![PikiWiki Israel 38772 Vacation Experience](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/PikiWiki_Israel_38772_Vacation_Experience.JPG)
A , , or , plural ), also called ''yarmulke'' (, ; yi, יאַרמלקע, link=no, , german: Jarmulke, pl, Jarmułka or ''koppel'' ( yi, קאפל ) is a brimless
cap
A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...
, usually made of cloth, traditionally worn by
Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
ish males to fulfill the customary requirement that the head be covered. It is worn by all men in
Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
Jewish communities during prayers and by most Orthodox Jewish men at all other times. Among non-Orthodox Jewish communities, those who wear them customarily do so only during prayer, while attending a
synagogue, or in other rituals, and often women may also wear them in those communities.
Etymology
The term ( he, כיפה) literally means "dome", as the kippah is worn on the head like a dome.
The
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
term might be derived from the
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
or the
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
, perhaps ultimately from
Medieval Latin
Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functione ...
("cowl, hood"). It may also be of
Turkic origin (akin to , meaning "rainwear"); the word is often associated with the phrase (), formed from the
Aramaic
The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...
word for 'king' and the Hebrew root , meaning 'fear'. or is another Yiddish term for the same thing.
Jewish law
Halachic
''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical comman ...
authorities debate as to whether wearing a at all times is required.
According to the
Rambam
Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah s ...
, Jewish law dictates that a man is required to cover his head during prayer.
In non-Orthodox communities, some women also wear , and people have different customs about when to wear a when eating, praying, studying Jewish texts, or entering a sacred space such as a synagogue or cemetery. The Reform movement has historically been opposed to wearing , but in recent years it has become more common and accepted for Reform men and women to cover their heads during prayer and Jewish study.
However, according to several prominent authorities, the practice has since taken on the force of law because it is an expression of (reverence for Heaven, i.e. God). The 17th-century authority Rabbi
David HaLevi Segal (The "Taz") holds that the reason is to enforce the Halakhic rule to avoid practices unique to Gentiles. Since, he points out, Europeans are accustomed to go bare-headed, and their priests insist on officiating with bare heads, this constitutes a uniquely Gentile practice, and therefore Jews would be prohibited from behaving similarly. Thefore he rules that wearing a is required by halacha.
Other halachic authorities like Sephardi , the
Chida (Rabbi Chaim Yosef David Azulai), hold that wearing a head covering is a , an additional measure of piety.
In a recent responsum, former Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel
Ovadia Yosef
Ovadia Yosef ( he, , Ovadya Yosef, ; September 24, 1920 – October 7, 2013) was an Iraqi-born Talmudic scholar, a posek, the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1973 to 1983, and a founder and long-time spiritual leader of Israel's ultra-Orthod ...
ruled that it should be worn to show affiliation with the religiously observant community.
The
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...
states, "Cover your head in order that the fear of heaven may be upon you." Rabbi Hunah ben Joshua never walked 4
cubits
The cubit is an ancient unit of length based on the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. It was primarily associated with the Sumerians, Egyptians, and Israelites. The term ''cubit'' is found in the Bible regarding No ...
() with his head uncovered. He explained: "Because the
Divine Presence
Divine presence, presence of God, Inner God, or simply presence is a concept in religion, spirituality, and theology that deals with the ability of God to be " present" with human beings.
According to some types of monotheism God is omnipresen ...
is always over my head." This was understood by Rabbi Yosef Karo in the
Shulchan Arukh as indicating that Jewish men should cover their heads, and should not walk more than four cubits bareheaded. Covering one's head, such as by wearing a , is described as "honoring God". The modifies this ruling, adding that the ''
Achronim'' established a requirement to wear a head covering even when traversing fewer than four cubits, and even when one is standing still, indoors and outside. cites a story from the Talmud (Shabbat 156b) about
Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak, who might have become a thief had his mother not saved him from this fate by insisting that he cover his head, which instilled in him the fear of God.
[KSA 3:6] In Orthodox communities, boys are encouraged to wear a from a young age in order to ingrain the habit.
![IDF soldier kippah put on tefillin-small](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/IDF_soldier_kippah_put_on_tefillin-small.jpg)
The Talmud implies that unmarried men did not wear a :
The Tanakh implies that covering one's head is a sign of mourning:
The argument for the has two sides. The
Vilna Gaon said one can make a without a , since wearing a is only a ("exemplary attribute"). In the 21st century, there has been an effort to suppress earlier sources that practiced this leniency, including erasing lenient
responsa from newly published books.
Or Zarua (13th century) wrote that "our rabbis in France" customarily made blessings while bareheaded, but he criticized this practice.
According to 20th-century Rabbi
Isaac Klein, a male Conservative Jew ought to cover his head when in the synagogue, at prayer or sacred study, when engaging in a ritual act, and when eating. In the mid-19th century, Reformers led by
Isaac Wise completely rejected the after an altercation in which Rabbi Wise's was knocked off his head. Nowadays, almost all Conservative synagogues require men to wear a head covering (usually a ), but in Reform synagogues there is no requirement. However, may be provided to anybody who wishes to wear them.
Types and variation
![Air Force Jewish Chaplain (Capt](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Air_Force_Jewish_Chaplain_%28Capt.%29_Sarah_Schechter_-_Iraq.jpg)
In the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
in Europe, the distinctive Jewish headgear was the
Jewish hat
The Jewish hat, also known as the Jewish cap, ''Judenhut'' ( German) or Latin ''pileus cornutus'' ("horned skullcap"), was a cone-shaped pointed hat, often white or yellow, worn by Jews in Medieval Europe. Initially worn by choice, its wearing wa ...
, a full hat with a brim and a central point or stalk. Originally used by choice among Jews to distinguish themselves, it was later made compulsory by Christian governments in some places as a discriminatory measure. In the early 19th century in the United States, rabbis often wore a scholar's cap (large saucer-shaped caps of cloth, like a beret) or a Chinese skullcap. Other Jews of this era wore black pillbox-shaped .
Often, the color and fabric of the can be a sign of adherence to a specific religious movement, particularly in Israel.
Knit
Knitting is a method by which yarn is manipulated to create a textile, or fabric. It is used to create many types of garments. Knitting may be done by hand or by machine.
Knitting creates stitches: loops of yarn in a row, either flat or i ...
ted or
crocheted , known as , are usually worn by
Religious Zionists and
Modern Orthodox
Modern may refer to:
History
*Modern history
** Early Modern period
** Late Modern period
*** 18th century
*** 19th century
*** 20th century
** Contemporary history
* Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century
Philosoph ...
Jews. They also wear suede or leather . Knitted were first made in the late 1940s, and became popular after being worn by Rabbi
Moshe-Zvi Neria
Rabbi Moshe-Zvi Neria ( he, משה צבי נריה, 29 January 1913 – 12 December 1995) was an Israeli educator, writer, and rosh yeshiva who served as a member of the Knesset for the National Religious Party between 1969 and 1974. Neria establi ...
. Members of most
Haredi
Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...
groups wear black velvet or cloth .
More recently, have been observed made in the colors of sports teams, especially
football. In the United States, children's featuring cartoon characters or themes such as ''
Star Wars'' have become popular; in response to this trend, some Jewish schools have banned with characters that do not conform to traditional Jewish values. have been inscribed on the inside as a souvenir for a celebration (bar/bat mitzvah or wedding). for women are also being made and worn.
[Living Jewish – Jewish Attire!](_blank)
'' Mazor Guide.'' Retrieved December 19, 2010. These are sometimes made of beaded wire to seem more feminine. A special baby has two strings on each side to fasten it and is often used in a ceremony.
["From baby kippah to Tylenol, Bris Kit has everything but the implement"](_blank)
''J. The Jewish News of Northern California
''J. The Jewish News of Northern California'', formerly known as ''Jweekly'', is a weekly print newspaper in Northern California, with its online edition updated daily. It is owned and operated by San Francisco Jewish Community Publications In ...
'', 18 Jun 2004
Head coverings in ancient Israelite culture
The
Israelites
The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan.
The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...
on
Sennacherib
Sennacherib ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: or , meaning " Sîn has replaced the brothers") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of his father Sargon II in 705BC to his own death in 681BC. The second king of the Sargonid dynas ...
's
marble relief appear with headdress. The ambassadors of
Jehu
) as depicted on the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III
, succession = King of Northern Israel
, reign = c. 841–814 BCE
, coronation = Ramoth-Gilead, Israel
, birth_date = c. 882 BCE
, death_date = c. 814 BCE
, burial_place ...
on the
Shalmaneser stele have head coverings, and their costume seems to be Israelite. One passage of the older literature is of significance: 1 Kings 20:31 mentions (), which are placed around the head. This suggests portrayals of
Syrians on
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
ian monuments, represented wearing a cord around their long, flowing hair, a custom still followed in
Arabia
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plat ...
.
Evidently the costume of the poorest classes is represented; but as the cord gave no protection against the heat of the sun, there is little probability that the custom lasted very long. Much more common was the simple cloth skullcap, dating to Egyptian times. Persons of high society routinely shaved their heads, to prevent
lice. Conversely, their skullcaps also served as protection against irritation from their wigs.
The Israelites might have worn a headdress similar to that worn by the
Bedouins
The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and Ar ...
, but it is unknown whether a fixed type of headdress was used. That the headdress of the Israelites might have been in the style may be inferred from the use of the noun hbo, צַנִיף, tzanif, label=none (the verb meaning "to roll like a ball", Isaiah 22:18) and by the verb hbo, חַבָּש, habash, label=none ("to wind", compare Ezekiel 16:10; Jonah 2:6). As to the form of such turbans, nothing is known, and they may have varied according to the different classes of society. This was customary with the Assyrians and Babylonians, for example, whose fashions likely influenced the costume of the Israelites—particularly during and after the
Babylonian Exile. In Yemen, the wrap around the cap was called hbo, מַצַר, matzar, label=none; the head covering worn by women was a hbo, גַּרגוּש,
gargush
Gargush ( he, גַּרְגּוּשׁ) is a traditional Yemenite Jewish headdress, resembling a hood, which is thought to have originated in the Sanaite community.
History
Yemenite Jews have throughout the ages preserved ancient Jewish modesty t ...
, label=none.
Civil legal issues
In ''
Goldman v. Weinberger'', 475 U.S. 503 (1986), the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
ruled in a 5–4 decision that active military members were required to remove the indoors, citing uniform regulations that state only armed security police may keep their heads covered while indoors.
Congress passed the Religious Apparel Amendment after a war story from the
1983 Beirut barracks bombing
Early on a Sunday morning, October 23, 1983, two truck bombs struck buildings in Beirut, Lebanon, housing American and French service members of the Multinational Force in Lebanon (MNF), a military peacekeeping operation during the Lebanese ...
about the "camouflage " of Jewish Navy Chaplain
Arnold Resnicoff
Arnold E. Resnicoff (born 1946) is an American Conservative rabbi who served as a military officer and military chaplain. He served in Vietnam and Europe beforeLester Westling, "All That Glitters: Memoirs of a Minister," Global Publishing Servic ...
was read into the ''Congressional Record''. Catholic Chaplain George Pucciarelli tore off a piece of his
Marine Corps
Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refl ...
uniform to replace Resnicoff's when it had become blood-soaked after being used to wipe the faces of wounded Marines after the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing. This amendment was eventually incorporated into U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) regulations on the "Accommodation of Religious Practices Within the Military Services".
This story of the "camouflage " was re-told at many levels, including a keynote speech by President
Ronald Reagan to the Baptist Fundamentalism Annual Convention in 1984, and another time during a
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
meeting between Reagan and the American Friends of Lubavitch.
After recounting the Beirut story, Reagan asked them about the religious meaning of the .
Rabbi
Abraham Shemtov
Abraham Shemtov (born February 16, 1937) is a Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi and a shaliach ("emissary") of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
He is chairman of the board of Agudas Chasidei Chabad, the movement's umbrella organization, ...
, the leader of the group, responded: "Mr. President, the to us is a sign of reverence." Rabbi Feller, another member of the group, continued: "We place the on the very highest point of our being—on our head, the vessel of our intellect—to tell ourselves and the world that there is something which is above man's intellect: the infinite Wisdom of God."
Passage of the Religious Apparel Amendment and the subsequent DOD regulations were followed in 1997 by the passing of the
Religious Freedom Restoration Act
The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, Pub. L. No. 103-141, 107 Stat. 1488 (November 16, 1993), codified at through (also known as RFRA, pronounced "rifra"), is a 1993 United States federal law that "ensures that interests in religiou ...
(RFRA). However, the Supreme Court struck down RFRA as beyond Congress' powers to bind the states in the 1997 case ''
City of Boerne v. Flores
''City of Boerne v. Flores'', 521 U.S. 507 (1997), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States concerning the scope of Congress's power of enforcement under Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment. The case also had a signific ...
''. RFRA is constitutional as applied to the Federal government, as seen in ''
Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao do Vegetal Gonzales may refer to:
Places
* Gonzales, California, U.S.
* Gonzales, Louisiana, U.S.
* Gonzales, Texas, U.S.
* Gonzales County, Texas
Other uses
* Battle of Gonzales, 1835
* Gonzales (horse) (1977 – after 1996), an American-bred Thoroughbred r ...
''.
The
Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act
The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), , codified as et seq., is a United States federal law that prohibits the imposition of burdens on the ability of prisoners to worship as they please and gives churches and oth ...
of 2000 (RLUIPA), 114 Stat. 804, 42 U. S. C. §2000cc-1(a)(1)-(2), upheld as constitutional in ''
Cutter v. Wilkinson
''Cutter v. Wilkinson'', 544 U.S. 709 (2005), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that, under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), facilities that accept federal funds cannot deny prisoners ...
'', 44 U.S. 709 (2005), requires by inference that Orthodox Jewish prisoners be reasonably accommodated in their request to wear .
The French government
banned the wearing of ,
hijabs, and large
crosses
Crosses may refer to:
* Cross, the symbol
Geography
* Crosses, Cher, a French municipality
* Crosses, Arkansas, a small community located in the Ozarks of north west Arkansas
Language
* Crosses, a truce term used in East Anglia and Lincolnshire ...
in public primary and secondary schools in France in March 2004.
The provincial government of
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, Canada passed "An Act respecting the laicity of the State" in June 2019, which prohibits the wearing of "religious symbols" by government employees including teachers, police officers, judges, prosecutors, and members of certain commissions.
Wearing by non-Jews
![Lea Rabin-Clinton](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Lea_Rabin-Clinton.jpg)
Though it is not required, when a non-Jew wears a in a synagogue, it is considered a sign of respect. are often provided to guests at a
Bar or Bat Mitzvah. They are also often provided at
bereavement
Grief is the response to loss, particularly to the loss of someone or some living thing that has died, to which a bond or affection was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, grief also has physical, cogniti ...
events and at
Jewish cemeteries. According to the Conservative
Committee on Jewish Law and Standards
The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards is the central authority on halakha (Jewish law and tradition) within Conservative Judaism; it is one of the most active and widely known committees on the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly. With ...
, there is no
halakhic reason to require a non-Jew to cover their head, but it is recommended that non-Jews be asked to wear a where ritual or worship is being conducted, both out of respect for the Jewish congregation and as a gesture of respect including the non-Jewish guest.
were adopted as a symbol by some of the non-Jewish African American marchers in the 1965
Selma to Montgomery marches
The Selma to Montgomery marches were three protest marches, held in 1965, along the 54-mile (87 km) highway from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital of Montgomery. The marches were organized by nonviolent activists to demonstrate the ...
, most prominently by
James Bevel
James Luther Bevel (October 19, 1936 – December 19, 2008) was a minister and leader of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement in the United States. As a member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and then as its Director of Direct ...
.
See also
* , a similar Muslim skullcap
*
Zucchetto
The zucchetto (, also ,["zucchetto"](_blank)
(US) and ,
*
The Philippi Collection
The Philippi Collection is a German private collection of clerical, Religion, religious and spiritual Headgear, headdresses. The collection demonstrates the history, shared roots and diversity of religious-clerical head coverings.
Description
T ...
*
Kid Yamaka, Jewish American boxer
*
Knit cap
* , an Israeli television show named after the knit worn by Religious Zionists
Notes
References
External links
{{Authority control
Jewish ritual objects
Jewish religious clothing
Non-clerical religious clothing
Religious headgear
Middle Eastern clothing
History of Asian clothing
Jewish life cycle
Articles containing video clips
Hebrew words and phrases in Jewish law