 |
Hide
& Seek. Jewish Women and
Hair Covering. Edited by Lynne Schreiber. Urim Publications.
Feb 2003. Hard cover, 224 pages.
Hide & Seek is a book by and for women who cover
their hair. In recent years head covering has become the
fashion for Orthodox married women. This is the first book
that gives readers a "peek under the shaitel" and lets you
in on the personal feelings and conflicts of the women who
cover their hair.
Don't look to this book for a scholarly discussion on the
halachic sources of this practice. The halacha is discussed
briefly and there is a short piece on the history of this
observance, but the book is largely anecdotal. It consists
of a series of short chapters, written by different women
(one chapter by a husband), expressing their personal feelings
about head covering. There are women who grew up with it,
baalot tshuva who took it on with all the other mitzvot
and Orthodox women who added this practice to heighten their
level of religious observance.
Some of the stories are heart warming, like the story of
the woman who wore a wig to cover her balding head while
in chemotherapy, and then took on this observance in gratitude
for surviving the illness. Another chapter is based on an
interview with a charedi woman who never considered another
way of life. The chapter "A Day in the Life of a Sheitel
Macher" offers a unique insight into a very private
profession. Some women admit that covering was a convenient
solution to bad hair. Hair was never their best feature
and covering it took the issue off the table.
Though all of the women cover their heads, for most of them,
this practice has exacted a toll.
- The bride is proud to announce her new status to the world
by covering her head, but after some time she finds herself
at war with her hat.
- A woman realizes that marriage has cost her identity.
In one day she lost her name and her signature hairstyle.
- Another woman bemoans the fact that she will always be
denied the invigorating walk on the beach with the wind
in her hair.
- And here's one you may not have considered; a woman writes
that not wanting to be caught uncovered, when a guest in
someone's house, she puts on a hat to use the bathroom in
the middle of the night.
- A professional woman writes that in her hat she was stereotyped
and it interfered with her professional status.
- A widow writes that she must continue to cover her head,
even though it undermines her efforts to attract another
husband.
- Then there is the woman who finally turns to her rebbitizin
in desperation, and is advised to stop, cover only on Shabbat
and add days one at a time. It is months before she can
finally say that she is comfortable covering her head.
This book is not about whether to cover or not to cover.
Covering is understood. Although there are sacrifices, like
all mitzvot the benefits far outweigh the costs. For some
women head covering is her admission ticket into a community.
For some women hair becomes an intimate item to be shared
only with her husband. |
|
The
great conflict in this book is whether to cover with a scarf,
a hat, a wig or all of these. Many criticize the wig solution,
which covers your own hair with someone else's attractively
coifed locks. This tough position is defended in a captivating
chapter on the Lubavitch approach to head covering. The
Lubavitcher Rebbe held that not a single strand of a married
woman's own hair should be seen. An elegant wig serves two
purposes: it covers the whole head, thus fulfilling the
mitzvah, while it enhances the woman's appearance. Since
it is an aesthetic improvement women gladly accepted the
practice.
Does this attitude patronize women? Does the rabbi believe
that women prioritize their appearance above their observance
of halacha? These are some of the things that you will consider
in this thought-provoking book.
Hide & Seek should be required reading for every
observant bride and any woman considering taking on this
practice. Women who cover their heads will empathize with
these articles and find sisterly compassion in these pages.
This is a fast and easy read and a book that you will not
be able to put down, whether you cover or not.
Visit the Urim Publications website:
www.urimpublications.com
|
|
