Hair, Headwear, and Orthodox Jewish Women

Kallah's Choice

By (author) Amy K. Milligan

Publication date:

24 May 2016

Length of book:

166 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

ISBN-13: 9781498505543

Hair, Headwear, and Orthodox Jewish Women comments on hair covering based on an ethnographic study of the lives of Orthodox Jewish women in a small non-metropolitan synagogue. It brings the often overlooked stories of these women to the forefront and probes questions as to how their location in a small community affects their behavioral choices, particularly regarding the folk practice of hair covering. A kallah, or bride, makes the decision as to whether or not she will cover her hair after marriage. In doing so, she externally announces her religious affiliation, in particular her commitment to maintaining an Orthodox Jewish home. Hair covering practices are also unique to women’s traditions and point out the importance of examining the women, especially because their cultural roles may be marginalized in studies as a result of their lack of a central role in worship. This study questions their contribution to Orthodoxy as well as their concept of Jewish identity and the ways in which they negotiate this identity with ritualized and traditional behavior, ultimately bringing into question the meaning of tradition in a modern world.

Prologue
Chapter 1: A Hairy Subject: Approaches to Hair and Hair Covering
Chapter 2: Covering Jewish Women: The Congregational Context
Chapter 3: Splitting Hairs: The Struggle for Community Definition in a Small Town Orthodox Synagogue
Chapter 4: Wearing Many Hats: The Hair Covering Practices of the Orthodox Jewish Women at Degel Israel Synagogue
Chapter 5: Letting Their Hair Down: Orthodox Women at Degel Israel Synagogue Who Choose Not to Cover Their Hair
Chapter 6: Flipping Their Wigs for Judaism: Non-Orthodox Women Who Choose to Cover Their Heads
Chapter 7: The Long and Short of It: A Psychoreligious Interpretation of Hair Covering
Epilogue

In this brilliant ethnography, Amy Milligan lets us listen in to personal conversations and see women in and out of worship to ask a profound question about the maintenance of tradition in a non-traditional environment. She opens doors to places we have not looked before—beneath hair coverings and in women’s study groups—to make us reassess the meaning not only of orthodox practice, but of identity driven by women’s worldview. Her groundbreaking book on a hairy subject will surely change the way we think, and talk about, not just Jews but the expressive body of tradition.