Objects

The headgear visible in the photograph - dark-coloured headscarves - is part of the daily attire of married Jewish women living in Orthodox families. The act of covering the hair is linked to the symbolic transformation that takes place at the moment of the wedding. This is also linked to the modesty required of women in Hasidic circles - the principle of tzniyut (Hebrew: צניעות). The type of headgear depends on the family in which the woman lives, and also varies according to the festivals celebrated. Not every dynasty mandates head covering, but in some of them these rules are more radical - a married woman is obliged to shave her hair, and wears a shaytl (Yiddish for 'wig') on her head. The headgear stall was photographed in Mea Shearim, a neighbourhood of Jerusalem inhabited by Orthodox Jews.

MBK, AW