“Who is wise? One who foresees consequences.”
In the following recycled rabbinical proclamation, the signatories complain supposedly “kosher” women’s wigs have been satanically “twisted” into an immodest artifact (imagine that!).
Read and cringe:
So, wigs are fine as a hair-covering for the Jewish woman’s hair, unless the wiggy hair-filled wig “hair-covering” covering the woman’s hair looks like, well, uh, hair. In which case… um, then, something or other.
This doesn’t even make sense on its own terms; what are wigs supposed to look like?! Actually, wigs are not a halachically licit hair-covering, but a hair substitute, as explained well in the pamphlet we republished here.
Saneigor morphing into Kateigor? Nah. Angelology is simple (Avos 4):
רבי אליעזר בן יעקב אומר, העושה מצוה אחת, קונה לו פרקליט אחד. והעובר עברה אחת, קונה לו קטיגור אחד.
Now, there are those who say wigs can be completely hair-like, and still somehow remain permissible (!), such as Rabbi Chaim Greineman. At least he’s being consistent. But — for those who disagree — how blind one needs to be to see technological improvements in everything else under the sun in a global, complex division of labor as inexorable, everything… except wigs!
גדיים שהנחת נעשו תישים בעלי קרנים…!
Of course, this stems from the same contrary-to-reality conviction Jewish women who wear wigs are or ever were actually aiming for modesty and yet mysteriously bamboozled into spending more money on wigs that achieve the opposite of modesty. To think regular people pursuing their own interests are that dumb you probably need to be a socialist who wants the “wise government” to help out.
Quoting the STOOOPIDD proclamation:
וכבר בשנת תשנ”ו כתבו גדולי ישראל כי הפאות החדשות ברובן הגדול אינן לפי דרכי הצניעות, ומאז ועד היום המצב רק הולך ומחמיר יותר ויותר.
So, the rabbis admittedly misunderstood human nature, and even the proclamation here and now, still doesn’t forbid wigs as such — but we should continue reading what they say on this matter?!
Then, after it says, קבלו על עצמן בהסכמת בעליהן שלא לצאת בפאה כלל אלא רק בכיסוי מבד, וחלילה להרפות ידי המתחזקים בזה, ואדרבה לעת כזאת אשר הפאות הולכות ומתרחקות מן הצניעות, יש לשמוח ולברך על חיזוק זה (emphasis added), the postscript adds a blatant internal contradiction (likely for plausible deniability), “יש להקפיד בחבישת המטפחת לכסות את כל השערות, וכן שהכיסוי יהיה צנוע והולם”.
In other words, they disagree with the Rishonim who permitted “יוצא מצמתן” (as did the Tzemach Tzedek, mentioning only the Rashba), or don’t mind seeming to. Worse, this sheet then compares the lewdness of at least “modern” wigs with weaselly-worded chumros for genuine hair-coverings (שהכיסוי יהיה צנוע והולם), in perverse “fairness” flattery akin to State media granting equal-time to opposing views.
And note the awful “בהסכמת בעליהן” hedge, never applied to the invention of covering women’s hair at home, hypocritically (see Part Two above)!
Rabbi Shamai Gross: “No Rav has ever permitted the wigs that are being worn today” (assuming that’s what the Hebrew original says) is exactly as correct as those who claim “No Rav has ever permitted the Heter Mechira in the improved financial reality of today“, “No Rav has ever permitted today’s misplaced zealotry”, “No Rav has ever permitted the advanced razors being used today“, “No Rav has ever permitted the peace treaties with the Arabs of today“, and so on and so forth.
Well, is this belated backtrack a “step in the right direction”, at least?
No!
In fact, the rabbinical Ipsi Dixit Heter for women’s wigs, immediately obvious in its contemptuously dishonest nature right from conception to Goyim, the seculars, the unbiased, children, monkeys, Tzedukim, etc. is becoming clearer than ever with technological progress. So this is just a fig leaf of false opposition to wigs (like that of Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef mechanically permitting wigs to divorcées and widows), as is seen from a careful reading of the language.
And the list of signatories here is tiny in both חכמה ומנין, so there is no chance this will have any effect on the locus of Charedi girls’ schools and seminaries, anyway (I wonder why Rabbi Elyashiv didn’t add his name when it’s known his opinion was similar).
Indeed, the proclamation beats around the bush so heavily it’s hard to tell what they would say if they felt they could speak truth (Reminder: there is no מוטב יהיו שוגגין in De’oraisah!). Note well, this is because rabbis fear their ostensible followers might decrown them, per Rabbi Elchanan Wasserman’s homily on “Pnei hador kepnei hakelev” (only applied to the enemy; democracy, etc.).
To quote the ending of the above Mishna in Avos again:
תשובה ומעשים טובים, כתריס בפני הפרענות.
(As for the Tikroves Avoda Zara problem in “modern” wigs, see here.)