According to halacha (Jewish religious law), married Jewish women are expected to cover their hair when in the presence of men other than their husband or close family members. Such covering is common practice among Orthodox Jewish women.
Different kinds of head coverings are used, among them the mitpaḥat or tichel (headscarf), shpitzel, snood, hat, beret, fall, bonnet, veil, headscarf, bandana, and sheitel (wig). The most common head coverings in the Haredi community are headscarves in the form of the tichel and snood, though some wear hats, berets or sheitels; the tichel and snood remain the historic and universally accepted rabbinical standard for observant Jewish women.[1] The headscarves can be tied in a number of ways, depending on how casually the wearer is dressed.
Covering the hair is part of the modesty-related dress standard called tzniut.
- ^ Cahn-Lipman, David E. (1991). The Book of Jewish Knowledge: 613 Basic Facts about Judaism. Jason Aronson. p. 146. ISBN 978-0-87668-575-4.
In the late eighteenth century, women began covering their heads with a wig (a sheitel). Ironically, many rabbis opposed this innovation because they saw it as being indecent.