The little prayer scroll thingys that adorn the entrances to rooms/buildings…is there a reason why they are placed on an angle?
The ‘tassles’ that hang down from the waist of male Jews…what are they for?
Wearing a yarmulke sometimes seems arbitrary…what are the rules pertaining to the age when a boy-child begins to wear one, and where?
Why do some (especially younger) Jewish women wear a head-scarf while others do not?
As I work in an area that is popular with people of the Jewish faith at the moment, I find my mind trying to puzzle these things out quite a bit. I don’t want to just bowl up and accost the first bloke wearing a black hat and throw these questions at him!! So, dopers, help me relieve my ignorance.
The explanation my Jewish educators offered was that the angle is due to a 900 year old rabbinical disagreement. One rabbi argued horizontal placement, the other vertical, hence tradition advocates placing the mezuzzah at a 45 degree angle.
They are tzitzis, which Jews are commanded to wear in Deuteronomy 22:12.
Also mentioned in Numbers 15:37-41.
There are some fascinating symbological aspects of tzitzis that perhaps someone with more knowledge can elaborate on.
Ohr Somayach in Jerusalem says that a boy first wears his yarmulke at three years. I believe this is mandated by custom rather than in the Torah.
Many (most?) observant women cover their hair after they marry. Some wear wigs, some scarves, some hats. Some wear hats and wigs, but that’s another discussion.
Well, others have beaten me to the questions. However to add a bit.
Regarding the mezuzah being on a slant:
There is a Talmudic dispute as to in which direction they should be affixed. One authority maintained that it should be placed horizontally, the other vertically. Unlike most disputes, where we follow one opinion or the other, in this case we “compromised” between the two and place it on a slant. One explaination that I’ve heard for this unusual resolution is that the mezuzah is placed at the entrance of our homes and doorways. An object lesson could be learned from this that when one is in one’s home with one’s spouse, one must learn to compromise with the other in order to build a home together.
Maeglin pretty much hit the tzitzis on the head. One is required to place tzitzis on any four-cornered garment. The custom nowadays is to wear such a garment.
Wearing a yarmulka is a custom, but such a strong one that for most practical purposes it carries the force of law. Many Ashkenazic Jews have the custom to first cut a son’s hair at age three and begin wearing a yarmulka then.
Lastly, as Knighted Vorpal Sword pointed out, the custom among many Orthodox Jews is that married women cover their hair. Some use wigs, other hats, snoods or kercheifs. Unmarried women are not required to cover their hair.
I hate to nitpick with Zev of all people, but I believe the custom of cutting the hair at age 3 is more Chassidic. Of course, Chassidim are virtually all Ashkenazik, but not all Ashkanazim are Chassidic.
What is the custom? That it is worn all the time after 3 years old? That it may be worn by a person over 3, but not younger?
Is there any time where wearing a yarmulka is law, rather than really strongly reinforced custom?
(I never saw them except special occasions when I was growing up, or now, but when I was in college, all the time.)
On several occasions I have attended funeral services for deceased Jewish friends, and the synogogue provided yarmulkas for all the non-Jewish males. I assumed that this was because it was customary for males to wear them during services.
There is no requirement for non-Jews to wear yarmulkes by services. However, I would imagine that many would wear them just simply because everyone else is.
mrcrow-Yes. But I think that very religious Jews would wear the tassles anyway. Why take the tassles off? They are usually part of an undershirt and for daily use; tallit are usually only worn during prayer but I would think they are used to wearing tassles all the time so they’d wear it regardless.
yes that seems consistent to me
i saw the soldiers in israel wearing their ‘little shirts’
it was just a thought as i have a tallit for bible study purposes deuteronomy numbers etc vayikra?
the other thing about the angle of the mezzuzah interesting must be a real reason for the angle?
and the fact it is on the rh doorpost?
more info for me if possible.
Usually funeral services are held at a “funeral home” and then later at the gravesite by the burial. It can, however, be done in a synagouge, although I can’t remember the last time I went to a funeral that was held in one.
Again, non-Jews are not required to cover their heads at all (in synagouge or anywhere else). However, if one wishes to do so (out of respect for the congregation), they may do so.
Yes, but would a conventional hat do? On one hand, keeping in uniform is a good idea, but on the other somehow waering a “real” hat inside gives me the willies.
Yes. The idea is to have one’s head covered. A yarmulke has no special sanctity and is not required. A cap, baseball cap, beret, etc. are all acceptable as alternatives. However, as with any clothing, it should not be something that will be totally inappropriate for the setting (a baseball cap with “F you” on the front, for example, would be totally inappropriate.)
A formal military cap that is part of your full uniform would be completely acceptable.
when i was in safad in the sephardic synagogue the soldiers came in with no hats…they just put a hand over their head.
i suppose this is a token gesture?
couldnt edit my post, sorry
to add…at the wall in jerusalem we always wore baseball hats or some other convenient hat common to our dress…kepi’s in cardboard were available but blew away in the wind
would a kafia be acceptable?
