This past weekend, the Jewish people celebrated Yom Kippur. There is so much to say about this holiday (it’s my favourite – wrote about that here) but in terms of hair covering, many people choose to wear all white. I found that wearing all white with a white tichel is a challenge – it’s easy to enter bathrobe and towel zone! Here is what I came up with!
The wrap consisted of two scarves and one lace sash (thank you hubby!) They were layered and twisted over my head (for the second day of the holiday I did two twists – I liked that more!) and tied in the back:
I found beautiful light and sparkly earrings to match, as well as a big gold flower to hold the wrap together. (This was the only colour in the whole ensemble.)
The white clothes were a beautiful cotton dress, with a white shell and ruffled white skirt underneath.
And of course, white shoes!
For those of you that celebrated, I hope that you had a cleansing, cathartic, and connected day. Much love to ALL of my readers. You are such an inspiration!
The Wrapunzel Blog 
you are amazing and your post about yom kippur is so lofty and sensitive. i need to tell you though that many people refrain from wearing anything gold so as not to be a reminder of the chet haegel. may you have an awesome year spreading your light.
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That’s really interesting! Need to research this further. What about wedding rings?
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I don’t know about wedding rings, but I have heard about not wearing gold on Yom Kippur as well. The reason given was that when one asks forgiveness for one’s sins, one does not want to remind the judge of past misdeeds like the golden calf.
I also like your approach to Yom Kippur (and the headwrap, of course!); however, I faced some struggles this year because I have problems forgiving my sins myself and letting them go. That feeling of wiping the slate clean did not happen (yet). I still work on being able to let things really go once and for all.
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It’s so interesting to hear about these chumraot! (Also looking into the no nuts on Rosh Hashana minhag.) It’s funny, because my husband and I do a lot of kabalistic stuff, but then there are these other customs that we have never heard of!
Truly forgiving is really a hard thing to do… but forgiving yourself is the only way that you can really forgive others as well. Do you know who Rivka Malka Perlman is? She made an incredible video recently about forgiving oneself. Let me know if you want me to send it to you.
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Yeah the reason for the nuts thing is because the gimatria of “chet” is the same as “egoz”. Crazy! I remember learning that with my chevruta in the Mishna Brurah. We were like “Do people seriously not eat nuts on RH???” The answer is yes! Lots of people don’t eat nuts on RH!
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It’s funny, because it’s actually not the same gematria, but close enough! But a lot of people don’t eat nuts, so to each their own! (Chet = 18 and Egoz = 17)
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Yes, I know who Rivka Malka Perlman is and always find her messages to be so deep and meaningful. I’d really appreciate if you could send me the video! Thanks for the kind offer!
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Let me know if you can see this: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=466995333399203
If not I will ask her for an external link. Enjoy!
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I read no gold at all on Yom Kippur… so I replaced my wedding ring with a silver ring for the day. But hey, I’m no expert LOL
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it’s only on yom kippur that we refrain from wearing gold, because we do not, when asking for forgiveness, bring to mind the very serious sin of the egel where gold was donated for this purpose. it is not forbidden like wearing leather, but it is a very strong custom.
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Thank you for the clarification! From the research I’ve done (which is by no means extensive), it seems like an Ashkenaz custom, and most say that it only applies to the actual material, not the colour. Some say it’s just for men, who were the ones that actually did the chet haegel. Some say all real gold jewellery except wedding rings should be avoided. However I can understand why some people take it further! Either way, it is an chumra and not halacha, and everyone holds by different ones. (My husband and I, for example, use 12 challot/rolls on Shabbat.) Thank you for pointing it out!
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Lovely outfit and no, it doesn’t look like the bathroom and towel schmatta on the head. YK is my favorite holiday, too, with Pesach right up there.
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I have heard it too and only on Yom Kippur. As I know wedding rings are permitted.
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So interesting! Will look into it further. I hope no one thought that I was making a statement with the gold flower!
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I think the “no gold on YK” only applies to real gold (as I understood my rabbi). I do believe it’s because we don’t want to remind G-d and ourselves of the chet ha’egel, but for me, it’s all about doing away with materialistic needs. My first (and only) Yom Kippur while I was engaged, I didn’t know about the connection with the chet ha’egel, but I still chose to take off my engagement ring because I wanted to do away with my materialistic needs and also because I felt that it wasn’t the right time for me to flaunt the fact that I was engaged. For me, there’s nothing that screams “materialism” more than diamond jewelry.
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And yes, I did take off both my engagement ring and my wedding ring this year.
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That I can relate to… same as taking off your jewellery before the chuppah. Interesting.
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I’m pretty sure the “no gold” thing is for men only ,not women. According to a midrash, only the men gave up their gold for the egel, not the women. The custom is for men to avoid wearing gold (not the color really, just the material as far as I can tell).
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That makes a lot of sense. Though I’m sure there are women who have taken it on as well… and some that extend it to the colour and not just the material.
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I love Yom Kippur as well – I feel like the rest of the world just melts away and the synagogue becomes the center of my world. It’s a hard, long day, but it’s so beautiful.
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I agree… such an incredible opportunity to get closer to our creator and ourselves!
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First i love the white, white and lace just to put my input in I take all my jewelry off and the gematria for both words is 17
Where does one get lace scarves for good price I found one but it was a weird color
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From my and my husband’s calculations, “chet” as it is pronounced is 17, but when it’s spelled correctly (with an aleph) is 18. Just looked up quite a few articles about this custom, and it seems to be an ashkenaz minhag. The difference in gematria is noted. (Check out http://www.chabad.org/holidays/JewishNewYear/template_cdo/aid/746604/jewish/Is-it-true-we-dont-eat-nuts-on-Rosh-Hashanah.htm as an example. There quite a few insightful comments on that article so obviously this is something that is discussed.)
ANYWAY – back to tichels!
I have found most of my lace scarves at thrift stores, but you can get beautiful stretch lace with scalloped edges from fabric stores! Let me know what you find!
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How about a yellow/lemon outfit/tichel Andrea? Blending in and showing the significance of the etrog:-) I bet you look lovely in lemon/pale yellow. Unlike me who would probably look like an overweight duck ha ha. I am sure all your readers will agree that you seem to be one of those rare people who seem to be able to wear all colours.
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That gold flower is a great accessory! Where did you get it?
I hope you had a very good Yom Kippur. Some jewish friends of mine invited me to go, and I’m so glad I did; it was the most spiritual experience I’ve ever had 🙂
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That is the perfect Yom Kippur outfit and the texture of the tichel is stunning!! Sooo jealous 🙂
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