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I know that Jewish women married to non-Jews do not need to go to mikvah (and indeed should not do so with a blessing). Is there any evidence suggesting that a woman married to a non-Jew does not have to cover her hair, or has a diminished requirement for it?

Motivation: I don't have a very good sense of this, but it would seem (maybe, possibly) that she is not forbidden to other Jewish men if married to a non-Jew...in fact, I'm not even sure to what extent she is considered "married" under Jewish law. Thus she might not need to take on the expanded tznius requirements of a married woman (if we are calling hair covering that). (...This is all just speculation. Feel free to correct.)

EDITED TO ADD:

I'm asking also partially in light of a story of a woman I knew. She was married to a non-Jew, but had begun to take an interest in Yiddishkeit because their 9-year-old son was an extremely serious Jew. Her rebbetzin had her start wearing a hat at a retreat we were at. I found it interesting. I also think we should keep such sensitive cases in mind when we post comments here.

Related: Tznius and B'not Noach

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    Her marriage isn't a marriage as far as Jews are concerned, and she is permitted to Jews.
    – mevaqesh
    Commented Feb 17, 2015 at 2:51
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    @SAH I don't think having this lady cover her hair has as much to do with real halacha as it does getting her into a Jewish mode of thought, get her to do tshuva, something like that. Chazzal have an expression about going to the mikva with a sheretz in one's hand. It doesn't work. Do you think this lady should be keeping taharas habayis and going to the mikva once a month?
    – user6591
    Commented Feb 17, 2015 at 3:42
  • @user6591 I don't know. But I also know that such situations can be very complicated. Teshuvah may be involved, or she may (very likely) have married the man in a condition other than brazen sin on her own part.
    – SAH
    Commented Feb 17, 2015 at 3:54
  • @user6591 Anyway, as discussed below, the requirement to cover hair may be a question of virginity.
    – SAH
    Commented Feb 17, 2015 at 3:55
  • Related: judaism.stackexchange.com/q/49279 and judaism.stackexchange.com/a/34547
    – Fred
    Commented Feb 17, 2015 at 4:27

1 Answer 1

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The Mishna Berura concludes that even an unmarried woman who has had relations needs to cover her hair, although we won't force her to do so (M.B. 75:11).

ובתולות ארוסות אסורות לילך בגילוי הראש וה"ה בתולות שנבעלו צריכין לכסות הראש ומ"מ אם זינתה ואינה רוצה לצאת בצעיף על ראשה כדרך הנשים אין יכולין לכופה

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    @mevaqesh That was regarding if you can be matir it for extenuating circumstances. And R' Ovadia argued with R' Moshe's hetter. Yabia Omer 4 E.H. 3
    – Y     e     z
    Commented Feb 17, 2015 at 3:19
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    @SAH I doubt it - as you suspected in your question, and was repeated in a comment there, her "marriage" has no halachic validity and therefore is probably not discussed in this context. And it probably hasn't come up very often, that an intermarried woman wanted to cover her hair. But I have been surprised before by what has been discussed.
    – Y     e     z
    Commented Feb 17, 2015 at 3:27
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    @mevaqesh I'm asking partially in light of a story of a woman I knew. She was married to a non-Jew, but had begun to take an interest in Yiddishkeit because their 9-year-old son was an extremely serious Jew. Her rebbetzin had her start wearing a hat at a retreat we were at. I found it interesting. I also think we should keep such sensitive cases in mind when we post comments here.
    – SAH
    Commented Feb 17, 2015 at 3:33
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    @SAh I didnt mean to offend anyone. If you think I should delete the comments I will. I sincerely wish great success to your friend. Perhaps the recommended hair covering was meant to effect a social shift as part of the tshuva process rather than address a particular halachic need.
    – mevaqesh
    Commented Feb 17, 2015 at 3:56
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    @SAH the halacha, according to the Mishna Berura, is that she has an obligation to cover her hair. If she doesn't, it is not something that we would enforce (using whatever means would be available), but it is an obligation.
    – Y     e     z
    Commented Mar 15, 2015 at 1:36

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