The ceremony's organizers urged Samaras to honor the occasion. When he was offered to put on a hat instead of a yarmulke, he still declined, and finally laid a wreath bareheaded.[..]
It is rare for distinguished foreign guests to take such a stance: Nevertheless, in 2005, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan acted in a similar manner. Former French President Jacques Chirac also refused to wear a yarmulke, however settled for a hat.[...]
In the Yeshivas that I attended, non-Jewish secular studies teachers wore yarmulkas. I never understood what purpose that served.
ReplyDeleteNo goy should be asked to wear a yarmulka anywhere. No at the kosel, no in shuls, not anywhere.
ReplyDeleteIt has no point and is meaningless.
How would a Jew like if he were asked to wear a cross while he payed respect to a deceased Christian?
ReplyDeleteThis is almost the same.
No it isn't. There is no obligation for a Chrisian to wear a cross. An analogous situation would be if the Jew was asked to doff all his headgear out of respect.
DeleteI've always been bothered by this. In the Conservative synagogue I grew up in non-Jewish guests were always handed a yarmulke when they entered the sanctuary, usually by a greeter who doffed his kippah the minute services ended. We don't wear something because we're in a sanctuary or doing a ritual, we do it because it's an ongoing obligation. Non-Jews don't have this obligation so why should we care if they go bareheaded?
ReplyDeleteIf the situation were reversed would samaras request the organizers wear crosses on thier necks? I dont get why jewa must shove thier meshugasin on everyone. Else. Its gotten so out of hand.
ReplyDeletei was always curious about this business about non jews wearing a kippa "out of respect". personally, i would prefer they not wear a kippah, "out of respect".
ReplyDeleteif they wear it for "yirat malkah" ( = fear of god) reasons, thats one thing. but they dont.
(OTOH, neither do many born jews wear it out of "yirat malkah" reasons.)
At the Reform Temple in Troy New York- where I went to college - I was told that only one person was allowed to wear a kippa and talis. That was the non-Jewish gospel singer who lead the choir! Reform Jews had principles in those days.
ReplyDeleteFelix I think you have a reading disability - or perhaps you are just looking for something nasty to say.
DeleteI never went into the Reform Temple - I said I had been told that that is what the practice was.
Sorry, I think the comments are missing the point. A non-jew putting on a kippah may be meaningless from a religious standpoint, but refusing to abide by existing protocol when visiting a foreign country is an insult and should be treated a such. Any religious issues could have been obviated by putting on a hat which is certainly not a religious object. Somehow I doubt if he he refuses to take off his shoes when entering a mosque
ReplyDeleteIt's against his Christian religious principles to don a specifically Jewish cloth. You wouldn't want to be forced to don a Christian form of dress.
DeleteAre you kidding me? There is no Christian rule that says that you can't wear a kippah. Heck, the Pope and the Cardinals, l'havdil, all wear kippahs.
DeleteI think Ira's comparison to taking off one's shoes when visiting a mosque is appropriate. Jews and Christians do not take off their shoes when entering their respective places of worship, just as Christian and Muslim men do not cover their heads in prayer or visiting their places of worship. But if I were to visit a mosque, it would be rude of me to refuse to remove my shoes, and I think it is rude of a Gentile to refuse to cover his head in a Jewish place of worship if he is asked to do so. Neither act implies a renunciation of one's own religious beliefs or conversion to another religion. It's nothing like being asked to wear a crucifix.
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, let's not make a big deal out of it. For a Gentile political leader, joining in a memorial for Holocaust victims in Israel is a demonstration of goodwill toward the Jewish people and the State of Israel. Antisemitism is very real in both Greece and Turkey (believe it or not, Erdogan has been accused of being a crypto-Jew), so it is understandable, if not commendable, that they did not want to be photographed wearing a yarmulke, to give ammunition to political opponents who would try to make it into more than a gesture of respect.
Goyim should specifically NOT wear kippas unless the individual decides he wants to do it out of personal conviction (perhaps viewing a kippa the same basic way we do, which is pretty inocuous and does not renounce much of anything btw). But that being said I have to wonder what reason these politicians have to REFUSE to wear it, as long as yad vashem is asking them to (even tho you or I wouldn't ask them to). I mean, does it have Jew cooties or something?
ReplyDeleteI covered this a while back. See
ReplyDeletehttp://pitputim.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/should-a-non-jew-wear-a-yarmulke/
The kippah is supposed to be worn on a variety of occasions. In the opinion of the orthodox verdicts the skull cap should be worn all the time by Jewish males. At the same time it is highly believed that it is important to wear these traditional caps when a religious service is in process.
ReplyDeleteDiscount kippahs