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Judaism

Why men cover their heads

March 6, 2017 12:02
kippah.jpg
3 min read

If Marine Le Pen pulls out the latest in a series of political shocks and becomes president of France in spring, kippot may disappear off the street. The National Front leader has vowed to ban religious symbols in public places as part of her fight against radical Islam and believes Jews should be ready to “sacrifice” their headgear as well.


It is almost an ironic reversion of medievalism. Jews used to be compelled to wear distinctive dress to mark them out; now they might be told to forsake a badge of identity they have chosen to wear.


The kippah has become the most visible religious emblem for Jewish men. But while it is an accepted part of Orthodox life to keep your head covered, it is not a commandment in the biblical sense. 


In this it differs from a sheitel, snood or scarf. The practice of married Jewish women covering their hair is derived from the Torah — from the ritual of the sotah, the test of a woman suspected by her husband of infidelity. From the instruction to the officiating priest to “uncover her hair”, the rabbis understood that a married woman should not go bare-headed.