ANSWERS: 2
  • The different sizes (and styles) of yarmulkes have come to be a means of identifying which group one belongs to. For example, you will find that religious Zionists generally wear knitted colourful yarmulkes; "Haredi" Jews wear plain, black velvet; Chabad will often have black yarmulkes with 4 or 6 divisions, or plain velvet yarmulkes with a design and Breslover Chassidim have large, white knitted yarmulkes. Obviously, a yarmulke should effectively cover a man's head and there is some debate as to how big one needs to be to do that.
  • "A kippah or yarmulke (also called a kappel) is a thin, slightly-rounded skullcap traditionally worn at all times by [observant] Jewish men, and sometimes by both men and women in Conservative and Reform communities during services and other religious rituals. Its use is associated with demonstrating respect and reverence for God." "Any form of head covering is acceptable according to halakha (Jewish law). There are no hard and fast rules on the subject, although the compact, lightweight nature of a kippah, along with the fact that hats for men have fallen out of fashion in the West over last few decades, may have contributed to its popularity. Kippot have become identified as a symbol of Judaism over the last century. Haredi men, who mostly wear large black cloth or velvet kippot, often wear fedoras with their kippot underneath. In the Hasidic community, this double head-covering has Kabbalistic meaning. - Kippah as identification: Often the color and fabric of the kippah can be a sign of adherence to a specific religious movement. The Israeli Religious Zionist community is often referred to by the name kippot serugot (Hebrew כיפות סרוגות), literally "knitted kippot," though they are typically crocheted. American Modern Orthodox Jews often wear suede or leather kippot which require clips to hold them in place. Members of most Haredi groups usually wear black velvet or cloth kippot. Because of this, men who wear these kippot are sometimes referred to as kipot shekhorot (Hebrew כיפות שחורות), literally "black kippot". In the early 19th century in the United States, rabbis often wore a scholar's cap (large saucer-shaped caps of cloth, like a beret) or a Chinese skullcap. An engraved portrait of the Moldavian rabbi, Benjamin ben Benjamin (Rabbi Benjamin II), shows him wearing a Chinese silk skullcap. Other Jews of this era wore black pillbox-shaped kippot. In the mid-1800s, Reformers led by Rabbi Isaac Wise stopped wearing kippot altogether. More recently, kippot have been observed in the colors of sports teams supported by the wearer, especially football. In the United States, children's kippot with cartoon characters or themes such as Star Wars are popular. (In response to this trend, some Jewish schools have banned kippot with characters that do not conform to traditional Jewish values.) Some Breslov Hasidim, known commonly as "the Na-Nach Breslovers" the followers of the late Rabbi Yisroel Ber Odesser, wear full-head-sized, white, crocheted kippot with the Na Nach Nachma Nachman Meuman mantra emblazoned on it. Mainstream Breslover Hasidim (the larger percentage of the Breslov community who do not follow Rabbi Yisrael Ber Odesser) dress like other Hasidim with black velvet kippot. Samaritan Israelis once wore distinctive blue head coverings to separate them from Jews who wore white ones, but today they more commonly wear fezes with turbans similar to that of Sephardi Jews from the Middle East and North Africa. Today, Samaritans don't normally wear head coverings except during prayer, Sabbath, and religious festivals." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kippah

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