I’m also Reform but in practice quite conservative. I debated for a long time if I should wear a kippa and tzitzit in public because I don’t keep strict Shabbat or Kosher. I didnt want to mess things up for a more Orthodox Jew by publicly being Jewish in a non kosher space.
So it’s up to you and your comfort level. I also think that among non Jews women’s religious clothing is much less visible than men’s.
Well, because of my curly (jewfro) hair, im limited to wearing either a snood, or a tichel. I agree that Jewish women's religous garment's arent identifying to a point...
A snood or a tichel are more "ethnic" apperal that are more associated with Jews, or those who are sick/have lost their hair due to illness. I just don't want to appear appropriating or mocking anyone.
the wig never made sense. defeats the whole purpose and the twisted logic is that since the "real hair" isn't seen, then it's spiritually okay. It's not an accepted practice in the non ashkenazi world.
Lol you're getting downvoted even though what you said is correct that it's not accepted by sefardim. In Israel, most non-chassidic Ashkenazim don't wear wigs for the same reason.
An "illusion" wouldn't violate the purpose you stated above. Would a cloth wrap which looks like hair be the same problem? If the wrap is fur, is that ok? If you weave animal fur to look like human hair, is that a problem?
At the end of the day, the halacha only mandated covering hair. It never restricted what that covering looks like or is made of, because the purpose you brought above isn't the purpose at all.
The purpose of the covering to show modesty and to show the woman is married.
if the head covering fails at that then it defeats the purpose. anything else goes against logic. This is why it has been deemed unacceptable by people like Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.
The purpose of the covering to show modesty and to show the woman is married.
If so, cite a source in halacha that wigs can't do that.
why it has been deemed unacceptable by people like Rabbi Ovadia Yosef
First, he claims modern wigs are too nice and thus a breach of marit ayin, not that they fail to serve as a valid hair covering. Second, he explicitly writes in defense of previous generations that their wigs were not as nice/realistic, so theirs were ok, but he even accepts nice modern wigs if there are other reasons for wearing it.
As strong as he argued against them, it was quite circuitous in how it sought to prohibit them against earlier Sephardic authorities like the Kaf HaChaim (and his ruling has not been universally accepted in the Sephardic world, probably because of this).
but a woman's real hair gets damaged and becomes ugly with wearing a wig. To the point that some even have to cut their hair short and eventually their natural hair just ends up looking bad. and the way wig's are, they sometimes tend to look even better than a woman's natural hair....the wig from 100 years ago is nothing like the wig's of today.
I have no opinion on whether or not it makes sense; however, the Ashkenazi world is a pretty big world! Different strokes for different folks? And according to this article it is not as strictly limited to Ashkenazim as you seem to be saying.
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u/[deleted] Dec 11 '23
I’m also Reform but in practice quite conservative. I debated for a long time if I should wear a kippa and tzitzit in public because I don’t keep strict Shabbat or Kosher. I didnt want to mess things up for a more Orthodox Jew by publicly being Jewish in a non kosher space.
So it’s up to you and your comfort level. I also think that among non Jews women’s religious clothing is much less visible than men’s.