Kippah

"Kipa" redirects here. For the supermarket, please see Kipa (supermarket). Distinguish from kipper.

Kippah
Halakhic sources*
Texts in Jewish law relating to this article:
Babylonian Talmud:	Shabbat 156b and Kiddushin 31a
Mishneh Torah:	Ahavah, Hilkhot Tefilah 5:5
Shulchan Aruch:	Orach Chayim 2:6
* Not meant as a definitive ruling. Some observances may be rabbinical, customs or Torah based.

A kippah (pronounced KEE-pə or kee-PAH and properly transliterated as "kipah"), (כִּפָּה or כִּיפָּה, plural: kippot [kipot] כִּפוֹת or כִּיפּוֹת, pron. KEE-poht or kee-POHT), or yarmulke (pronounced YAR-mə(l)-kə) pronunciation (also called a skullcap or kappel) is usually a cloth, hemispherical or platter-shaped skullcap traditionally worn at all times by observant Jewish men, and sometimes by both men and women in Conservative and Reform communities.

In Jewish Law

A Jewish man from Chişinău wearing a kippah, (1900)

The Talmud states "Cover your head in order that the fear of heaven may be upon you."^[1] and "Rabbi Hunah ben Joshua never walked 4 cubits (2 meters) with his head uncovered. He explained: 'Because the Divine Presence is always over my head."^[2] Jewish Law dictates that a man is required to cover his head during prayer.^[3] Originally, a head covering at other times for males was a custom, but it has since taken on "the force of law" because it is an act of Kiddush Hashem.^[4] The 17th-century authority David HaLevi Segal suggested that the reason was to distinguish Jews from their non-Jewish counterparts, especially while at prayer.

According to the Shulchan Arukh, Jewish men are strongly recommended to cover their heads, and doing so, should not walk more than four cubits bareheaded.^[5] Wearing a kippah is described as "honoring God".^[6] The Mishnah Berurah modifies this ruling, adding that the Achronim established it as a requirement to wear a head covering even when traversing less than four cubits,^[7] and even when one is standing still, indoors and outside.^[8] Kitzur Shulchan Aruch cites a story from the Talmud (Shabbat 156b) about Rav Nachman bar Yitzchok 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.^[9] In many communities, boys are encouraged to wear a kippah from a young age in order to ingrain the habit.^[10]

There are also lenient opinions, and many great rabbis who did not wear a head covering. In the opinion of the GRA (who says one can even make a brocha without a kippa) and other poskim, wearing a kippa is only a midos chassidus (exemplary attribute). Recently, there has been a cover up of previous sources which practiced this leniency, including erasing lenient responsa from newly published books.^[11]

According to Rabbi Isaac Klein's Guide to Jewish Religious Practice, a 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.^[12] In the mid-1800s, Reformers led by Rabbi Isaac Wise stopped wearing kippot altogether.

Types and variation

In the Middle Ages in Europe, the distinctive Jewish headgear was the Jewish hat, a full hat with a brim and a central point or stalk. This seems to have fallen from voluntary use after its wear was made compulsory in some places by Christian governments. 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 kippot.

Children's Crocheted kippot

Often the color and fabric of the kippah can be a sign of adherence to a specific religious movement. Knitted or crocheted kippot, known as kippot serugot, tend to be worn by Religious Zionists and the Modern Orthodox,^[13] who also wear suede or leather kippot. The hit Israeli TV series, Srugim, a series that has been compared to the U.S. TV series, Friends, takes its name from the fact that the main characters wear knitted kippot.

Members of most Haredi groups usually wear black velvet or cloth kippot. In general, the larger the kippa, the more observant the wearer is.^[14] And by contrast, the smaller the kippah, the more modern and even liberal the person is.^[15]

More recently, kippot have been observed in the colors of sports teams, especially football. In the United States, children's kippot with cartoon characters or themes such as Star Wars are popular. (In response to this trend, some Jewish schools have banned kippot with characters that do not conform to traditional Jewish values.^[16]) Kippot have been inscribed on their inside as a souvenir for a celebration, (bar/bat mitzvah or wedding). Kippot for women have started to appear.^[14][17][18] A special Baby kippah contains two strings on each side to fasten it and is often used in a brit milah.^[19]

Samaritan Jews once wore distinctive blue head coverings to separate them from Jews who wore white ones, but today they more commonly wear fezes with turbans similar to that of Sephardi Jews from the Middle East and North Africa. Today, Samaritans don't normally wear head coverings except during prayer, Sabbath, and religious festivals.

Image	Type	Movement
	Crocheted	Religious Zionism
	Suede	Modern Orthodox,[17] Conservative Judaism
	Black velvet	Haredi[20]
	Satin	Conservative Judaism, Reform Judaism
	White crocheted	Breslov Hasidim wear a full-head-sized, white crocheted kippah, sometimes with a knit pom-pom or tassel on top. Some Breslov Hasidim, followers of the late Rabbi Yisroel Ber Odesser, wear it with the Na Nach Nachma Nachman Meuman mantra crocheted in or embroidered on it.[21]
	Bukharan[22]	Popular with children,[14][22] and also worn by liberal-leaning, feminist and reform Jews.[23]
	Yemenite

Head coverings in ancient Israelite culture

The Israelites on Sennacherib's marble relief appear with headdress, and although the ambassadors of Jehu on the Shalmaneser stele have a head coverings, their costume seems to be Israelite. One passage of the older literature is of significance: I Kings 20:31 mentions חֲבָליִם havalim together with שַׂקּיִם saqqim, both of which are placed around the head. This calls to mind pictures of Syrians on Egyptian monuments, represented wearing a cord around their long, flowing hair, a custom still followed in Arabia.

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 back to Egyptian times when those of high society routinely shaved their heads, to prevent lice. Conversely, their skullcaps then served as protection against irritation from their wigs.

Possible modern analogues

The Israelites might have worn a headdress similar to that worn by the Bedouins. This consists of a keffieh folded into a triangle, and placed on the head with the middle ends hanging over the neck to protect it, while the other two are knotted together under the chin. A thick woolen cord (’akal) holds the cloth firmly on the head.

In later times, the Israelites, both men and women, adopted a turban-like headdress more like that of the Fellahs of today. The latter wear a little cap (takiyah), usually made of cotton cloth folded doubly or triply, which is supposed to shield the other parts of the head covering from perspiration. Under this cap are placed one, often two, felt caps (lubbadah); and the national fez head-dress of the Turks, the red tarboosh, a.k.a. "fez".

Around this is wound more elaborate, turban-like layers. Such a covering not only protects from the sun; it also furnishes a convenient pillow, and is used by the Fellahs for preserving important documents.

That the headdress of the Israelites might have been in the Fellah style may be inferred from the use of the noun צַנִיף tzanif (the verb tzanaf meaning "to roll like a ball", Isaiah 22:18) and by the verb חַבָּש habash ("to wind", comp. 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.^[24]

Middle Eastern and North African Jewish community headdress probably resembles that of the ancient cultures. Middle Eastern Jewish custom often tends to reflect local custom, while African custom consists either of the plain turban or Muslim style kufi cap (which in Africa is called kufune).

In Yemen, the wrap around the cap was called מַצַר matzar; the head covering worn by all women according to Dath Mosha was a גַּרגוּש "Gargush".^[25]

Kippot in secular law

The French government banned the wearing of kippot, hijabs and large crosses in public schools in March 2004.^[26]

"Camouflage Kippah", Beirut, 1983

In Goldman v. Weinberger, 475 U.S. 503 (1986), the United States Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, declared that any active military member was required to remove his yarmulke indoors.^[27] In response, the U.S. Congress proposed the Religious Apparel Amendment which, in part, explicitly protected the right to wear religious headgear in a "neat and conservative" manner except under very specific circumstances. However, the Religious Apparel Amendment failed to pass for two years in a row. It was followed in 1997 by the passing of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which was too controversial to remain in place and was struck down by the Supreme Court in its 1997 case Boerne v. Flores.

No legislative effect was positive until the breaking of the story of the camouflage kippa -- the piece of Marine Corps uniform that was torn off in order to replace the blood-soaked kippa of Jewish Navy Chaplain Arnold Resnicoff, which had been discarded after becoming bloody when it was used to wipe the face of wounded Marines during the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing -- was read into the Congressional Record.^[28][29] This amendment was eventually incorporated into a Department of Defense Instruction, the Accommodation of Religious Practices Within the Military Services. The story of the kippa was retold at many levels, including one time when President Ronald Reagan met in the White House with representatives of the "American Friends of Lubavitch," and then, to the surprise of the group, invited them to remain a little longer so that he could tell them the story of Resnicoff's kippa, and then ask them the meaning behind it. "Responding to the President...Rabbi Abraham Shemtov started: "Mr. President, the kipa to us is a sign of reverance." A colleague, Rabbi Feller, continued, "We place the kipa 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 G-d."^[30]

The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA), 114 Stat. 804, 42 U. S. C. §2000cc-1(a)(1)-(2), upheld as constitutional in Cutter v. Wilkinson, 44 U.S. 709 (2005) requires by inference that Orthodox Jewish prisoners be reasonably accommodated in their request to wear yarmulkas.^[31]

Jews aren't the only religious group to wear skull caps. Famous all over the world are the caps of the Muslims; the Roman Catholic Church has the zucchetto for high-ranking clergy (only the pope may wear a white one); Zoroastrians wear the topis; and old Druze men wore a simple "yarmulke" known as a doppa or topi. Buddhists often wear a simple Muslim-style cloth cap for traveling, which is known in China as a bao-tzu, in Japan as a bosu. (The Japanese term for "priest" is the related word bozu.)

A section in the same bill as the Oregon Workplace Religious Freedom Act, passed in July 2009 ^[32], reinforced an older law forbidding the wearing of religious clothing by teachers in public school classrooms.

References

See also

• The Philippi Collection

External links

• President Reagan reads first-hand account of the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing, where a piece of camouflage Marine uniform replaces the blood-soaked kippa of Jewish chaplain, Rabbi Arnold Resnicoff, who had used it to clean a wounded Marine's face. Speech: Text Version, Speech: Video Version.

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