Does anyone know why religious Jewish women in pre-WWII east Europe wore kisui rosh seemingly uniformly, but in many Sfaradi communities that doesn’t seem to have been the norm?
I recently saw some photos of my ancestors in Beirut and was absolutely shocked, they dressed just like Europeans. Historically, the Beirut community was characterized as relatively less educated (more importance on picking up a trade), socially insular, less wealthy, shomrei Shabbat and at one point largely comprised of Syrian Jews. So, this is not what I was expecting at all!
I feel like for many of us, the stereotypes of Sfaradi dress are dominated by North African Jews. If you think about it, those clothes borrow heavily from native Berber fashions, just like in eastern Europe lots of Christian women wore headscarves. So are the differences in observing kisui harosh influenced by customs of the gentile world? (Yemeni Jews would be another good example of this)
What does everyone think?
submitted by /u/Commercial-Nobody994
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Source: Reditt
