I know some people only wear theirs to the synagogue, others only when studying Torah, some only wear theirs on high holidays and during life cycle events, some always wear them. Jewish dopers…when do you wear yours?
I bought a new one, a really handsome one, and I’ve been wearing it alot. I don’t wear it to work or outside (because it’s windy), but I usually keep it on at all times in the house.
Very rarely. Passover. Funerals. If I’m in a synagogue for a bar/bat mitzvah.
I’m agnostic so don’t do many religious activities.
When Mrs. Plant lights candles, when I bless the wine and bread, and whenever I’m in a synagogue or temple. One Summer I took my step daughter to day care at the Modern Orthodox Synagogue, and had my kippah in my back pocket to wear when I walked her inside. 
Wearing a kippah doesn’t always have to be a religious activity. Alot of Jews I know are secular but still wear one out of tradition.
Let’s see - Friday night dinner and other holiday eves; on the rare occasions I go to shul; funerals, weddings and brises; when visiting the Western Wall.
When going to synagogue. That’s it.
Which probably happens less than 3 times a year, most years.
Atheist Jew here, more a Jew by culture and location than by religion.
Do you have any interest in Secular Humanistic Judaism?
If I may answer for him - the need for “labelling” and belonging to organizations is very much an American Jewish phenomenon. Most non-religious Israelis consider living in Israel itself to be sufficient expression of their Jewishness.
If I knew what you were talking about, then maybe But, as **Alessan **puts it well…
Although I would maybe replace “sufficient expression” with “the consequence as well as the source” – I’m Jewish (by ethnicity, by culture, by heritage), therefore I live here, therefore my children will also be Jewish by the same parameters.
(bolding in the quote mine)
I’m a girl (and a non-Jew), so I don’t wear one. The Boy (who is Jewish) wears one for high holidays, bar/bat mitzvahs and weddings. Like a lot of the posters in this thread, he’s far more Jewish by culture than he is in faith.
My FIL, who is significantly more observant, wears his kippah almost all the time. He’ll occasionally switch to a baseball cap if it’s particularly windy, or a tuque if it’s cold.
Not a Jew at all, but I did notice something interesting on TV yesterday, which maybe a Jew could answer (and it has to do with the kippah)
On yesterday’s Jeopardy, Alex Trebek did a few clues on location from Israel: the Dead Sea, Oscar Schindler’s grave, and the wailing/Western Wall. Of those locations, he was wearing a kippah only at the Western Wall (as a vexillologist I instantly noticed that it was in the colours of the Israeli flag, in turn taken from the prayer cloth of Jews) - since Alex is, to the best of my knowledge, a non-Jew, I was wondering the significance of why he wore one at the Wall and nowhere else, was it due to the holiness of the site (which I am aware of)? Do they have someone there giving all the goy tourists kippahs to show respect for the holiness of the site, or did Alex have the forsight to bring one with him (from … somewhere?)
If it was Blue-and-white, he (or someone in his entourage) brought it with him – the kippahs they give out at the Western Wall are very plain white cardboard jobbies…
And yet, it’s considered respectful for a non-Jew to wear a kippah when at a Jewish holy site – just like you’d take your shoes off entering a mosque or various East Asian places of worship, or in general dress modestly going into almost any place of worship.
I wear one every day. I started wearing yarmulkes after my bubby died and I examined my life and faith.
Do you keep it on at all times or just at some point during the day?
I am the most secular Jew you will ever meet, and the only times I’ve worn one since my bar-mitzvah (over 50 years ago) was at my parents’ funerals. But I think if I ever go to Israel (possibly next summer), I won’t be able to resist wearing one . . . a ***real ***one . . . at the Western Wall. That location trumps everything else.
Would another hat be acceptable too?
I know that it’s one of those things that get trotted out every time a Spanish politician goes to Israel, but depending on which newspaper you read, reports tend to range between “oh noes, Joe Politico wore a fedora at the Wall out of respect, how dare he perform a religious observance!” and “oh noes, Joe Politico wore a fedora at the Wall, that is so disrespectful, he should have worn a yarmulke from the Sefarad Museum in Toledo!”
IIRC, the Israeli Correspondent of the only Spanish TV chain which has a permanent one said any “serious” head covering is ok, but I thought I’d bring it up for us goyim.
Bingo.
Also, this discussion is relevant to men – the requirements for women are different (basically, no knees, no shoulders – married women should supposedly wear a scarf to cover their hair, but this is not enforced.)
When I lived in Jerusalem, I quickly realized that it was just practical to dress modestly all of the time. When I got up in the morning, maybe I was just planning to go to school, and dressed appropriately for the weather. But who knows what will happen midway through the day? Maybe someone would invite me to an event in the Old City, which is chock full of places that require modest dress code to visit, and maybe I wouldn’t have time to go home to change first. After being dressed inappropriately a few times, I eventually stopped wearing tank tops and shorts altogether. You never know.
Your experience may vary, especially if you live in Tel Aviv.
Tel Aviv women dress modestly, too - their thongs rarely protrude more than an inch or two past the top of their shorts (except when bending over, of course).