When is a married woman allowed to cut her hair during the year of mourning
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Question
A married woman in the year of mourning for her father, and the rule of rebuke does not apply to her since she goes with her head covered. When is she permitted to cut her hair?
Answer
A Sephardic woman is permitted to cut her hair immediately after the seven days of mourning, while an Ashkenazi woman should ideally not cut her hair throughout the entire year of mourning unless the abundance of hair interferes with the head covering, in which case she is permitted to cut it after a rebuke or after three months.
Source
Shulchan Aruch, Siman 390, Seif 5: "A woman is permitted to cut her hair after the seven days. The Rema writes that some prohibit even for a woman, and this is the main opinion."
The Rema also writes in Seif 4: "There is a dispute regarding the duration of the rebuke, and the custom is three months (according to the opinion of the Mahari in his rulings, Agudah, Maharil, and Ran). In these places, the custom is not to cut hair for a father or mother for all 12 months (Maharil, custom of some places), unless necessary, such as if the hair becomes too heavy, or if one lives among non-Jews and appears unkempt due to his hair, then it is permitted to cut."
And since a married woman who covers her head as is proper for the daughters of Israel does not have a reason for unkemptness even after three months, it is therefore proper to be stringent according to the Rema's stringency not to cut hair for 12 months. In cases of necessity where the hair interferes with the head covering, it is permitted to cut after a rebuke or after three months.
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