Letter about sheitels

This letter should be read by every Rav and Rebbetzin!

The article fails to address a reality that has been studied and documented in both a secular and religious context. For most men today, a woman’s hairstyle (whether real hair or a sheitel) is not a primary factor in triggering inappropriate thoughts. That is not mean deny the fact that from a torah perspective, it is a significant tzinius concern. However, the large percentage of men cite to overly-revealing and form fitting clothing and a woman’s overall demeanor, as the most relevant factors in attracting attention. That MAY be a factor in why there is less attention to hairstyles in sheitels and why even frum women often use overly-styled sheitels as an allowable form of expressing their individuality.

GadolH: That’s a very poor excuse.

Gadol…. Lets find an excuse why woman do it …

Hair is one of the most beautifying aspects of a woman, wigs and extensions are considered beauty and fashion accessories and are a billion-dollar industry for a reason. A married woman was commanded to cover and conceal her hair after marriage precisely because hair is so beautifying, this beauty is meant for her husband only- not for other men. The sin of man looking at a married woman is very great, and her head covering is supposed to create a barrier between her and other men, to prevent men from noticing her and having any thoughts. The wigs today do the complete OPPOSITE of the reason for the commandment of hair covering (which is not a chok), they beautify the married woman causing her to look more attractive to men. We have just become so desensitized to this major issue, because wigs have gotten more and more natural looking and beautifying slowly over time and we are just so used to seeing frum married women with gorgeous “hair” everywhere we go. Wigs have become a major money-making industry in the frum world too, and there are ads for wigs in every frum publication and women are obsessed with their wigs (which makes sense as wigs are a major item of vanity and women love how they are transformed in their sheitels- one of the biggest yetzer horas today for woman).
For centuries Jewish married woman wore cloth head coverings which is the real mesorah, wigs started to be worn by Jewish women about 200 years ago as breach from this mesorah (wigs were allowed by some Rabbanim to save the mitzvah of kisui rosh because Jewish women started walking around bareheaded due to the haskala movement). Before that wigs were only worn in the house, even the “peah nachris” mentioned in the Gemara was referring to a piece of hair that women would add to their own hair to better their appearance for their husbands in the home. Many Gedolim asured the wigs at that time (and those were stiff, short and ugly wigs), but the wigs took off. And here we are today, the same frum sheitel companies that are selling wigs to Hollywood actresses and celebrities (wigs are all the rage in Hollywood right now) for glamour and pritzus, are selling wigs to Jewish women for “modesty”.
Do people really not see the glaring hypocrisy and sheker of the modern wigs?

The issue isn’t so much as to avoid things that trigger men, wearing a sheitel shows that a woman is married. I was out with a married woman who was wearing a lace sheitel. A man started up with her. When she told him she was married, he yelled at her for wearing such a sheitel!!.

Also, a man came into the office to ask the manager how he could inform the secretary that she forgot to put her sheitel on! This is a true story!!
Besides the fact that the prices for these sheitels are upwards to $10,000!!

You cannot control others you can only control yourself. People will do whatever they want the more you control them the more they will seek to find outlets to express themselves elsewhere.

With regard to hair covering, hirhur is, at best, a secondary consideration. If hirur from uncovered female hair were the main issue, then all women, 12 years and up, would be required to cover their hair as do Moslems for exactly that reason. The issue with a married woman going with uncovered hair is pritzus. Such a woman is falsely indicating that she is mutar l’shuk when, in fact, she is an eishes ish. Over the years other simanimm, wedding rings etc., have developed to indicate a woman’s marital status and uncovered hair is no longer positive siman of unmarried status. Nevertheless, it is a minhag kadosh for observant Jewish women to cover their hair but it, apparently, no longer matters what it’s covered with. Covering her hair with someone else’s hair seems to be sufficient.