The other day I was walking downtown behind a guy wearing a yarmulke, and I got to thinking. A lot of religious traditions have tangible reasons, aside from spiritual. Jewish people don't eat pork, not for religious reasons, but because back when that rule was decided all kinds of diseases were transmitted through improperly prepared pork.
The Catholics don't eat meat on Friday, and are encouraged to eat fish. This tradition has, contrary to popular belief, nothing to do with Jonah, or the fish filled with gold from the Bible, or anything like that. Back when the fish on Friday tradition was created, it was because the fishing industry in many Catholic communities was suffering, so the church passed down an edict that mandated their parishioners eat fish every Friday. I think it worked, but I'm not sure.So I'm walking behind this guy wearing a yarmulke, trying to figure out where this tradition came from. The only thing I could think of was that the yarmulke fits perfectly over bald spots; maybe it has something to do with that.
2 comments:
Typooo! I thought you were just misinformed about Catholics, but then you corrected yourself. We eat no meat on Fridays, not Sundays. Oh, and now it's only during Lent. The rest of the year, we do as we please, thank you.
http://www.marcinthecity.com/2008/02/thinking-about-yamikas.html
The sources for wearing a kippah are found in the Talmud. In tractate Shabbat 156b it states: Cover your head in order that the fear of heaven may be upon you. As well, in tractate Kiddushin 31a it states Rabbi Honah ben Joshua never walked 4 cubits (2 meters) with his head uncovered. He explained: "Because the Divine Presence (Shekhina) is always over my head."
As to the obligation of wearing a yarmulke, halakhic experts agree that it is a custom. The prevailing view among Rabbinical authorities is that this custom has taken on a kind of force of law (Shulkhan Arukh, Orach Chayim 2:6), because it is an act of Kiddush Ha-Shem, "Sanctifying the Holy Name." From a strictly talmudic point of view, however, the only moment when a Jewish man is required to cover his head is during prayer (Mishne Torah, Ahavah, Hilkhot Tefilah 5:5).
Even this interpretation is in question; as recently as the 1600s, scholar David Haley of Ostrog, Ukraine, suggested that Jews should never uncover their heads in order to help distinguish them from Christians- especially while at prayer.
A Hasidic/Kabbalist tradition states that the kippah reflects several ideas: one is that Ha-Shem covers us with His Divine Palm; indeed, the Hebrew word kaf means either "cloud" or "palm of the hand". The Hebrew letter kav is the first letter of the word kippah.
Reasons given for wearing a kippah today include:
* recognition that God is "above" mankind;
* "acceptance" of the 613 mitzvot (commandments);
* "identification" with the Jewish people;
* demonstration of the "ministry" of all Jews.
Some Jews wear two head coverings, typically a kippah covered by a hat, for Kabbalistic reasons: the two coverings correspond to two levels of intellect, or two levels in the fear of God. The High Priest of the Temple in Jerusalem, the Kohein Gadol, also used to wear a woolen kippah under his priestly headdress (Talmud Chulin 138a)[3].
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