Comments on: The kippa controversy: heat but no light on Hanukkah

By: Stephanie Sarra Pell

Stephanie Sarra Pell — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 14:17:38 +0000

Professor Woolf, I agree with much of what you have written. However, you don't seem to address the idea that in Israel the kippa is a symbol fraught with so much complexity. For many Israelis it is a symbol tied intimately with what some experience as a coercive power structure. Nothing like the academic gown at Oxford. It seems as though the policy is requiring (some) students to check reality at the door and when in the classroom, see the kippa as disconnected from the context of the modern state. I fully agree that the nature of the studies have a reverential aura – but wonder how to both hold this and also allow students maintain their personal integrity when faced with a symbol that may for them be depraved.

By: Alex Abramov

Alex Abramov — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 17:03:40 +0000

Avi Kallenbach, do you consider Humanist Judaism and Jews for Jesus also legitimate approaches to Jewish tradition?

By: H William Taeusch

H William Taeusch — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 15:47:27 +0000

I would think kippot should be worn by all men when entering a synagogue regardless of belief, just the way atheist men women entering a cathedral are requested to wear appropriate clothing. But study of holy texts in a university setting I think should be more relaxed. What should a Jew be required to wear when studying the Koran in a university setting?

By: Larisa Zelbovitz

Larisa Zelbovitz — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 10:29:57 +0000

It's a question of respect, which this student seems to be lacking. Just like I don't show up to synagogue in a bikini.

By: Yael Ariel Goldschmidt

Yael Ariel Goldschmidt — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 05:51:49 +0000

Not wearing a kipa has significance for people. It is not a neutral state. A man who wears a kipa for religious reasons is unlikely to want to take it off even in situations where men are required to remove their hats and head coverings, and many religious men would refuse to do so. Not wearing a kipa can be a deeply held statement of faith (or lack of faith) as well.

By: Yael Ariel Goldschmidt

Yael Ariel Goldschmidt — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 05:50:04 +0000

The Israeli alternative to Orthodoxy is a chiloni understanding of Israeliness and encompassed within that is Judaism and Jewish religion. A Jewish secular tradition has evolved. The founding fathers of Israel were what is now called datlashim: people who are raised within observant Orthodoxy who are no longer observant. This is not the case with modern day secular Israelis. I imagine that in the 1940s men covered their heads with a kippa when lighting chanukah candles. Secular Israeli men don't necessarily do so now. The fact is that the meaning of a kipa in Israel today is a matter of personal identity and belonging to certain social and political groups. Wearing a kipa is done to identify as dati, and to a young Israeli the request sounds like a request to pretend to be dati during class. For a religious male in Israeli the equivalent is to imagine having to wear a different kipa associated with a different group, eg being required to switch from a knitted to a large black velvet yarmulke.

By: Yael Ariel Goldschmidt

Yael Ariel Goldschmidt — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 05:50:04 +0000

By: Robin Birdfish

Robin Birdfish — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 00:06:21 +0000

In my opinion, you can demand compliance..you cannot demand respect. One chooses to show respect based on beliefs and attitudes.

By: Rob Davis

Rob Davis — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 08:58:23 +0000

Thanks for a great article. 100%a gree.

By: Rob Davis

Rob Davis — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 08:58:23 +0000

Thanks for a great article. 100%a gree.

By: Mike Cohen

Mike Cohen — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 19:45:49 +0000

Jordan warns Israelis not to visit wearing ‘Jew clothes’ http://www.timesofisrael.com/jordan-warns-israelis-not-to-visit-wearing-jew-clothes/.

By: Mike Cohen

Mike Cohen — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 19:45:49 +0000

Jordan warns Israelis not to visit wearing ‘Jew clothes’ http://www.timesofisrael.com/jordan-warns-israelis-not-to-visit-wearing-jew-clothes/.

By: Avi Kallenbach

Avi Kallenbach — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 18:03:09 +0000

*increasing* number of Reform Reconstructionist and post-denominational Jews by definition does not include everyone…

By: Avi Kallenbach

Avi Kallenbach — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 17:55:26 +0000

Some Charedim demand people respect their laws of modesty and separate seating. Some Muslim countries demand people respect their laws of modesty whether they like it or not. Does that make you happy?

By: Ben Madsen

Ben Madsen — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 17:52:56 +0000

This article hits on a key issue thank you for writing it. I'm inspired by the way you take people to task on the pettiness of such an action as the yarmulke but their absolute reverence for any other cultures modesty provisions. I recently experienced this with some friends who were visiting a Jewish community in morocco who were in awe by the beauty of the culture of modesty in morocco but then back here in the states, the concept of being tznius when you go to monsey was abhorrent. It's a strange double standard and not one that I meet with negativity but instead curiosity. Thank you for this article.