Has Modesty Gone Too Far? "Toe Sheitels" For Sale? An Advertisement Aimed at Orthodox Women Stirs Controversy

Appealing to Orthodox women who want to look great but conform to their communities’ standards for conservative dress, an advertisement circulating this week in Orthodox circles peddles “high quality” silicone toes that buyers can slip on over their own, allowing them to wear sandals without having their own feet be seen.

As reported by Jackie Hajdenberg for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency,

“Do you want to be fashionable but also tzniyusdyig?” the ad says, using a Yiddish form of the word for modest. “Do you want to look stylish but would never c’v [God forbid] wear open toes [sic] shoes?”

The ad resembled many real ones that circulate in the haredi Orthodox marketplace, where orders often must be placed by phone or in person because internet use is frowned upon and small-batch innovations that facilitate religious observance hit shelves frequently. But it also smacked of satire at a time when some Orthodox Jewish women are trying to push back against norms that dictate their attire, police their accessories and keep their faces out of some Orthodox publications.

Speculation about whether the mysterious ad is real or a prank — and what each might mean for Orthodox communities — has occupied a segment of the Orthodox world this week. Many are calling the product “toe sheitels” for the similar role they play to sheitels, or the wigs some married Orthodox women wear to cover their own hair in keeping with Jewish tradition.

“Some think it is real. Some think it is a joke,” Sharon Weiss-Greenberg, a longtime activist in Orthodox feminism, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency about the toe sheitels. “I think it is a joke. But I think the fact that so many think that it isn’t is a problem — the fact that it is plausible.”

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The Forward Publishes a Field Guide to Identifying the Jewish Male by His Yarmulke

Wikipedia defines a field guide as a book designed to help the reader identify wildlife (plants or animals) or other objects of natural occurrence (e.g. minerals). 

It is generally designed to be brought into the 'field' or local area where such objects exist to help distinguish between similar objects. Field guides are often designed to help users distinguish animals and plants that may be similar in appearance but are not necessarily closely related. They are also used for bird watching.

We think that a field guide is a good metaphor for the article and video published this week by the Jewish Daily Forward using the color, style, shape, and material of a kippah or yarmulke as an aid to identifying the sect and level of observance of the Jewish male.

The Forward previously published a similar guide to Sheitels, or wigs, worn by Orthodox Jews.

In her article, Frimet Goldberger reports:

If you see my husband and son walking on the street, you will instantly know that they’re Orthodox Jews — because they are wearing small, round cloth caps, more widely known as yarmulkes. Much like the sheitel, or wig, that many Orthodox women wear, you can tell a lot about a Jewish male by the type of yarmulke (also referred to as a kippah, or in Hasidic Yiddish, kapl) that he wears. Like the jacket and shirt on his back, the absence or presence of peyes, or sidelocks, the headgear announces to the world his family’s tradition and his Jewish denomination.

Pious Jewish men have been covering their heads for hundreds of years, yet there isn’t necessarily a clear and definitive Jewish law, or Halacha, requiring it. Rather, it was one of many of the Jewish customs and traditions, known as minhagim, that evolved over the centuries to become de-facto Halacha, eventually becoming the most universal identifier of observant Jewish boys and men.

The article includes 11 illustrations of yarmulke styles. Do you know the difference between a black velvet six-slice kapl and a four-slice kapl with or without a satin rim? How about a shlof-kapl, a na-nach kippah, meshichist, and teryline kippah? Which yarmulkes have no slices? Who wears them and what do their choices say about their religious affiliations?

The video, which graphically shows the diverse choices available, was filmed at Eichler's in Flatbush.

Enjoy!

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