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“Why do women have to cover their hair with a wig or scarf after getting married?”

Question of the Month in the Context of the Exhibition “The Whole Truth”

Orthodox women do not show their hair in public after their wedding. With a headscarf or a wig – referred to in Yiddish as a sheitel – they signal to their surroundings that they are married and that they comply with traditional notions of propriety.

Three pink post-it papers with questions like: “Do Jewish Women cover their hair?” and a drawing of two heads, one with open long hair, the other one with covered hair.

Questions and commentaries about headscarves in Judaism; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Thomas Valentin Harb

Three pink post-it papers with questions like: “Do Jewish Women cover their hair?” and a drawing of two heads, one with open long hair, the other one with covered hair.

Questions and commentaries about headscarves in Judaism; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Thomas Valentin Harb

The first encounter between Rebekah and Isaac supplied Biblical inspiration for the custom: “Rebekah looked up and saw Isaac. She dismounted from the camel and asked the servant, ‘Who is that man coming towards us across the field?’ The servant replied, ‘That is my master.’ Then she took a veil and covered herself.” (Genesis 24:64ff) Covering the hair became a tradition in the 15th century and has been adhered to in orthodox Judaism ever since.

In the deeply pious Hassidic communities that emerged in Eastern Europe during the 18th century, it was even common for women to cut off all their hair after their wedding and wear a headscarf, called the tichel. Nonetheless, the different strains of orthodoxy gradually varied their interpretation of the custom, from covering the hair entirely after the wedding to only covering some. Today orthodox women cover their hair with a sheitel, scarf, bonnet or beret, or a hairnet.

Regardless of which variant a married woman decides on, she can choose from among many styles. An introduction to binding attractive tichels as well as appealing ways to wear a sheitel can be found on the internet.

These days many women refuse altogether, for the sake of propriety to cover their hair completely.

Miriam Goldmann, Curator for Special Exhibitions

Four young women with hats or other headgear laughing behind a lectern with a microphone.

From left to right, at the June 16 Yeshivat Maharat ordination ceremony in New York: Rabba Sara Hurwitz (dean of Yeshivat Maharat), Maharat Ruth Balinsky Friedman, Maharat Rachel Kohl Finegold, and Maharat Abby Brown Scheier. Photo by Joan Roth with permission of Yeshivat Maharat.

Four young women with hats or other headgear laughing behind a lectern with a microphone.

From left to right, at the June 16 Yeshivat Maharat ordination ceremony in New York: Rabba Sara Hurwitz (dean of Yeshivat Maharat), Maharat Ruth Balinsky Friedman, Maharat Rachel Kohl Finegold, and Maharat Abby Brown Scheier. Photo by Joan Roth with permission of Yeshivat Maharat.

Citation recommendation:

Miriam Goldmann (2014), “Why do women have to cover their hair with a wig or scarf after getting married?”. Question of the Month in the Context of the Exhibition “The Whole Truth”. URL: www.jmberlin.de/en/node/6255

Question of the Month: Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Jews (7)

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  • Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Jews

    Our exhibition The Whole Truth…Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Jews was based on 30 questions posed to the Jewish Museum Berlin or its staff over the past few years. In the exhibition, visitors had their own opportunity to ask questions or to leave comments on post-it notes. Some of these questions are answered here in our website.

  • Post-it note in pink: "Wie hält die Kippa auf dem Kopf? - mit einer Haarspange" (How does a kippah stay on? - with a hair clip))

    How does a kippah stay on?

    Answered by Michal Friedlander, Curator for Judaica and Applied Arts

    Essay 2013

  • Pink post-it papers with questions regarding Jewish women covering their hair.

    Why do women have to cover their hair with a wig or scarf after getting married?

    Answered by Miriam Goldmann, Curator of the Exhibition The Whole Truth

    Essay 2014

  • Post-it note on the wall of the exhibition “The Whole Truth”

    Do Jews have their own language?

    Answered by Martina Lüdicke, Curator of the Exhibition The Whole Truth

    Essay 2013

  • A pink post-it note labeled “Why do some Jews rock back and forth when they pray?”

    Why do some Jews rock back and forth while they pray?

    Answered by Miriam Goldmann, Curator of the Exhibition The Whole Truth

    Essay 2013

  • Post-it note: “What role do gender themes play? What’s the story with women rabbis? (And prayer at the Western Wall?)”

    What role do gender themes play? What’s the story with women rabbis?

    Answered by Anina Falasca, Curator of the Exhibition The Whole Truth

    Essay 2013

  • Post-it on the wall in the exhibition.

    Are there gay Jews?

    Answered by Anina Falasca, Miriam Goldmann, Martina Lüdicke, Curators of the Exhibition The Whole Truth

    Interview 2013

  • A bust of Goethe and books in the museum.

    “Was Goethe a Jew too?”

    Answered by Berhard Jensen, Library

    Essay 2014

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