Jews And Their Kippas

Jonathan Pollard wrote: “The kippah is a sign of accepting the yoke of Heaven; the Holy One, blessed be He, is our aide and protector forever.”

Two people donated a black kippah...Baruch Marzel of Hevron...wears it in order to come closer to the hareidi-religious public...: “A Jew’s purpose is to collect the truth from everyone.”

Walking Between the Kippot

"Walking Between the Kippot" is the name of a exhibit currently in Givat Shaul, Jerusalem (in Lander's College). It features over 60 kippot that were donated from various high profile Israeli figures (or their families), with an explanation to why they donated that particular kippa. Each kippa was a different size and color.


Origins Of Exhibit

David (Dudu) Sa'ada, the Director-General of the religious-Zionist weekly B’Sheva newspaper, though of the idea to have this kippa exhibit. He thought of the idea while in a restaurant in Raanana. Many of the diners were wearing knitted yarmulkes and two secular friends who were sitting with me looked around and asked: "Dudu, how can it be that all of these people sitting here each have a different type of kippah?" At that minute, Dudu realized that the newspaper of the knitted-kippah public (i.e. B'sheva), had to make an exhibit of kippot in order to show and explain this multi-facetedness of the community.

Many Donate Kippahs

Among those who (or whose family) donated a kippah to the exhibit are:
*Rabbi Moshe Tzvi Neriah (considered by some as the father of the knitted kippah generation);
*the late Brig-Gen. Dror Weinberg;
*Jonathan Pollard;
*singer Dudu Fischer;
*father-and-son journalist team Haggai and Amit Segal;
*Effie Eitam;
*MK Zevulun Orlev;
*Moshe Feiglin;
*Tzfat’s Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu;
*cartoonist Shai Cherke and
*Nobel Prize laureate Prof. Yisrael Aumann.

Jonathon Pollard's Yarmulke Explanation

Jonathan Pollard, imprisoned in the U.S. for nearly 24 years for having shared critical, classified information with Israel, wrote, “The kippah is a sign of accepting the yoke of Heaven; the Holy One, blessed be He, is our aide and protector forever.”

Effie Eitam's Yarmulke Explanation

Effie Eitam, a former MK and Brig.-Gen. in the IDF, wrote, “I wasn’t born with a kippah; I chose it, and I continue to choose it every day.”
Haggai Segal wrote, “I am fairly certain that when the Messiah comes, he will be wearing a knitted kippah under his [hareidi-style] hat.”

Prof Oz's Yarmulke Explanation

Prof. Oz Almog of Haifa University explains that there are several parameters that define the various knitted kippot and, by extension, those who wear them: “Size, color, texture and design. The size often indicates the level of religiosity; the bigger, the more religious.” The “hilltop youth” and others often wear large kippot of thick wool, whereas the fine-thread kippot are much more common almost everywhere else.

MK Uri Orbach's Yarmulke Explanation

Two people donated a black kippah, with different explanations. MK Uri Orbach originally wanted to wear it abroad in places where he felt it would be better not to “stick out” too much – but he then changed his mind and decided that he need not worry about his kippah attracting attention.

Baruch Marzel's Yarmulke Explanation

Baruch Marzel of Hevron, on the other hand, wears it in order to come closer to the hareidi-religious public, which wears only black cloth yarmulkes: “A Jew’s purpose is to collect the truth from everyone.”

MY Yaakov Katz's Yarmulke Explanation
MK Yaakov Katz (Ketzaleh) donated a relatively large kippah, consistent with his yeshiva days in the Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva. He wrote, “When I completed the officers’ course in the IDF 38 years ago, we were three kippah-wearers among 150 cadets. Now we are privileged to see about half of those who become IDF officers wearing knitted yarmulkes.”
(Source - Arutz Sheva)