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Seriously, I have wondered about this, so I did a web search.
One site said Yes, a baseball cap can serve as a yarmulke.
Another site told of a Jewish kid who was suspended from a school in Florida because he insisted on wearing a baseball cap to school instead of a traditional yarmulke.
Seriously, I have wondered about this, so I did a web search.
One site said Yes, a baseball cap can serve as a yarmulke.
Another site told of a Jewish kid who was suspended from a school in Florida because he insisted on wearing a baseball cap to school instead of a traditional yarmulke.
What do you think?
I think a baseball cap is fine. Anything that covers the head when making a bracha. Heck, a baseball cap is probably better than a really tiny knit kippah that covers a smaller part of the head.
Some folks are attached to traditional styles, as well as to halacha.
IIUC at one time the Jewish head covering was a hood or cowl, such as was standard headwear in the middle ages. When hoods went out of fashion and gentiles began to go bear headed, the kippah was developed so Jews could stay more or less fashionable. IIUC some poskim were not happy with that compromise.
I know haredim who wear conventional mens hats, and hasidim who wear streimels (on shabbas, yomtove, and at weddings) wear kippot underneath - because there are times one MUST remove ones hat. And they dont want to bareheaded even for a second.
My sense is that most Modern O do NOT feel a need to have a kippah UNDER the baseball hat - but to have one with them, if they must remove their cap. Being bareheaded for a second whle one removes ones cap and puts on a kippah not being an issue, since the halachic requirement for head covering is specifically when saying a bracha.
BTW, we badly need a Modern O voice on this forum. Its difficult for me to give Modern O ideology and practice.
I know haredim who wear conventional mens hats, and hasidim who wear streimels (on shabbas, yomtove, and at weddings) wear kippot underneath - because there are times one MUST remove ones hat. And they dont want to bareheaded even for a second.
My sense is that most Modern O do NOT feel a need to have a kippah UNDER the baseball hat - but to have one with them, if they must remove their cap. Being bareheaded for a second whle one removes ones cap and puts on a kippah not being an issue, since the halachic requirement for head covering is specifically when saying a bracha.
BTW, we badly need a Modern O voice on this forum. Its difficult for me to give Modern O ideology and practice.
Maybe we need to do some recruiting and find a choshuv MO Yid for our forum?
My boys' rebbes at school taught them they are not allowed to take more than 3 steps (ever) without a head covering. My boys crack me up, as I see them wearing their yarmulkes to bed sometimes at night, as they are concerned if they wake up in the middle of the night and need to walk to the restroom, they may forget to put on their yarmulkes.
And yet when i go swimming with other Jewish men, clearly we do not swim with head coverings. We don't wear them into the mikvah, or in the shower, etc... Heck, I've even been known to take mine off when playing basketball in the backyard, and lightening did not strike me. But one of my boys plays in a JCC basketball league. His team is all frum boys, where most of the teams he plays are not. These boys on my son's team refuse to play without their yarmulkes, and they are at a decided advantage with one hand on the ball and the other holding their yarmulke in place. Pretty funny to watch. We got them some bobby pins, though, and they got a little better.
I think a baseball cap is fine. Anything that covers the head when making a bracha. Heck, a baseball cap is probably better than a really tiny knit kippah that covers a smaller part of the head.
Some folks are attached to traditional styles, as well as to halacha.
IIUC at one time the Jewish head covering was a hood or cowl, such as was standard headwear in the middle ages. When hoods went out of fashion and gentiles began to go bear headed, the kippah was developed so Jews could stay more or less fashionable. IIUC some poskim were not happy with that compromise.
As said above to make a blessing, a Jewish male needs a head covering. So in that context a baseball cap is fine. But certain Jewish groups especially ones trying to instill Jewish values may want to emphasize wearing a yarmulke for making blessings.
What does the yarmulke accomplish that the baseball cap would not accomplish by itself?
I mean, if your head is covered by the baseball cap, does it need the extra covering a yarmulke provides?
I do the same as flipflop.
I don't do it for anything extra; the head needs to be covered, and it really doesn't matter if it's with a hat or a kippah.
I do it because I tend to remove my regular hats fairly often, and it is just convenient to already have my kippah already in place.
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