CantTalkGotThingsToDo

[sdelmonte]

Hi all. Been really busy at work. The new Modigliani exhibition is opening on Tuesday, and there's so much to do that I actually have to work. So if you are looking for my cogent comments, they may be missing for a while. The show is eating my brain, os much so that I had a panic attachk that something I told my boss was true wasn't true after all. (It was true, though.) Wish us luck getting through what will be a long if exciting set of events.

But I gotta throw this to my LJ community. You may have heard about this ban on Indian-made wigs in religious Jewish circles as there is a possibility that hair cut off in a Hindu ritual was later recycled for wigs. I don't question the idea behind the ban - Jewish attitudes towards idolatry (which would include pantheistic Hinduism) are well-established. But I wonder if anyone is familiar with this ritual, and if anyone knows whether hair trimmed for such a holy purpose would really be turned into a wig.

I don't want to scoff at this ban - it was issued by the leading authority on Jewish law in Israel, a scholar of the highest reputation - but that little voice inside my head makes me wonder if something is amiss.

Comments

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

A rabbi from the London Vaad was sent to investigate this very thing - does the hair donation count as avodah zarah? Apparently, the answer is "yes."

And if you go here, you'll see the article that touched this all off.

The hair is gathered up and sold to a middleman, with the money going to the Temple and to charity.

[sdelmonte]

What an absolutely fascinating article, and a rather intriguing way of both offering thanks and not wasting something.

The edict thus makes sense to me.

Interestingly, I assumed that Indian wigs would be cheaper, coming from a Third World nation (albeit one rapidly stealing our jobs). Instead, it seems that those who spend the most on wigs are the ones likely to be affected the most. The can of worms long since opened about whether a $5,000 wig is a sign of true modesty is once again on the floor, as I ponder if perhaps this isn't a sign that maybe the meaning of the law is lost under the hair.

Enough of this. I got work to do.

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

I have to say this - during the past couple of weeks, I've been semi-seriously considering getting some sort of sheitel, such as a hat fall. What's kept me back is the money and the fact that Jonathan doesn't like wigs both in and of themselves and halachically. He'd accept it if I bought one, of course. My head, my decision.

But right now, I'm glad I've been having fun with scarves instead.

[zsero.livejournal.com]

There are plenty of human hair wigs that are not from India. The supplier that advertises on http://www.shmais.com has changed its ad to note that the wigs are made with Russian hair, not Indian.

As I understand it, Indian temple hair sells at a premium, so it would not be concealed, it would be advertised in large letters; if a wig doesn't say it's from Indian hair, it probably isn't.

[dotsomething.livejournal.com]

The show is eating my brain

Y'know, even though I knew you were referring to your museum show, when I read that my brain automatically thought of all the tv shows that have eaten my brain over the years. Hee.