Live always at the edge of poetic possibilty, even in the face of severe prose. - Walter Bruggemann


Wednesday, October 1, 2008

ABC Wednesday - K


Kippahs, and lots of them.

Actually I think the plural of Kippah is Kippote, but why get technical now? In Israel you can find any kind of kippah or yarmulke that you can possibly dream of. Like watermelons? Try a red kippah with black seeds and a green border. Like the NY Giants or any other sports team? They've got it. Does Spiderman suit your fancy? Plain or fancy there is one for every personality under the sun.
A kippah is worn by Jewish men and women on the head for prayer, meals, or worship, anytime really. Some wear them forward practically to their eyebrows and some hang them off of the back of their head with a hairclip. Even bald guys were them! I always wanted to lift one off and see how it stayed on but I didn't have the chutzpah! One windy days kippah's sometimes are airborne and tumbling in the street.

At the Kotel (Western Wall or the Wailing Wall) you will always see men with a kippah on. Looks like the day I took this picture everyone was wearing white. The Kotel is the remaining wall of the 2nd Temple built around 19 BCE and destroyed in 70 CE. It derived it's name from people coming to pray and cry mourning the destruction of the Temple.
Today is the first day of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. To all of my Jewish friends I wish you a very good, plentiful and sweet new year.


L'Shanah Tovah

For more ABC Wednesday posts click here.

19 comments:

Dina said...

Shana tova to you too! I can see that you, like Yehuda Halevi, are in the west but your heart is in the east. Still blogging about Jerusalem.
Knitted kippa at the Kotel--great day for K.

david mcmahon said...

Glad you liked my Kluane post.

Your first photo here really caught my attention immediately.

magiceye said...

heres wishing you and yours a happy new year!

also the post was wonderful!

shutter happy jenn said...

Happy New Year!

My entries are posted here and here.

Rinkly Rimes said...

I learn so much from Blogging! I had no idea a kippah was a hat! If you'd SAID the word to me I'd have thought of the English 'kipper' which is a dried and salted herring!! Maybe I'll use Kipper next 'K' day.

Daniel Chérouvrier said...

I didn't know they could be so coloured !

Reader Wil said...

I like your explanation about the kippah. In Holland we call it a keppel or rather keppeltje. Why the diminutive "tje"is used, I don't know. But we do that a lot. We add "tje"to a noun more often than not. Silly habit, I suppose.

mrsnesbitt said...

Fascinating! Thanks so much.
We learn so much each week don't we?

Richard Lawry said...

I had no idea that you could get a kippah with a sports team logo. How interesting

Kim from Hiraeth said...

An excellent post for K and for Rosh Hashanah!

photowannabe said...

Interesting choices for the yulmakes. I guess I always thought they were black or white.

Bear Naked said...

That is a plethora of Kippah you have photographed for the letter K.

Bear((( )))

Jane Hards Photography said...

Like Dina's post this is facinating to read, very educational too. Happy New Year to you too.

Maria said...

Good choice! Like the first one more!

Unknown said...

That is a really cool picture! Very fitting on this Jewish holiday too! Hope you have a week filled with blessings!

Dina said...

Re Rinkly Rime's comment:
Wouldn't it be funny to see the men with a kipper on their head?
LOL !

Re Wil's keppel in Dutch:
Italians call the skull-cap worn by Catholic clergy "papaline" I think meaning something like "a little Pope hat." :)

Sandi McBride said...

Happy New Year! It's why I love blogging...lessons to be learned without the lecture!
Sandi

Georgina said...

Great post! Loved the photos and it was educational too. Thanks and a very happy new year to you and yours! Debs x

earthlingorgeous said...

Oh wow! I didn't even know what those little thingies are called thanks for educating me on this one :) Thanks for the info. Mine is about Karma.