Published: 20 September 2022
Last updated: 5 March 2024
Advertisement for “toe sheitels” prompts questions; TV journalist uses Maimonides to argue for secular education in Haredi schools.
An advertisement for prosthetic toes to allow Haredi women to wear open-toes shoes without exposing their feet has prompted speculation and a little soul-searching in the Haredi community.
Nicknamed “toe sheitels” after the wigs Orthodox women use to cover their hair, the silicone toes prompted online debate about whether they could possibly be real.
The ad resembles the real ones circulating in the Haredi community, but the Orthodox women’s group Chochmat Nashim says it’s a fake.
“What happens when we are so far gone that you can’t tell the difference between reality and satire?” the group asked in an Instagram post. The question is how do we ensure that it always will be? How do we push back the sexualization of everything female and the warping of Judaism that we see now, which let’s face it, isn’t too far off from this?”
A potential customer shared a video of a conversation with a woman named Chana, who answered the phone number on the ad. She said the fake toes can be customised in different skin tones and enhanced with nail polish in shades named after Orthodox schools.
JTA made several calls to the New York number in the advertisement but only reached voicemail.
But it reported parodies of “what might or might not have been a parody” had begun to pile up, including ads for fake breasts as well as T-shirts depicting breasts, designed to allow modest toplessness, and for plastic “collar concealers” meant to allow strapless tops without revealing too much collarbone.”
In Israel, Haredi MK Moshe Gafni was subject to a stunt during a debate on Haredi education. Last week, in order to mend a rift between the two factions of the United Torah Judaism (UTJ) Party, opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu agreed, in principle, that if he returns to power, he will fund Haredi schools regardless of whether they teach the core curriculum.
