Women and Hair Covering

וְאֵיזוֹהִי דָּת יְהוּדִית? יוֹצְאָה וְרֹאשָׁהּ פָּרוּעַ. רֹאשָׁהּ פָּרוּעַ דְּאוֹרָיְיתָא הִיא, דִּכְתִיב: ״וּפָרַע אֶת רֹאשׁ הָאִשָּׁה״, וְתָנָא דְּבֵי רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל: אַזְהָרָה לִבְנוֹת יִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁלֹּא יֵצְאוּ בִּפְרוּעַ רֹאשׁ! דְּאוֹרָיְיתָא — קַלְתָּהּ שַׁפִּיר דָּמֵי, דָּת יְהוּדִית — אֲפִילּוּ קַלְתָּהּ נָמֵי אָסוּר. אָמַר רַבִּי אַסִּי אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: קַלְתָּהּ, אֵין בָּהּ מִשּׁוּם פְּרוּעַ רֹאשׁ. הָוֵי בַּהּ רַבִּי זֵירָא: הֵיכָא? אִילֵּימָא בְּשׁוּק — דָּת יְהוּדִית הִיא! וְאֶלָּא בֶּחָצֵר — אִם כֵּן לֹא הִנַּחְתָּ בַּת לְאַבְרָהָם אָבִינוּ שֶׁיּוֹשֶׁבֶת תַּחַת בַּעְלָהּ! אָמַר אַבָּיֵי וְאִיתֵּימָא רַב כָּהֲנָא: מֵחָצֵר לְחָצֵר וְדֶרֶךְ מָבוֹי.

Ketubot 72a:19-72b:2

§ The mishna stated: And who is considered a woman who violates the precepts of Jewish women? One who goes out and her head is uncovered. The Gemara asks: The prohibition against a woman going out with her head uncovered is not merely a custom of Jewish women. Rather, it is by Torah law, as it is written with regard to a woman suspected by her husband of having been unfaithful: “And he shall uncover the head of the woman” (Numbers 5:18). And the school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: From here there is a warning to Jewish women not to go out with an uncovered head, since if the Torah states that a woman suspected of adultery must have her head uncovered, this indicates that a married woman must generally cover her head. The Gemara explains: By Torah law, if she covers her head with her basket [kilta], it seems well and is sufficient. But by precepts of Jewish women, i.e., custom, even if her head is covered by her basket this is also prohibited; she requires a substantial head covering. Rabbi Asi said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: If she covers her head with her basket, there is no violation of the prohibition against having an uncovered head. Rabbi Zeira discussed it: Where is the woman that Rabbi Yoḥanan is referring to? If we say he means that she appears this way in the marketplace, this is a violation of precepts of Jewish women, as explained previously. And if you say rather that he means she appears this way in her own courtyard, if so, you have not allowed any daughter of our father Abraham to remain with her husband, since most women are not careful to cover their heads completely inside their own courtyards. Abaye said, and some say that Rav Kahana said: Rabbi Yoḥanan is referring to when she walks from one courtyard to another courtyard or via an alleyway. Although these places are not considered public areas, strangers may still be present in them.

Meiri vs Arusi…not a לאו?

משנה תורה, הלכות אישות כ״ד:י״א-י״ב

(יא) וְאֵלּוּ הֵן הַדְּבָרִים שֶׁאִם עָשְׂתָה אַחַת מֵהֶן עָבְרָה עַל דַּת משֶׁה. יוֹצְאָה בַּשּׁוּק וּשְׂעַר רֹאשָׁהּ גָּלוּי…

(יב) וְאֵי זוֹ הִיא דָּת יְהוּדִית הוּא מִנְהַג הַצְּנִיעוּת שֶׁנָּהֲגוּ בְּנוֹת יִשְׂרָאֵל. וְאֵלּוּ הֵן הַדְּבָרִים שֶׁאִם עָשְׂתָה אַחַת מֵהֶן עָבְרָה עַל דָּת יְהוּדִית. יוֹצְאָה לַשּׁוּק אוֹ לְמָבוֹי מְפֻלָּשׁ וְרֹאשָׁהּ פָּרוּעַ וְאֵין עָלֶיהָ רְדִיד כְּכָל הַנָּשִׁים. אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁשְּׂעָרָהּ מְכֻסֶּה בְּמִטְפַּחַת.

Mishneh Torah, Marriage 24:11-12

(11) The following are the actions for which a woman is considered to have "violated the faith of Moses":
a) going out to the marketplace with her hair uncovered…

(12) What is meant by "the Jewish faith"? The customs of modesty that Jewish women practice. When a woman performs any of the following acts, she is considered to have violated the Jewish faith:
a) she goes to the marketplace or a lane with openings at both ends without having her head [fully] covered - i.e., her hair is covered by a handkerchief, but not with a veil like all other women,

משנה תורה, הלכות אישות י״ג:א׳-י״ג

(א) כַּמָּה הַכְּסוּת שֶׁהוּא חַיָּב לִתֵּן לָהּ. …

(יא) מָקוֹם שֶׁדַּרְכָּן שֶׁלֹּא תֵּצֵא אִשָּׁה לַשּׁוּק בְּכִפָּה שֶׁעַל רֹאשָׁהּ בִּלְבַד עַד שֶׁיִּהְיֶה עָלֶיהָ רְדִיד הַחוֹפֶה אֶת כָּל גּוּפָהּ כְּמוֹ טַלִּית…

Mishneh Torah, Marriage 13:1-13

(1) To what extent is he required to provide her with garments?…

(11) In a place where it is customary for a woman not to go out to the market place wearing merely a cap on her head, but also a veil that covers her entire body like a cloak, her husband must provide at least the least expensive type of veil for her.

משנה תורה, הלכות סוטה ג׳:ה׳

וְהִיא עוֹמֶדֶת בֵּינֵיהֶן בְּלֹא רְדִיד וּבְלֹא מִטְפַּחַת אֶלָּא בִּבְגָדֶיהָ וְכִפָּה שֶׁעַל רֹאשָׁהּ כְּמוֹ שֶׁהָאִשָּׁה בְּתוֹךְ בֵּיתָהּ:

Mishneh Torah, Woman Suspected of Infidelity 3:5

She stands among [the women] without a cloak or a veil, wearing only her clothes and a cap, as a woman dresses within her home.

משנה תורה, הלכות איסורי ביאה כ״א:י״ז

(יז) לֹא יְהַלְּכוּ בְּנוֹת יִשְׂרָאֵל פְּרוּעֵי רֹאשׁ בַּשּׁוּק. אַחַת פְּנוּיָה וְאַחַת אֵשֶׁת אִישׁ.

Mishneh Torah, Forbidden Intercourse 21:17

(17) Jewish women should not walk in the marketplace with uncovered hair. [This applies to] both unmarried and married women.

שולחן ערוך, אבן העזר כ״א:ב׳

לא תלכנה בנות ישראל פרועות ראש בשוק אחת פנויה ואחת אשת איש:

Shulchan Arukh, Even HaEzer 21:2

Jewish women may not go with uncovered head in the marketplace, whether married or not.

Rabbi Yehuda Herzl Henkin, a pioneer in the world of Orthodox Jewish feminism who experienced personal tragedy later in life, died Wednesday in Israel.
Henkin and his wife, Rabbanit Chana Henkin, founded a program for women to study the laws of family purity and answer Jewish legal questions on the subject — breaking new ground for women’s leadership roles in Orthodox communities. In 2018, Henkin was the recipient of the Katz Prize in recognition of his work on women’s place in Orthodoxy as well as his numerous published works of Jewish legal opinions.
In 2015, the Henkins’ eldest son and daughter-in-law, Eitam and Naama Henkin, were killed in a terrorist attack in front of their four children. Eitam Henkin had been a scholar in his own right and a close student of his father.
Yehuda Herzl Henkin was born in the United States in 1945 and attended the Yeshivah of Flatbush, an Orthodox school in Brooklyn, before studying with his grandfather, Rabbi Yosef Eliyahu Henkin, one of the most important Jewish legal authorities in New York City for much of the 20th century. Henkin studied with his grandfather for five years and received semicha, rabbinic ordination, from him.

שו"ת בני בנים, חלק שלישי כ״א

ומה שכתב הרמב"ם והיא עומדת ביניהן בלא רדיד ובלא מטפחת אלא בבגדיה וכפה שעל ראשה כמו שהאשה בתוך ביתה עכ"ל הכי קאמר, כאילו היתה אותה האשה עומדת ביניהן בתוך ביתה שאז היתה לובשת רק כפה שכן אין אשה עומדת פרועת ראש לגמרי בפני אחרים אפילו בתוך ביתה וכמו אשתו של און בן פלת במסכת סנהדרין דף ק"ט עמוד ב' עיי"ש, וזהו שכתב כמו שהאשה בתוך ביתה עכ"ל בה"א ולא כמו אשה בתוך ביתה כי בביתה כשאשה לבדה או עם בעלה גם הרמב"ם מודה שאינה מכסה ראשה כלל.

Responsa Benei Banim, Volume III 21

. This is what Rambam intended by writing "as if the woman was in her home" (kmo sheha'ishah betoch beitah), using the definite article and referring to the particular sotah under discussion. He did not write "as a woman [is] in her home" (k'mo ishah betoch beitah) which would have referred to women in general. Rather, a woman must wear a cap in her home only in such circumstances as the sotah, who was in the presence of strangers, but by herself or with her husband and immediate family she need not cover her hair.

Perhaps there is an indication from the גמ׳ that since it protest on the grounds of the practices of בנות ישראלeven for the דאורייתא of hair covering it the first place that even these things are culturally dependent. On that note: “Especially in Israel, the practice of wearing only a very narrow headband or thin strip of scarf encircling the head has become popular. A woman with this type of covering is relying on the minority opinion that covering is not obligatory beyond common custom, and is interpreting custom very leniently. This type of justification for this practice is sometimes attributed to Rav Rabinovitch, who has made oral remarks that this might become permissible if it were to become common practice” https://etzion.org.il/en/halakha/studies-halakha/women-and-mitzvot/head-covering-iv-how