[Avodah] Can a woman wear a wig if her mother did not?
Prof. Levine
llevine at stevens.edu
Wed Jul 6 07:06:49 PDT 2011
From http://tinyurl.com/3prdne8
The question arose about a young woman who was getting married, whose
mother did not wear a wig. She wished to know that if she changed
from her family custom of wearing head coverings (scarves and hats)
and would start wearing a Peah Nochrith (wig), was there (a) a
problem with this and (b) was she required to do Hattarath Nedarim
(an annulment of vows) since this was something that was long
accepted in her home and considered a vow?
This very matter was dealt with in Dibrei Yasib (Divrei Yatsiv) , by
one of the more recent Hassidic masters, Rabbi Yekutiel Yehuda
Halberstam, Grand Rabbi of Sanz-Klauzenberg, who passed away in '94.
Citing many sources he states that Hattarath Nedarim only works for
something that is totally permitted where one, nevertheless, took
upon oneself to keep away from it. But in a matter where there is a
difference of opinion amongst the Hakhamim, where some forbid it but
others permit it, Hattarath Nedarim is to no avail. He adds that many
of the greatest Rabbis have forbidden wearing wigs. He quotes the
Dibrei Hayim (Divrei Chaim) who states that the majority of the later
deciders of Jewish law (Aharonim) forbid it. He quotes the Ran and
the Ritba who say that even wearing silk that resembles hair is
forbidden. He brings other opinions, including the Hatham Sofer, who
forbid women wearing wigs outright.
He added that his hope was that the woman in question would
understand the severity of the matter and keep away from wearing
wigs. He states that it could be that the matter of making a vow was
even more serious than the prohibition of wearing a wig. This means
that in addition to the fact that many prohibit the leniency of
wearing a wig, those whose family did not wear wigs should not take
on the custom for the additional reason of Nedarim (vows).
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/attachments/20110706/7e6ed71f/attachment.htm>
More information about the Avodah
mailing list