(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Wearing a wig cut in a boyish bob is not sufficient ground for divorce in the eyes of the rabbinical law. This ecclesiastical decision, rendered by a rabbi in Minsk, caused wide interest.
The husband, a son of an Orthodox Rabbi, started divorce proceedings against his young wife alleging among other reasons that she is not complying with the prescriptions of Jewish law with regard to modesty. It is true, he argued, that she wears a sheitel, but the sheitel has been bobbed and gives the onlooker the impression that her hair is cut “a la garconne.” He also contended that his wife must be divorced because she wears short sleeved dresses.
The Rabbi invoked the expert opinion of his wife and ruled on the first point that as long as the wife wears a wig, in accordance with accepted custom, she does not give any ground for divorce by having the sheitel cut in a boyish bob. On the second point the rabbi declared, quoting the opinion of his wife, the sleeves were not considered very short.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
