Why Jews Wearing the Kipa (Plural kippot)

Jews people are hard to identify. Their ancestors were the Semitic nomadic tribes of the Arabian Peninsula, usually have black curly hair, brown complexion and high nose. However, they have been persecuted and driven away from homeland for thousands of years. They have been scattered around the world. It has inevitably been mixed with other nation and become a worldwide nation. Today, the Jews of Israel, scattered over 100 countries, speak more than 80 languages, and their skin color is white, brown, yellow, red and black, just like a small United Nations while they have a same religion. Thus, the small round cap on top of their head, now we call it Kippah, Kippot(plural), became the most visible identification symbol of the jews.

The Jewish cap is called “Kipa” in Hebrew, meaning “covering”, which means expressing reverence for God. There is god over you and you can face god with bare head, so Jews should wear a hat to separate and cover. However, the Jews did not wear this small kipa in the beginning.

The ancient Jews were nomadic tribes in the Two Rivers Area. When they escaped from the persecution and traveled west to Canaan on the Mediterranean side, they still retained the costumes of the nomads. At that time, they wore linen or leather robes, with dark brown or white stripes, to prevent the wind, sun, rain, and cold at night. When they went out, they wore belts, wrapped headscarves, and had no hats. Women wear veil and jewelry. These customs are very similar to the later Arabs.

After the Hebrews came to Canaan, they created Judaism and built the Kingdom of David. They were repeatedly slaughtered and driven away. Jews who had been dispersed to Europe were discriminated against. They were not allowed to wear headscarves. It was indeed inconvenient to wear turbans. They were forced to wear hats as an insulting recognition. However, the Jews have a strong national cohesion. They gradually assimilated these interracial hats into their national costumes with religious meanings, and evolved into the current small round hats, kipa, in the Middle Ages.

Jews dress casually and neatly, don’t like to tie, and like to wear cool sandals in autumn and summer. They wear a small round cap, which should be called the top accurately, because it is too small and too light, slightly larger than the fist, shallowly buckled on the top of the head, with a clip to keep it tight. The bald man had to lean over kipa to the edge of their hair.

The deeper color of the Israeli round hat, the more pious, so most round caps are black, blue and less white. The material is generally cloth and velvet, but there are also colored weaving and plaid. Prices vary from a few shekels (4 shekels to 1 dollar) to hundreds of shekels.

Small round hats can be bought everywhere in Israel, and there must be a small box of kippot at the entrance to a religious atmosphere, such as the Wailing Wall, the Synagogue, etc., for free to wear. The round caps provided here are mostly black and are cut into round or square shapes using Daolin paper or kraft paper. The tourist only needs to buckle it on the top of his head and then press it with his hand, to show his pious.

There are now about 200,000 members of the extreme Jewish settle in Israel, many of whom wear thick black felt hats or black fur hats all year round, wearing black long coats, even in summer. Their children are also dressed like this, but wearing a small round cap.

Nowadays, most secular Jews in Israel, especially young people, don’t wear small hats daily, but they all have small round hats, and usually several pieces. When they go to the synagogue, they still wear kippot. A headscarf that represents reverence for God and ancestors.

While the other Jews around the world, in order to prevent terrorist attacks, they no longer wear small round hats, or even say they are NOT Jewish, so as not to cause trouble.

We are brothers, our ancestors are Abraham, we want peace, not violence.

A small round hat, kipa, kippah, kippot, yarmulke, yarmulkas, skullcap, all other names, just bears a heavy history.