Wigs Are Permitted - part I

Note: Unlike other posts on this blog, this is intended halacha lemaaseh.

I have written an 18 page article showing that on a Biblical level, and also on a dat yehudit level, wigs are permitted, but I am debating whether post it just yet, or first to look for a more formal venue in which to publish it. I am not publishing it in this post.

Regardless of the fact that I have semicha and have spent more than 100 hours learning through sugyot relevant to this topic, some people will not listen to the possibility, preferring their own appeals to authority. Therefore, in this post I will appeal to an authority myself, though he takes a different approach to permitting wigs. I am referring to Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt"l. Perhaps one can kvetch out of what I am about to derive from Igros Moshe, but I do not believe that this is a valid kvetch.

One of the Rabbanim who forbid wigs, who says that nobody can possibly find that authorities who permitted wigs were talking about modern wigs, is Rav Shmuel Aurbach. His father, Rav Shlomo Zalman Aurbach, zt"l, said of Rav Moshe Feinstein ""Who am I to eulogize him? I studied his sefarim; I was his talmid (student).""

Firstly, what these Rabbanim said, or what was said in their respective names. I don't know whether to trust it, because it all depends on who authored the exact words of the statement and what types of facts were presented to them by handlers. Regardless, here is the announcement (hat tip: towncrier, where I believe I saw this a while back):

Excerpted from YNet:

Citing decisions in Jewish law that forbid the wearing of wigs that look like hair, by among others, Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach, Rabbi Shalom Elyashiv, and Rabbi Nissim Karelitz, three of the most important ultra-Orthodox authorities on Jewish law.

“Modern wigs are forbidden according to the Torah since they are just as much a breach of the law as hair, if not more,” according to the announcement. “Unfortunately, such breaches are rampant among the ultra-Orthodox, and everyone has an obligation to put out the burning flame and to make haste to remove an obstacle, to eradicate this terrible problem of wigs… Every woman well knows in her heart the bitter truth, and how wigs look today, and she is going to be judged for this, and no excuses will avail in the next world.

"Therefore, every woman should make haste to join the thousands of righteous women who have already removed all kinds of wigs and pieces of wig that harm the souls of pure and holy young men and yeshiva students of the Jewish people.”

According to the announcement, while there were a number of authorities in Jewish law who permitted the wearing of wigs for married women, they were referring to the older type of wig. The newer wigs, which look just like real hair, are clearly “forbidden according to the Torah.”

Therefore, “in order to encourage students of Torah to study and to teach the real truth… it has been decided to offer a prize of USD 18,000 to any observant Jew who can show that modern wigs are permitted, and can disprove the aforementioned. And since there are rabbis who still do not know about all this, and who still think that there is permission that can be relied upon, and in order to encourage the students to discuss this with their rabbis, it has been declared that anyone who succeeds in gleaning information from a rabbi who can disprove the aforementioned - as well as the rabbis themselves - will receive a double prize of USD 36,000.

Furthermore, the Institute’s instructions for those who have gone back to wearing an acceptable head covering are to cover the head with a “modest kerchief, and not, Heaven forbid, all kinds of newfangled modern kerchiefs and head coverings that are liable to attract attention because of the evil inclination and to cause the public to sin with accessories that attract the eye.”

This announcement oversteps the usual bounds of halachic pronouncement. Sure, every posek thinks he is correct. And when a Gadol makes a statement like this, many people world-over tend to listen. However, a gadol is not a Sanhedrin, and there is room for different takes by local poskim, and people can listen to their local posek. This seems to not be the case here. The statement effectively says that, in all likelihood, any American pesak that wigs are permitted was referring to old wigs, not modern wigs. Therefore, any modern posek who says that modern wigs are forbidden is saying so in error but furthermore ignorance, such that one should not listen to him but rather encourage him to learn. Thus, they undermine any competing pesak.

They say that modern wigs, since they look like hair and are attractive, are equal to the Biblical prohibition on going out with entirely uncovered hair.

Based on my own research, I believe that a peach nochrit - a wig - is permitted. All this is a side-point, which I will get to if I post a followup with my own thoughts on the matter.

However, looking at the following teshuva in Igros Moshe, Even haEzer II, siman 12, I believe it is clear that Rav Moshe Feinstein did not hold that there was a Biblical prohibition is going out in a modern wig which people think is real hair.

My commentary continues below. Click on any of these pictures to see a zoomed-in view:





Rav Moshe is considering the issue of maris ayin on wigs. The Biblical prohibition is an issur asei, for the Torah made a positive declaration (likely ufara et rosh haIsha) from which we derive a that she must go out with tzniut, covering her hair. But, if a woman goes out wearing a wig, to some people it may look as if she is not covering her hair. This is perhaps a problem of maris ayin.

I must stress this. Rav Moshe considers the potential problem to be one of maris ayin, that people will think that she is violating the issur asei. He does not say that the problem is Biblical, that since people will think it is her actual hair, she is actually violating the issur asei itself, which is what these three Rabbanim are apparently saying.

Rav Moshe concludes that it is not a problem for various reasons. Firstly, people can actually tell. Secondly, even if men cannot tell, women cannot tell. (Indeed, even with the fanciest modern wigs, my wife says she can tell.) And even if even women cannot tell, we don't have to worry for that small eventually. And furthermore, people will assume it is just a really good wig, and not that she is violating. And even in America, where some women do not cover their hair entirely, we need not think she is one of these women. And we will not innovate this prohibition because of maris ayin which is not mentioned by the Gemara or Geonim.

Furthermore, he writes, who says we worry about maris ayin in cases of an issur asei? And furthermore, a prohibition based on maris ayin is taught in the gemara on a case by case basis, but one does not extrapolate across the board.

From all of this, it seems clear that even where it really looks like her actual hair, that even women would not think it was a wig, the only potential problem is maris ayin, and he rules that even that is not a problem. He certainly does not hold that the Biblical prohibition of roshah parua is at stake. And in the '60's, they did have wigs that looked like real hair. It depends on how much money one paid.

One who wants to object to this might point out that he categorizes the biblical law to be to be tzanua and to go out with covered hair, and these Rabbanim would say that modern wigs are not tzanua. This is a problem of taking a subjective judgment, which is subjective both in terms of the beauty of the particular wig, but also subjective on the sociological background of the rabbi passing judgment, and encoding it as comprehensive, systematic law. Regardless, everything about this teshuva states that modern wigs are permitted, and are certainly not just as much a violation of Biblical law as going out with hair entirely uncovered.

These Gedolim are certainly entitled to their opinion. But I am entitled to mine as well. And we have Rav Moshe's teshuva to rely upon, and he is certainly no lightweight.