AHA! SO their religion tells them to cover their real hair, so they have to wear wigs and halfwigs? Interesting!
Yes, growing up, we were close to an Orthodox neighborhood, and as a kid I just figured they all got the same 2 or 3 conservative haircuts. It wasn't until I saw a friend's sister's wig sitting on a dresser, that I found out. They thought it was hilarious. The other Jewish law that blew my mind was the rule about combining milk and meat -
"The Torah says: "You may not cook a young animal in the milk of its mother" (Ex.23:19). From this, it is derived that milk and meat products may not be mixed together. Not only may they not be cooked together, but they may not be served together on the same table and surely not eaten at the same time. This rule is scrupulously upheld in observant Jewish households, even in the handling of utensils, which are carefully separated into “fleishig” (meat) and “milchig” (dairy) and separately labeled. By strict observance of these laws, they become an everyday habit. After meat meals, one must wait one, three, or six hours – depending on one’s custom - before eating dairy. After dairy consumption, no interval is required before meat may be eaten."
