I cover my hair for religious reasons. According to Jewish Law, a married woman is supposed to have her hair covered. There are all sorts of ways to do it and rabbinic opinions as to how. And like with many of our Laws and customs, there are those who are convinced that it's a Law to be ignored. In this picture I'm wearing a very simple flowered scarf. I've had that scarf for twenty years. It's rare for a hat to stay "stylish" and wearable for so many years.
The purple scarf on the dummy in the upper picture can be wrapped like this white one.
Simple soft hats can also be dressy and easy to pack. I really like the mitzvah of covering my hair. It definitely is in the running to be my favorite of all mitzvot, G-d given commandments.
With a simple change in hair-covering, we can totally change our looks. It's a lot healthier than hair dye.
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| Here I am with my friend Sharon Katz, after one of her performances. |
For those who'd like to try scarves but "doesn't know how," there are some great instructionals on youtube. Some are for Jewish Women, some for Muslim women and others for women who have lost their hair due to illness and chemo treatments.
No doubt that there's nothing more exotic or glamorous that a turban, and you don't even have to be Jewish.
good tutorials. i have more hats and scarves than space to store them all currently! it's a problem :) but probably the total of most of them doesn't even add up to the price of a sheitel.
ReplyDeleteYou can get much better soft hats in Israel than you can here, in Galut. I love the hat you are wearing in that third photo, the one with tan and black. I was trying to convince a shopkeeper to get some Israeli soft hats (and get ones in colors - argh on the all black). I'll have to bring in the two I own to show her. I went to a hat shop in Tsfat on my last trip to Israel. I could have bought the whole store.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, I am not accustomed to wearing hats. When I lived in Israel I wore tichels/mitpachot, but now, in galut, I wear a (gasp!) sheitel, because (ok, WRONG reason) it makes me feel and look younger.
ReplyDeleteSarah, no doubt your're right. I'd need a room for hats if I had hard ones instead of scarves and soft ones.
ReplyDeleteLeora, even when the Israeli companies export to the states they don't send the soft comfy ones. There are so many fantastic hat stores here.
LL, I feel younger in a scarf and get recognized by people who knew me decades ago.
Bayta your blog was wonderful. Many moons ago, living in Canada, sheitals [wigs] were the most common way to cover your hair. I would wear a teichel for going to work, but otherwise..on went the sheitel. Only when we made aliyah did I change the sheitel for a hat or teichel.
ReplyDeleteI will tell you a funny story about a sheitel... It was picture day in our school. One of the pre school teachers always wore a very short sheitel, but for this day she wore a gorgeous long sheitel. When she walked into the classroom one of her little 4 year old girls said Mrs K....how did you grow your hair so long overnight, is it magic? That was the last time she changed her sheitel style in school.
Miriam, thanks
ReplyDeleteHair-covering is much more creative and flexible here. I love it.
I use the methods in the first video, but I never knew how to tie a long rectangle scarf. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYosefa, learning to tie them differently is like getting new hats for free.
ReplyDelete