The woman with the foreign wig? "We are not overstepping our bounds" in blowing the shofar

October 6, 2016   

The gabbai of the Beit Midrash of the Ohel Yesharim community in Jerusalem went so far as to forcibly oppose the wearing of a foreign wig, which is common in most Haredi circles. In an announcement published by the gabbai on the eve of Rosh Hashanah 5777, they stated, under the title 'Beit Midrash Regulations': ""According to the Beit Midrash regulation, we do not issue obligatory prayers to women (who wear a foreign wig) and do not cover themselves with a head covering."".The extreme provision, which defines women wearing a foreign wig as those who do not cover their heads, and therefore do not fulfill the obligation to blow the shofar, is also an exception in the landscape of synagogues that exaggerate in externalizing prohibitions.