Covering Head

Question

Dear Rabbi,
I read that it is important to cover your head and not walk more than 4 Amos without a head covering out of respect for the Divine presence.

For what reason is this only applicable to men? Why don’t women also cover their heads before marriage?

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Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    It is actually a fascinating issue! I was told a long time ago that in Tunisia and Iran it has been the custom of both married and non-married women to cover their heads when reciting devarim she’bekedusha, holy matters, such as prayer and Torah. When they moved to Israel this practice seems to have been discontinued for unmarried women.

    Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef writes in Yechaveh Da’at, volumes 4-5, that unmarried women should, in fact, cover their heads for matters of kedusha, although, as far as I am aware, the ruling is not generally followed. Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg ruled that an unmarried woman does not need to cover her hair when saying matters of kedusha, but a married woman must cover her head when saying matters of kedusha, even in the privacy of her home.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team