Is Head Covering a Torah Commandment for Women?

Yafit asks:"Hello. Where in the Torah does it say that head covering is the will of Hashem? Is there a place that explicitly states that Hashem commands women to cover their heads? Thank you."

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Hello and blessings,

In the Torah it is said, "and he shall uncover the woman’s head" (Numbers 5:18). In this verse, it is clearly implied that the Torah assumes all married women wore a head covering and gathered hair.

Furthermore, the verse refers to a case of a sotah, a woman suspected of infidelity, where the priest removes her head covering, proving not only that married women covered their hair, but also indicating the greatest shame for a married woman was having her covered hair exposed by a priest.

Regarding the interpretation of the scriptures, we rely on the sages who passed down divine interpretations of the Torah (Oral Torah), preserved from generation to generation, as ordained to Moses from Sinai.

For example, did you know that nowhere in the Torah is it stated how to perform a circumcision? Nor does it mention which labors are forbidden on Shabbat, despite stating the commandment’s severity; the Torah instructs to place a mezuzah at the entrance of the home, but does not specify what is to be written inside; the Torah commands the wearing of tefillin, yet does not explain what is written in the tefillin or how they should look; it commands tzitzit, but does not clarify their appearance; it commands the slaughter of animals, without detailing how slaughter should be performed.

How do we know the verse "bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be frontlets between your eyes" refers to the mitzvah of laying tefillin? How do we know the verse "write them on the doorposts of your home and on your gates" pertains to the passages we place inside mezuzahs? How do we understand "and you shall slaughter as I have commanded you" implies the laws of shechita passed through tradition? Etc., etc. We only understand the commandments and verses through the teachings of our sages, passed down orally through the generations, who instructed us that the true interpretation of "and he shall uncover the woman’s head" relates to head covering. Of them it is said in the Torah: "do according to all that they tell you... according to the law they instruct you. Do not stray from what they inform you."

Moses established the first Sanhedrin in the wilderness. See my article "Make for yourself a teacher and free yourself from doubt" at https://www.hidabroot.org/he/article/2587

Just as the mitzvah of shechita is mentioned without explanation, so too is the mitzvah of head covering mentioned without explanation, and the sages conveyed the divine explanations for the Torah's mitzvot. Their interpretations have been handed down through generations from the giving of the Torah to this very day. This is the sole reason we have mezuzahs, tefillin, circumcision, and all the mitzvot mentioned in the Torah. For it is impossible to truly observe even a single mitzvah from the Torah without the oral interpretations provided.

The sages decreed over 2000 years ago that a married woman who goes unveiled loses her ketubah (Tractate Ketubot, 72a), and defined head covering: "and he shall uncover the woman’s head" – and the students of Rabbi Ishmael taught: a warning to the daughters of Israel against going with uncovered heads."

This was received by the sages through tradition across generations. We see that the Torah notes this as a known fact—that the priest uncovers the head of the married woman—clearly indicating it was customary and accepted that the head of a married woman was covered with a scarf. There was no other reality, and the sages elucidated for us the accepted and traditional laws passed down, the teachings of the living God.

The Torah also states "before a blind person do not place a stumbling block" (Leviticus 19:14). By married women wearing head coverings, they prevent people from sinning in a grievous prohibition, one of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:14): "you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife."

A married woman is allowed to beautify herself within good taste, where her head covering serves as an important sign of her being married.

Embracing head covering? Do you have a special story about head covering? Share it with us in the comments.