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It says in the halakha that a married woman may not go out into the public market place with "p'ruath rosh."

I have heard that this means "with uncovered head," but this does not seem to match up with the other uses of the term "p'rua" in the Gemara where it clearly means "disheveled/loosed."

In Masekheth Kethuboth (cf. Mishna, pereq 2, Gemara 15b-16b, 28a) it mentions a bethula coming out of the wedding canopy with her hair "p'rua" and goes on to explain that it means "loosed" and upon her shoulders and not simply "uncovered."

Additionally, the literal meaning of the word "p'rua" is "loosed/disheveled." So it seems that it begs the question that if Hazal meant to discuss hair which is either covered or uncovered why did they not simply employ the readily available terms of kisui and gilui, etc. Why did they choose a different word and give it an obscure meaning?

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  • See Woman & the Mitzvot: The Modest Way, pp. 137-140, and especially footnote 46.
    – Fred
    Commented Dec 15, 2013 at 5:55
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    If I recall this is dealt with in Sreidi Eish, Even HaEzer 78. I'll try to look at it and provide a summary if no one else beats me to it.
    – Yirmeyahu
    Commented Dec 15, 2013 at 5:56
  • @Fred - he doesn't really prove anything - simply states that it must be so. Kind of circular.
    – Danny Schoemann
    Commented Dec 15, 2013 at 10:17
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    @Maimonist Here are images of S'ridei Eish III, §30: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.
    – Fred
    Commented Dec 1, 2015 at 23:58
  • 1
    @Fred - Wow, awesome. I will put these on my desktop within the hour. Very, very much appreciated. Kol tuv.
    – user3342
    Commented Dec 2, 2015 at 13:25

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