although muslim women are the ones that mostly observe the hijab, it is not correct that islam is the only religion that orders its followers to wear hijab! laila lia bruner, professor of jewish history at the jewish university and the visiting professor at shiva university institute for adult studies indicates that, "the early divine classic literature, talmud and midrash, had completely different viewpoints regarding covering woman's hair. at that time, covering hair was not just a costume or a habit as in the bible. rather, it was the rule and regulation for pious women. the later divine literature of the middle ages asserted that issue as a complementary part of jewish religious rituals." ⁽¹⁾  

hijab, then, was a habit and then a religious obligation on the jewish woman. the talmud encyclopedia asserts this through comparing the opinion of the "mishna", the main source of rabbinic judaism, and that of the talmud regarding hijab:

"it seems that the mishna considered covering the hair as a jewish habit despite that talmud had already set a torah rule for that and stated it as an obligation. moreover, it is interesting that the term 'dat yahudit' is used only for the behavior of women so that many defined the term as related to women's modesty in particular." ⁽²⁾ 

whether covering hair was a jewish habit or a religious obligation, it is an established fact that was known and widespread in old jewish societies.

in his book the jewish woman in rabbinic literature, rabbi dr. menachem m. brayer, professor of biblical literature at yeshiva university, indicates that it was the habit of jewish women to go in public with the head cover which covered at time the whole face except for one eye. ⁽³⁾ he quotes the words of some old famous rabbis as saying, "it is not the habit of the girls of israel to go with bare head", "damned be the man who let his wife's hair to be seen … the woman who keeps her hair bare brings poverty." the divine law prohibits the recitation of blessings or prayers in the presence of a married woman whose hair is not covered. this is considered as "nakedness"⁽⁴⁾. professor brier adds that, "during the period of tanitic the failure of woman to cover her hair was considered as a humiliation of her modesty. she was fined four hundred "zeuzem" for that (zeuzem was about a quarter of a shekel)". he indicates as well that the hijab of the jewish woman was not always a sign of modesty; at times it was an indication of distinction and luxury for noble women. it also symbolized the non-attainment of the married woman as being a sacred ownership of her husband. ⁽⁵⁾ hijab also symbolized self-respect of the woman and he social status. women of the lower classes used to wear hijab to give the impression that they were of a higher class. hijab, in fact, was an indication of the noble class and this was the reason prostitutes were prevented from covering their hair in old jewish society. however, prostitutes often wore a special scarf to look respectable. ⁽⁶⁾

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[1] dr. leila leah bronner, "from veil to wig: jewish women's hair covering", from: judaism: a quarterly journal of jewish life and thought. 9/22/1993.

[2] encyclopedia talmudit [talmudic encyclopedia], s.v. "dat yehudit," viii, 19 [hebrew]; maimonides, mishneh torah, nashim, hilkhot ishut 24:12.

[3] menachem m. brayer, the jewish woman in rabbinic literature: a psychosocial perspective (hoboken, n.j: ktav publishing house, 1986) p. 239.

[4] menachem m. brayer, the jewish woman in rabbinic literature: a psychosocial perspective (hoboken, n.j: ktav publishing house, 1986), pp. 316-317. also see leonard j. swidler, women in judaism: the status of women in formative judaism (metuchen, n.j: scarecrow press, 1976), pp. 121-123.

[5] menachem m. brayer, the jewish woman in rabbinic literature: a psychosocial perspective (hoboken, n.j: ktav publishing house, 1986), p. 139.

[6] susan w. schneider, jewish and female (new york: simon & schuster, 1984) p. 237.