[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