עברית
Faith
Why Do Women Wear Wigs That Appear Attractive?
Question
Why do religious women wear head coverings? It is to cover the hair so that they do not attract attention from others and so that people do not look at them. So why are there women who wear wigs (which are made of hair), since it comes to the same thing? There are people who do not distinguish between a woman with a wig and a woman without one.
Answer
Hello,
The opinion of most poskim was that there is no permission to wear a wig, precisely because of the concern you raised. However, there were several Ashkenazi poskim who permitted going out with a wig, and they had proofs from the Talmud. They even explained that the ervah (nakedness) present in a married woman's hair is only when the hair is seen combined with the skin color between the hairs. But in the hair of a wig where there is no skin between the hairs, it is not considered ervah at all. [If you are interested in the sources, I can provide them to you.]
Nowadays, a new loophole has emerged with a type of wigs where the space between the hairs is painted white, similar to the color of skin. Indeed, such a wig is forbidden according to all poskim.
Good luck, Menashe Yisrael
