Oy vey. As I understand it, Chabad women wear wigs specifically because the Lubavitcher Rebbe said they should, because you will not be tempted to push your wig back a little to show some hair. Chabad is doing so much for the Jewish People. Thank you to all the Chabad soldiers out there who live and breathe avodas Hash-m and ahavas Yisrael.
2. Editor
8/02/2021
It's a good question. There are many stories of people who in various ways were taken to Heaven and the Lubavitcher Rebbe zt"l told them to scream to the public that in no way did he permit these wigs and they are desecrating his memory wearing such wigs "because he said so."
Here is an example – A quote from the Rebbe Likkutei Sichos, vol. 13, p. 188: "When a Jewish woman walks in the street without a hair covering, there is not a discernible difference between her and others. However, when she wears a wig, one can tell that here is a Jewish religious woman."
These fabulous real hair wigs did not exist in the Rebbe's time. Clearly the Rebbe cares that the woman can be discerned as being Jewish and covering her hair with a wig. Does it make sense that the Rebbe would also permit a wig that specifically HIDES that she is a religious Jewish woman because you can't tell that it's a wig? A wig that many women use to hide their Jewishness? One rule about heters (leniencies in Jewish law) – if all the conditions in which the heter was given are not the same, the heter cannot be used. So clearly this ruling to wear a wig no longer applies to real hair wigs, and only applies to a wig that it is CLEAR that the woman is wearing one.
Similar story to many places where the Rebbe insists that it is better to wear a wig lest the woman TAKE OFF THE SCARF ALTOGETHER. That is the reality he dealt with then – but it doesn't apply to the average religious woman today.
I've never heard a story about it, but I can only imagine that Rabbi Moshe Feinstein zt"l is probably screaming the same thing in Heaven about his supposed "heter" to show 2 tefachim of hair which is again a gross mis-appropriation of a specific heter that suddenly has been taken to become a blanket permission to do something absolutely forbidden (such as wear a scarf but position it as to show just a little hair in front). Again, read it for yourself! The Torah forbids showing more than 2 tefachim (about 2 fingers) and the Rabbis forbid less than that. To display just a bit of hair is to flaunt the Rabbanical prohibition without a specific heter. You might as well be prepared to eat less than a kezayit of pork (about 2 bites) because that's also forbidden "ONLY" by the Rabbis!
Ultimately the key is this – each person has to learn the halacha and the truth for himself.
However, we don't JUDGE anyone else. Their judgement in Heaven is not my business!
It's impossible to point such an accusing finger at a Chabad Rebbetzin who thinks she's following her Rebbe and hardly sleeps in order to bring Jews back to Torah while raising her own family. Can you and I judge if Chabad is holding up the Geula more or less than some other group? Perhaps the outreach outweighs everything?
I just wrote Is Mashiach Still Coming This Year? discussing the huge mistake in "we want Mashiach now" and surely we can say that these real hair wigs are immodest and there is no good reason to assume that the Rebbe would permit these wigs under the circumstances of his already religious followers today. Such reasoning might very well apply to women they teach who are just becoming religious, for whom a SYNTHETIC wig is clearly seen as preferable to nothing, especially since the wig enables them to do the mitzvah while still feeling a bit "normal" and such a woman indeed might just take the scarf off in public in the right circumstances. This is TRUTH. But we stop there and leave the JUDGEMENT "they are holding up the whole thing" – that we leave to Hashem. Who are we to know how all their merits and sins are weighed?
I say all this as someone who myself specifically showed a bit of hair in front of my scarf, had a real hair custom wig with an adjustable part designed to look like scalp with the same zig-zag part my friends knew me for, wore Lycra and shells and skirts barely to the knees and see through skin colored stocking and the whole shebang. I myself know how hard it is to learn the truth when everyone else is doing it and saying its fine. And I also know how much I truly wanted to serve Hashem, and thought I was, while dressing that way. Surely, they all feel that way too!
So, the key is – Know the truth and despise the action while LOVING THE JEW. Recognizing that this is a Jew led astray by others. Pray for them to learn the truth too and not judge them because Hashem judges a person against himself – not against a specific standard in a way that's impossible for us to do because we lack all the information about where this person came from, their childhood, their past lives, etc.
This is part of why it's SO important to pray for Ahavat Yisrael – otherwise, everything we learn and achieve becomes something else to be arrogant about. ("Now I am so modest and they aren't!" for example). We must both recognize the sin for what it is, while recognizing that the world is in terrible darkness right now and this unfortunate Jew is simply trapped in it. Focus on the neshama that still burns somewhere in there, love that GOOD, love the fact that every Jew deep down wants to do good and be good, and pray for the person! You must hold both sides at the same time.
3. Rachel Avrahami
8/01/2021
It's a good question. There are many stories of people who in various ways were taken to Heaven and the Lubavitcher Rebbe zt"l told them to scream to the public that in no way did he permit these wigs and they are desecrating his memory wearing such wigs "because he said so."
I've never heard a story about it, but I can only imagine that Rabbi Moshe Feinstein zt"l is probably screaming the same thing in Heaven about his supposed "heter" to show 2 tefachim of hair which is again a gross mis-appropriation of a specific heter that suddenly has been taken to become a blanket permission to do something absolutely forbidden (such as wear a scarf but position it as to show just a little hair in front). Again, read it for yourself! The Torah forbids showing more than 2 tefachim (about 2 fingers) and the Rabbis forbid less than that. To display just a bit of hair is to flaunt the Rabbanical prohibition without a specific heter. You might as well be prepared to eat less than a kezayit of pork (about 2 bites) because that's also forbidden "ONLY" by the Rabbis!
Ultimately the key is this – each person has to learn the halacha and the truth for himself.
However, we don't JUDGE anyone else. Their judgement in Heaven is not my business! It's impossible to point such a finger at a Chabad Rebbetzin who thinks she's following her Rebbe and hardly sleeps in order to bring Jews back to Torah while raising her own family. Can you and I just if Chabad is holding up the Geula more or less than some other group? I just wrote an article Is Mashiach Still Coming This Year? discussing the huge mistake in "we want Mashiach now" and surely we can say that they shouldn't be wearing wigs. This is TRUTH. But we stop there and leave the JUDGEMENT "they are holding up the whole thing" – that we leave to Hashem. Who are we to know how all their merits and sins are weighed???
I say all this as someone who myself specifically showed a bit of hair in front of my scarf, had a real hair custom wig with an adjustable part designed to look like scalp with the same zig-zag part my friends knew me for, wore Lycra and shells and skirts barely to the knees and see through skin colored stocking and the whole shebang. I myself know how hard it is to learn the truth when everyone else is doing it and saying its fine. And I also know how much I truly wanted to serve Hashem, and thought I was, while dressing that way. Surely they all feel that way too!
So the key is – Know the truth and despise the action while LOVING THE JEW. Recognizing that this is a Jew led astray by others. Pray for them to learn the truth too and not judge them because Hashem judges a person against himself – not against a specific standard in a way that's impossible for us to do because we lack all the information about where this person came from, their childhood, their past lives, etc.
This is part of why it's SO important to pray for Ahavat Yisrael – otherwise, everything we learn and achieve becomes something else to be arrogant about. ("Now I am so modest and they aren't!" for example). We must both recognize the sin for what it is, while recognizing that the world is in terrible darkness right now and this unfortunate Jew is simply trapped in it. Focus on the neshama that still burns somewhere in there, love that GOOD, love the fact that every Jew deep down wants to do good and be good, and pray for the person! You must hold both sides at the same time.
4. Yossi
7/30/2021
Chabad women almost universally wear wigs. So, the people who daily sing "we want moshiach now" are the ones holding it all up?
11/13/2022
Oy vey. As I understand it, Chabad women wear wigs specifically because the Lubavitcher Rebbe said they should, because you will not be tempted to push your wig back a little to show some hair. Chabad is doing so much for the Jewish People. Thank you to all the Chabad soldiers out there who live and breathe avodas Hash-m and ahavas Yisrael.
8/02/2021
It's a good question. There are many stories of people who in various ways were taken to Heaven and the Lubavitcher Rebbe zt"l told them to scream to the public that in no way did he permit these wigs and they are desecrating his memory wearing such wigs "because he said so."
Here is an example – A quote from the Rebbe Likkutei Sichos, vol. 13, p. 188: "When a Jewish woman walks in the street without a hair covering, there is not a discernible difference between her and others. However, when she wears a wig, one can tell that here is a Jewish religious woman."
These fabulous real hair wigs did not exist in the Rebbe's time. Clearly the Rebbe cares that the woman can be discerned as being Jewish and covering her hair with a wig. Does it make sense that the Rebbe would also permit a wig that specifically HIDES that she is a religious Jewish woman because you can't tell that it's a wig? A wig that many women use to hide their Jewishness? One rule about heters (leniencies in Jewish law) – if all the conditions in which the heter was given are not the same, the heter cannot be used. So clearly this ruling to wear a wig no longer applies to real hair wigs, and only applies to a wig that it is CLEAR that the woman is wearing one.
Similar story to many places where the Rebbe insists that it is better to wear a wig lest the woman TAKE OFF THE SCARF ALTOGETHER. That is the reality he dealt with then – but it doesn't apply to the average religious woman today.
I've never heard a story about it, but I can only imagine that Rabbi Moshe Feinstein zt"l is probably screaming the same thing in Heaven about his supposed "heter" to show 2 tefachim of hair which is again a gross mis-appropriation of a specific heter that suddenly has been taken to become a blanket permission to do something absolutely forbidden (such as wear a scarf but position it as to show just a little hair in front). Again, read it for yourself! The Torah forbids showing more than 2 tefachim (about 2 fingers) and the Rabbis forbid less than that. To display just a bit of hair is to flaunt the Rabbanical prohibition without a specific heter. You might as well be prepared to eat less than a kezayit of pork (about 2 bites) because that's also forbidden "ONLY" by the Rabbis!
Ultimately the key is this – each person has to learn the halacha and the truth for himself.
However, we don't JUDGE anyone else. Their judgement in Heaven is not my business!
It's impossible to point such an accusing finger at a Chabad Rebbetzin who thinks she's following her Rebbe and hardly sleeps in order to bring Jews back to Torah while raising her own family. Can you and I judge if Chabad is holding up the Geula more or less than some other group? Perhaps the outreach outweighs everything?
I just wrote Is Mashiach Still Coming This Year? discussing the huge mistake in "we want Mashiach now" and surely we can say that these real hair wigs are immodest and there is no good reason to assume that the Rebbe would permit these wigs under the circumstances of his already religious followers today. Such reasoning might very well apply to women they teach who are just becoming religious, for whom a SYNTHETIC wig is clearly seen as preferable to nothing, especially since the wig enables them to do the mitzvah while still feeling a bit "normal" and such a woman indeed might just take the scarf off in public in the right circumstances. This is TRUTH. But we stop there and leave the JUDGEMENT "they are holding up the whole thing" – that we leave to Hashem. Who are we to know how all their merits and sins are weighed?
I say all this as someone who myself specifically showed a bit of hair in front of my scarf, had a real hair custom wig with an adjustable part designed to look like scalp with the same zig-zag part my friends knew me for, wore Lycra and shells and skirts barely to the knees and see through skin colored stocking and the whole shebang. I myself know how hard it is to learn the truth when everyone else is doing it and saying its fine. And I also know how much I truly wanted to serve Hashem, and thought I was, while dressing that way. Surely, they all feel that way too!
So, the key is – Know the truth and despise the action while LOVING THE JEW. Recognizing that this is a Jew led astray by others. Pray for them to learn the truth too and not judge them because Hashem judges a person against himself – not against a specific standard in a way that's impossible for us to do because we lack all the information about where this person came from, their childhood, their past lives, etc.
This is part of why it's SO important to pray for Ahavat Yisrael – otherwise, everything we learn and achieve becomes something else to be arrogant about. ("Now I am so modest and they aren't!" for example). We must both recognize the sin for what it is, while recognizing that the world is in terrible darkness right now and this unfortunate Jew is simply trapped in it. Focus on the neshama that still burns somewhere in there, love that GOOD, love the fact that every Jew deep down wants to do good and be good, and pray for the person! You must hold both sides at the same time.
8/01/2021
It's a good question. There are many stories of people who in various ways were taken to Heaven and the Lubavitcher Rebbe zt"l told them to scream to the public that in no way did he permit these wigs and they are desecrating his memory wearing such wigs "because he said so."
I've never heard a story about it, but I can only imagine that Rabbi Moshe Feinstein zt"l is probably screaming the same thing in Heaven about his supposed "heter" to show 2 tefachim of hair which is again a gross mis-appropriation of a specific heter that suddenly has been taken to become a blanket permission to do something absolutely forbidden (such as wear a scarf but position it as to show just a little hair in front). Again, read it for yourself! The Torah forbids showing more than 2 tefachim (about 2 fingers) and the Rabbis forbid less than that. To display just a bit of hair is to flaunt the Rabbanical prohibition without a specific heter. You might as well be prepared to eat less than a kezayit of pork (about 2 bites) because that's also forbidden "ONLY" by the Rabbis!
Ultimately the key is this – each person has to learn the halacha and the truth for himself.
However, we don't JUDGE anyone else. Their judgement in Heaven is not my business! It's impossible to point such a finger at a Chabad Rebbetzin who thinks she's following her Rebbe and hardly sleeps in order to bring Jews back to Torah while raising her own family. Can you and I just if Chabad is holding up the Geula more or less than some other group? I just wrote an article Is Mashiach Still Coming This Year? discussing the huge mistake in "we want Mashiach now" and surely we can say that they shouldn't be wearing wigs. This is TRUTH. But we stop there and leave the JUDGEMENT "they are holding up the whole thing" – that we leave to Hashem. Who are we to know how all their merits and sins are weighed???
I say all this as someone who myself specifically showed a bit of hair in front of my scarf, had a real hair custom wig with an adjustable part designed to look like scalp with the same zig-zag part my friends knew me for, wore Lycra and shells and skirts barely to the knees and see through skin colored stocking and the whole shebang. I myself know how hard it is to learn the truth when everyone else is doing it and saying its fine. And I also know how much I truly wanted to serve Hashem, and thought I was, while dressing that way. Surely they all feel that way too!
So the key is – Know the truth and despise the action while LOVING THE JEW. Recognizing that this is a Jew led astray by others. Pray for them to learn the truth too and not judge them because Hashem judges a person against himself – not against a specific standard in a way that's impossible for us to do because we lack all the information about where this person came from, their childhood, their past lives, etc.
This is part of why it's SO important to pray for Ahavat Yisrael – otherwise, everything we learn and achieve becomes something else to be arrogant about. ("Now I am so modest and they aren't!" for example). We must both recognize the sin for what it is, while recognizing that the world is in terrible darkness right now and this unfortunate Jew is simply trapped in it. Focus on the neshama that still burns somewhere in there, love that GOOD, love the fact that every Jew deep down wants to do good and be good, and pray for the person! You must hold both sides at the same time.
7/30/2021
Chabad women almost universally wear wigs. So, the people who daily sing "we want moshiach now" are the ones holding it all up?