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Tichels, Tzniut & All About Jewish Women’s Hair Covers (Plus A Video How To)

January 29, 2014 by Patrick Beaulier

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You may have heard of or seen Jewish women wearing scarves as a head covering. They are often referred to as “Tichels” which is the Yiddish word for scarf. The Hebrew transliteration is mitpachat. Many of the women wear them because of the Jewish law that a married woman should cover her hair when around non-immediate family members. Part of the reason is due to honoring the privacy of the intimacy of a husband and wife since the hair is seen as a private area for a married woman. Others wear them for additional spiritual reasons, including the concept of tznius. Tichels are not the only methods of covering the hair. For example non-Sephardic observant Jewish women may chose to wear hats, snoods, or wigs.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1yHRATlOY8

Tznius is the Jewish concept of modesty and privacy but not only for the husband and wife relationship. It also has a beautiful meaning for a woman’s relationship with the Holy One. The idea is that the holiness is revealed when the physical is hidden which is why we wear clothing. When a person, man or woman, reveals their bodies that is often the first thing a person will notice about them. This is not a judgment but an observational occurrence. However, when you meet someone with their bodies covered and their hair/head covered you tend to notice the windows of the souls first, their eyes. Many women have said that they fear hair covering causes us to lose our freedom or is oppressive. However many of us do not see it this way. When a woman is not forced to practice hair covering, we see it as a beautiful freedom for the soul. How could tying scarves on the head be freedom you may ask? One answer is because we are free from the sexualized image norms bombarding us in society. Our physical self no longer dominates our soul, and the way other people see and treat us is different as well. Ultimately, we are expressing our freedom of religion and identity as Jewish women.

Personally for me the practice of hair wrapping and head covering elevates my soul, my mind focuses on higher things, and as a practical element my hair stays clean when I go out. Additionally my environmental allergies are not as strong for some reason. I truly cannot start my day until my head is wrapped and I even add an adapted blessing because it is so special to me: “Baruch atah HaShem, Eloheinu meleckh ha’olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav, v’tzivanu al mitzvot tznius.” This translates to “Blessed are you Holy One, our God, King of the Universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us regarding the practice of modesty.” We are commanded to walk modestly before our Creator and this is part of my fulfillment of this beautifully rich and delicious command. Also, there is a cultural element. For thousands of years women have been wearing scarves on their heads with flowing beautiful gowns. Tichels give me that feminine connection to my ancient sisters as well as my modern ones, no matter which religion or denomination of Judaism, there is this respect for the Holy One, for ourselves, and for each other that scarves tie together.

Chavivah is a graphic design volunteer and beta tester for Darshan Yeshiva

Filed Under: Judaism & Belief, LGBTQ & Women Tagged With: chavivah, convert to judaism, darshan yeshiva, hair covering, hijab, jewish wig, jewish women, modesty, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, sheitl, snood, tichel, tzinut, tznius

Meet the Jewbie: Your Average Jewish Girl Who Has Never Practiced Judaism

September 20, 2010 by Patrick Beaulier

I always hate writing things for the first time, because my introductions usually end up sounding like a instant replay of those occasional glimpses of Alcoholic Anonymous meetings I see on the fake cop shows I watch obsessively:

“Hi, my name is Kristin the Jewbie, and I have an addiction to blogging.”

You can all now repeat back to me, “Hi, Jewbie,” while curiously scratching your heads as to why I came here and how the heck did I earn myself a moniker so silly as “The Jewbie”.I’d like to say it’s all a funny story, (cue the dim lights and the spotlight swinging around to settle on me, while 50’s style music plays softly in the background) but let’s be honest here, it’s really not a funny story.

Let me start at what I’d like to consider a good place to start, which isn’t necessarily the beginning, but it’s an explanation of why I’m here, and why you should read my blog (and trust me, you should).

So to begin things, I’m sure you’re wondering why I call myself the Jewbie, and if you’re not wondering, then you should be (you might be starting to notice by now that I’m a little demanding. Trust me, it’s my mother’s and my boyfriend’s biggest complaint about me, except they use the sweeter, more endearing term “brat”). When I started my blog Jewbie,I wanted it to be completely anonymous, and so I needed a good moniker for myself so that I wouldn’t have to go by “anonymous”. I chose Jewbie because, in a way, I’m new to Judaism.

I was born a Jew, because my mom’s family is Jewish (we have many Cohen’s, -berg’s, and -witz’s) but my mom converted to Christianity when she was younger, and is therefor not observant of Judaism (but we all know the old saying, that you can be baptized by every priest in the whole entire world, but once a Jew, always a Jew) so I didn’t grow up in a Jewish home. I took it upon myself, though, to start learning more about her family’s faith, and lo and behold! It fit me perfectly. So when I found that it was the religion for me, I decided to start attending shul, reading all the books I could get my hands on, and (very soon) taking classes on Judaism. So, I’m a newbie to Judaism in a sense, thus “Jewbie”. Now that you now how I coined that nickname, let’s get on to bigger and better things, such as who I and what this blog will be about.

I’m a 17-year-young aspiring novelist with a knack for saying and doing the most inappropriate things at the most inopportune times without meaning to (my friends expressed that I need to clarify this statement, so: such as laughing when I’m being yelled at, which happens often, surprisingly). I’m also trying to define who I am and who I want to be, the biggest problem being my “Jewish Journey”, as I like to call it, and what it means to be a “good Jewish girl”. I’m hoping to share my experience with “traveling the Jewish road less taken”, and my journeys in my now Jewed-up life (yes, I do have an uncanny ability to make everything revert back to my Jewish-ness). This is going to be about my travels in the Jewish world, ranging from the B’nai Mitzvah class I’m hoping to attend this year, down to my thoughts on Halachic laws such as Tznius (and how I’m having a terribly hard time following them).

I hope you enjoy reading these blogs as much as I enjoy writing them, and, until I catch you next time:

With more lovin’ then you’ll ever know what to do with,

Kristin the Jewbie

Filed Under: Rants Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, halachka, jewish college student, jewish youth, kristin the jewbie, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, teen, tznius

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