[Avodah] Re:Sources for Not Covering Hair?

[Meir Shinnar via Avodah]

Date: Mon, 27 Jul 2015 10:10:59 -0400
From: Micha Berger via Avodah <avodah at lists.aishdas.org>
> : ... I would hope that the practice of these women, including the
> : wife of R. Yosef Dov Soloveitchik would be respected, and not regarded
> : as ignorance...
> 
> To do that woud be to disagree with her husband.
> 
> See "Thinking Aloud", pg 113:
...
> There are other such quotes that make it clear that RYBS disagreed with
> his wife's practice, but either didn't fight the issue or didn't win.

WADR, Micha misunderstands the issue. The issue is not whether RYBS agreed
with his wife's practice -- there are sources (albeit most of them from
long after her passing) which would suggest that he may ave disagreed,
and paskened otherwise) -- but that is a different issue of whether he
viewed it as ignorance -- and for sure not out of the pale of halacha.

That is the crux of the issue -- not whether we wish to pasken that this
is muttar for ourselves (or for those who listen to us..) -- but how we
view those who follow a different shitta -- and anyone who suggests that
RYBS viewed his wife as nonobservant or not fully halachically committed
is motsi la'az and needs to go to her kever( you can ask R Seth Mandel
his opinion how the rav would have viewed such a person)

Several related stories:

1) The rav was the posek for a community, who knew that his wife did not
cover her hair. The vast majority of that community, even those close
to the rav, who followed his every word, did not think that he viewed
this as being problematic -- and he had plenty of opportunity to let it
be known....

2) I knew a talmid who was close to the rav in the 70s (shiur many
years, rav was measured kiddushin -- unfortunately niftar early. when
getting married, he told me that he asked the rav all his shailos --
except about head covering for his wife (she did) -- he said that it
was thought problematic to ask him because of the rav's wife

3) Another talmid was once invited, late 70s, to Rav Schwab's shabbes
table. Topic got around to data's torah, and rav schwab said that many
have it wrong -- there is not one da'as torah -- but da'as torah is the
opinion of someone who is wholly torah -- rav kotler is da'as torah, rav
feinstein is da'as torah,the satmar is da'as torah. My friend jumped in
and asked what about RYBS? Rav Schwab was no fan of RYBS, and he hemmed
and hawed and then said that as his wife did not cover her hair, he was
not da'as torah. At that point Mrs. Schwab interjected, but you know
that none of the litvische rebbitzens covered their hair. At which point
R Schwab agreed to that, and then agreed that RYBS was da'as torah.....

That issue about the rav's wife not being unique is important -- it
was a shitta in lita -- even if one the rav may have disagreed with,
it was not one that was hutz lamachane. That is the crux of the issue.

Meir Shinnar