According to The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion, “For married women, the obligation to cover the head goes back to ancient times (see Is. 3.17; B.Q. 8:6) and [according to the Mishnah] a wife’s public bareheadedness was grounds for divorce (Ket. 7:6).”[68] This may also be related to ancient Near Eastern culture, where, “In Mesopotamia shaving off half the hair was used as a punishment intended to bring public humiliation.”[69] Paul also writes that “every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is just as though her head were shaved. If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head” (1 Corinthians 11:5–6). New Testament scholar Craig Keener explains:
Women’s hair was a common object of lust in antiquity, and in much of the eastern Mediterranean women were expected to cover their hair. To fail to cover their hair was thought to provoke male lust as a bathing suit is thought to provoke it in some cultures today. Head covering prevailed in Jewish Palestine (where it extended even to a face veil) and elsewhere, but upper-class women eager to show off their fashionable hairstyles did not practice it. Thus Paul must address a clash of culture in the church between upper-class fashion and lower-class concern that sexual propriety is being violated.[70]
So, Paul’s words here are in harmony with the ancient Jewish view of the importance of a woman—in particular a married woman—having her hair covered. Just one verse earlier, however, he seemed to contradict what has become the traditional Jewish practice of men always covering their heads, especially in prayer and worship, stating: “Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head” (verse 4). How do Messianic Jews explain this, since many of them wear a yarmulke in worship and prayer (see #16)?
Messianic Jewish commentator David Stern writes:
Wearing something down over his head. This is the literal translation [of 1 Corinthians 11:4], and it is used here to show that Sha’ul [Paul] is talking about wearing a veil, not a hat. The usual translation, “with his head covered” obscures this fact, and as a result an issue has arisen in Messianic Judaism that should never have come up at all, namely, whether it is proper for a Messianic Jewish man to wear a kippah . . . in public worship. Of course it is proper, since objection to it is based only on a mis-translation of this verse.[71]
Returning to the question at hand regarding women covering their hair, The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion notes that “in modern times, Orthodox married women cover their heads with a wig or head scarf when in public,”[72] and not to do so would be considered an affront to both God and one’s husband. It is a matter of modesty and purity, since, among men outside of the immediate family, only the woman’s husband should have the privilege of seeing her real hair. It is also common for traditional Jewish girls and unmarried women to cover their hair with a scarf, again as a matter of modesty, just like Amish or Mennonite girls and women cover their hair. And since Judaism encourages women to dress up and look beautiful (but with modesty), covering their hair with a nice wig is not considered demeaning or negative.
The custom in many Hasidic communities, however, is harder to understand, since “women cut off all their hair before marriage and thereafter wear a head scarf” (called in Yiddish a tikhel).[73] This practice seemingly takes the practice of modesty to a ridiculous extreme, actually robbing the wife of her dignity, and I have no desire to defend this at all. It is certainly not biblical (note that the rabbinic commentators put a negative, nonattractive connotation on the shaving of the head of a woman captured in war; see Deuteronomy 21:10–14; b. Yevamot 48a), and it violates the spirit of Paul’s words—which, of course, carry no weight for a Hasidic Jew—that long hair is given to a woman as a covering and for her glory (see 1 Corinthians 11:15–16).
Why then is this practiced? It is actually not widely practiced in traditional Judaism—in fact, it is almost exclusively found today among Hasidic Jews of Hungarian origin (this would primarily include the Satmar)—and its rationale and background are disputed. One view is that, while living in Hungary, the women shaved their heads so as not to be taken by the Gentile nobles. Another view is based on a traditional practice in Jewish mysticism in which women would clip off a piece of their hair before going to the ritual bath (mikveh), and this developed into the custom of shaving the head entirely. Whatever the origins of this unappealing tradition, it is striking that it took hold in some circles to the point of becoming a fixed practice for devout Jewish women, standing as a testament to the power of tradition and custom in Judaism.[74]