About this book
In Splitting Hairs, Rabbi Michael J. Broyde delves into the intricate history and nuanced legal discussions surrounding the Jewish laws of modesty, with a particular focus on the practice of women’s hair covering. Through a meticulous examination of sources spanning nearly 3,000 years—from the Bible, Talmud, and medieval commentaries to modern responsa—Broyde challenges the commonly held views within the Orthodox Jewish community, arguing that many of the traditional norms around modesty are not as immutable as they appear.
Broyde makes a compelling case that the dominant approach to modesty in recent centuries, which has insisted on objective and absolute standards, is a departure from the more flexible and culturally responsive interpretations that characterized Jewish legal thought for most of its history. He presents the argument that Jewish law requires women to dress modestly according to the norms of the society they live in, rather than adhering to rigid, universally fixed standards.
Splitting Hairs is more than just a scholarly analysis; it is a thought-provoking exploration of how Jewish law evolves and adapts in response to changing societal values. This work invites readers to reconsider long-standing traditions and to engage in a broader conversation about the role of cultural norms in shaping religious practice.
Advance Praise
“It is an extraordinary opportunity to receive a full-scale personal guided tour through the forest of Rabbinic teachings about modesty and head and hair covering from a true master of halakha. Examining each tree, exploring each branch, and lovingly turning over each leaf, Rabbi Michael Broyde shares his brilliant analysis and innovative spirit while never missing the forest for the trees. His sensitivity to the mesorah is matched only by his integrity in describing what is actually present in the texts rather what he or others might have wanted to find there. This is a glorious work of both halakha and hashkafa – read it and grow!”
—Rabbi Saul J. Berman, Professor of Jewish Studies at Stern College of Yeshiva University; Rotter Fellow of Talmudic Law at Columbia University Law School
“Michael J. Broyde’s Splitting Hairs: The History, Law, and Future of Jewish Laws of Modesty and Women’s Head Covering meticulously traces Jewish legal and cultural perspectives on hair covering. A nuanced study, it challenges assumptions and contextualizes norms — acknowledging that halakhah develops within a larger cultural context — to reveal the evolving roles modesty and tradition play in Jewish life. The work is a gift to the student of Jewish law and to all those who seek to better understand this practice.”
—Yedida Eisenstat, Ph.D., Associate Editor, Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization
“Rabbi Michael Broyde analyzes in depth and carefully the issue of hair covering for women, and reveals how in all generations this discussion takes into account the sociological context as a significant consideration in the ruling of halakha. The issue of women’s hair covering presents itself as a complex matter, encompassing various theological and personal elements, particularly within the framework of marital relationships and societal constructs. The examination of how each generation has achieved a balance among these components, with an emphasis on the sociological context, is interwoven throughout the entire book from the beginning until its conclusion. Delving into this book will greatly benefit those engaged in this specific subject matter, as well as those interested in gender-based social perspectives within Jewish halakhah as a whole.”
—Rabbanit Devorah Evron, Director of Ohr Torah Stone’s Women’s Institute of Halakhic Leadership
“A comprehensive and thorough presentation of the halakhic sources with their various approaches regarding married women’s hair covering, together with the sociological context. One who studies this sefer halakha gains clarity and the foundation to fully understand the flow of the halakhic process – thus acquiring the ability to determine the proper application within contemporary society. Splitting Hairs is a gift for the scholar who is committed to halakha.”
—Rachel Levmore, PhD, Rabbinical Court Advocate; Director, The Agunah and Get-Refusal Prevention Project of Young Israel – Israel Region & the Jewish Agency
“Michael Broyde courageously addresses a critical issue that has long divided ultra-Orthodoxy from its modern counterpart. This thoroughgoing study by a leading rabbinical scholar and jurist combines keen analysis and in-depth scholarship and should be must reading for all who are interested in the interplay between Jewish law, tradition and contemporary norms.”
—Dov S. Zakheim, author, Nehemiah: Statesman and Sage and former U.S. Under Secretary of Defense
About the Author
Michael J. Broyde is professor of law at Emory University School of Law, the director of the SJD Program, and Berman Projects Director at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University. He is also a core faculty member at the Tam Institute of Jewish Studies at Emory.
His primary areas of interest are law and religion, Jewish law and ethics, family law, legal ethics, and comparative religious law.
He has served as a Senior Fulbright Scholar at Hebrew University and a visiting professor of Law at Stanford University School of Law, where he taught Jewish Law.
He is author of Setting the Table: An Introduction to the Jurisprudence of Rabbi Yechiel Mikhel Epstein’s Arukh HaShulhan (Academic Studies Press, 2021, co-authored with Shlomo Pill of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion), Finding America in Leviticus: Reflections on Nation Building in the Twenty-First Century (Wipf & Stock 2024), Finding America in Exodus: A Blueprint for ‘A More Perfect Union’ in the 21st Century, Wipf & Stock (2022), Sex in the Garden: Consensual Encounters Gone Bad in Genesis (Wifpf & Stock, 2019), Sharia Tribunals, Rabbinical Courts, and Christian Panels: Religious Arbitration in America and the West (Oxford Press, 2017) and A Concise Code of Jewish Law for Converts (Urim, 2017).
In addition to his many books, Broyde has written more than 250 articles and book chapters on various aspects of law and religion, Jewish law, and religious ethics, as well as an often-cited article on impeachment in the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy. He has written on military ethics from a Jewish law view, marriage and divorce in the Jewish tradition, bioethical dilemmas from a religious view, women’s rights in the Jewish tradition, the general relationship between secular and Jewish law in its many different facets, and many other topics. A list of his works may be found on his website.
Broyde is ordained (yoreh yoreh ve-yadin yadin) as a rabbi by Yeshiva University and was a member (dayan) of the Beth Din of America, the largest Jewish law court in America, where he once served as director while on leave from Emory. He was the Founding Rabbi of the Young Israel synagogue in Atlanta, a founder of the Atlanta Torah MiTzion kollel study program. He served on boards of many schools and organizations in Atlanta, including more than 15 years as the chair of the medical ethics committee of Weinstein Hospice in Atlanta.
He received a juris doctor from New York University and published a note on its law review. He also clerked for Judge Leonard I. Garth of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Author Interview
Michael Feldstein interviews Rabbi Michael J. Broyde about the book.
“Look around at our grandparents in America from the 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s, and you see a few Orthodox generations that were moser nefesh to keep kosher, to observe Shabbat, and to build mikva’ot – in an era where these things were hard and expensive. Yet, married women – even rabbi’s wives — did not cover their hair. This was not because it was too hard — keeping Shabbat and kosher was much harder — but because they did not think the halacha required such. This was true in countless societies where gentile women stopped covering their hair: people who kept Shabbat and kashrut and nidah did not cover their hair. Let me add that this was not a unique American response. In all the communities where gentile modest women did not cover their hair, substantial portions of the Orthodox community followed suit, from Germany to Lithuania and beyond.”
Read the full interview.
