. They are much more holy than the men. Look at the exemplary behaviour of the women at Har Sinai.
The women never sinned at the Eigel, and so are greatly elevated. Many of the men, unfortunately, ran after a calf made out of a lump of gold – after they had just been given the Torah, and seen the greatest of all Revelations. The women refused to give their gold for the avodah zarah of the men.
The women were greatly elevated after such a wonderful display of Emunah, and they are regarded very highly in Shamayim.
That is why women are not even required to pray. They can pray at home on their own. Nor do women have to make up a minyan. That is how holy the Jewish women are. Men have to pray 3 times a day to remind them of their Creator.
The men are telling the women to put the hair of a non-Jewish woman who may have eaten things like snakes and sharks and alligators, and has worshipped in churches, Buddist temples or Hindu temples : on their own Heads. They had better wake up.
If the men don’t want to wake up to the truth, and the true interpretation of the Halacha, the women will wake them up – whether they like it or not.
3. Many righteous women influenced their husbands for the good at the Chet Haeigel and at the time of Korach.
It was these righteous women who succeeded in bringing their husbands back to their senses.
And because of these great women, the lives of their husbands were saved. Those men therefore turned away from the madness of avodah zarah, and the rebellion of Korach against Hashem's choice of Aharon as Cohen HaGadol.
4. Look at the Jewish women in history, and remember how holy they are.
(a) Yaakov, who was the greatest of the Avot, came to marry the 2 daughters of Lavan, Rachel and Leah. Lavan was not exactly a tzaddik. Yaakov went to Lavan, of all people, to marry his 2 daughters – not 1 daughter, but his 2 daughters. Nothing could be greater than that.
(b) Rut, who came from Moav, became the ancestor of David Hamelech.
(c ) Batya, the daughter of Paroh, was given eternal life because she rescued Moshe from the river. No one could have been more evil than Paroh.
(d) Devorah, was a Neviah, and also a Judge.
Women, who came from such adverse backgrounds, with wicked fathers – were able to become builders of Am Yisrael. That is how holy the women are, and how much more elevated they are than the men.
This was never the case with men. It never happened the other way round.
Don't tell me it is holy for me to wear a WIG! Hair over my hair. This is ridiculous!
Similarly, don’t tell me it is holy for me to plonk a permanent head covering on my head for the rest of my life. This is equally vile.
Please Wake Up.
Use the spark of intelligence that Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave to you and blessed you with.
And give your wig back to your husband if you wear one.
5. Remember: Not a single “dayan” or “rabbi” has the slightest bit of interest in correcting the situation for the women. Therefore, the women will have to correct the situation................for ..................themselves.
Whether you wish to accept the correction–which is true–is up to you. Are you going to live by the truth? Are you going to use the spark of intelligence that Hashem gave to you and all women? Or are you going to follow rabbis and dayanim who tell you to wear a wig in a Heat Wave–and you thank them for it as well?
The next things the bloody "rabbis" will come up with is to tell the woman to wear a CARPET on her head. Not a sheitel AND a hat, but a Carpet. Or you could go for 5 shaitels on your heads and a rug.
And do you know what the Jewish woman will say to her husband? "Yes, husband! I am now wearing a carpet on my head!"
You women must either be extremely thick, or petrified.