Hats or Wigs or None of the Above

Someone recently asked a friend of mine about why some Orthodox Jewish women wear wigs, why others wear hats or kercheifs, and why some don't cover their heads at all.

It's a good question and it depends on your community and your own background, as well as your position on hair covering among the Modern Orthodox (MO). This is based on my own personal experience, having belonged to more Orthodox than Chassidic shuls in the US and Europe. It is also important to realize that there has been a techtonic cultural shift in the last 20 years, when it comes to outward signs of observance. When Blu Greenberg wrote her important book about running a (modern Orthodox) Jewish household, it was not at all unusual for MO women to wear pants and not cover their hair except for Shabbat. The MO community had been colored by the radical societal changes of the 1960's and 70's and women not covering their hair outside of shul was the norm, not the exception. It's important for younger women to remember this bit of history.

As many MO communities and congregations have grown more traditional - if not to say conservative - in their practices, a number of traditions that were best preserved in other more traditional Chassidic or Misnagic/Litvishe communities were re-introduced. So it becomes kind of a generational thing, where you see many younger MO women, who have been brought up and educated in a more traditional environment, covering their hair all the time - although more likely with a hat or scarf -"tichel" - than a sheitel - and a good number of "older" women feeling comfortable with a headcovering - often a hat - just on Shabbat and other holidays. There are some women who cover their hair in any Jewish public or religious context, and some observant women who do not cover their hair ever, at all, which reflects the time in which they grew up, as well as their own personal choice.

Hey, as Jews we are monotheistic, not monolithic!