The kippah

Yaakov, Béla Orbán

 

- The use of a head cover dates for just a few centuries. These times – such as many others – this tradition developed from a double feeling:  

A./ During the history, in a lot of case and in numerous places not only living apart from the "native" population was obligatory for the Jews, but they also had to wear distinguishing features on their clothes.  
Except that kind of distinguishing laws established by the Christianity, Jews also had to wear other kind of clothes, like covering their heads…
Many of these decrees are known also in Hungary. 

B./ The Jewish People that stayed faithful to the law of Torah that says : "You shall not be like the ones of the other nations", are covering their heads before entering the Temples unlike to Christians who discover them before entering them. 
Later this became the symbol of the People’s unity.  

Despite that this is not a law of the Torah, the bearing of the kippah or the hat is the visible testimony of God's respect because nobody is allowed and it is impossible to appear in front of God without covered head.  

Why do I wear a kippah myself? 
- I am Jew
- I signal to my People that I belong to them by the blood. 

Such as many other signs and symbols, the kippah also belongs to Jews and is used to express their identity. All the others are wearing it uselessly. 

For this precise reason, each person which is not Jewish from origin and which wears a kippah outside a synagogue or any Jewish cult is lying since he is not a Jew!  
Such I do not wear anything on my head when I am assisting to a Christian cult, the same way, any man from the other nations must put a kippah when he enters a synagogue or participates to a Jewish cult in sign of respect of the place and the People.   

I never wear a kippah while doing my ministry among our own community since it is not only composed of Jews. I am not allowed to distinguish myself or exclude anybody by wearing any distinguishing sign on me.  
However, the day of Shabbat and other Jewish feasts, as a Jew, I stand with my People and I show it also by this visible thing on my head. This sign however is not a state of schizophrenia nor a double identity or the jumping from one to the other... 

La Torah demands to men to cover their head when appearing before God since the priests must cover their own heads when serving in the Sanctuary in front of the Eternal.  

The tradition of covering the head must come from the Babylonian Judaism from about the 4Th-5Th century before Christ. When the wise faithful were praying, they covered their heads. It was very common to see them covering their heads with their Tallit (prayer shawl) when they were praying. They symbolized by this act the fact of being under the cover of the Law and so under the protection and in the presence of the Eternal... This sign indicated to their neighborhood Who they belong to... 

 

 

Translated from hungarian by Richard (Zeev Shlomo)

 

Copyright © 2005-2012 SHOFAR - BUDAPEST, Jewish congregation believing in Yeshua HaMashiach
JHVH NISSZI Ministry www.kehilatshofar.com