Question 1

What is Mostly Yarmulkes?

Accepted Answer

Mostly Yarmukles is a boutique Judaica store featuring handmade, inventive and whimsical yarmulkes and more!

Question 2

What is a yarmulke?

Accepted Answer

A yarmulke is a small hat or headcovering, sometimes called a skulcap.

Yarmulke is Yiddish (יאַרמלקע). It's pronounced YAH-muh-kuh.

Kippah (כיפה) is the Hebrew for yarmulke. It's pronounced ki-PA.

In traditional Jewish communities only men wear yarmulkes and they are worn at all times, except when sleeping and bathing. In non-Orthodox communities some women also wear yarmulkes, and people have different customs about when to wear a yarmulke — when eating, praying, studying Jewish texts, or entering a sacred space such as a synagogue or cemetery.

Learn more about yarmulkes. (https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/kippah/)

Question 3

Since when have Jews worn yarmulkes?

Accepted Answer

Below is a great two minute and 33 second video about the evolution of yarmulkes in Jewish tradition - by Elon Gilad.

Elon is a writer and educational creator on Tiktok. His videos teach about the etymology of Hebrew words and the Hebrew language in general, diving through Jewish history, liturgy and modern spoken forms.

https://www.tiktok.com/@elongilad/video/7476049299374230785?_r=1&_t=ZP-8uOXW5NrS8M

Question 4

Any scholarly or other articles about yarmulkes?

Accepted Answer

Why yes!

Here's a small sampling, with the most recent first:

Jewish Head Coverings: A Blessing on Your Head(https://associationforjewishstudies.org/headcoverings)
The Association for Jewish Studies Podcast  |  June 2024
"In this episode, guest scholars Eric Silverman and Amy K. Milligan discuss the history and practice of head and hair covering – and what the practices reveal about Jewish experiences of gender, assimilation, and antisemitism."

When a Yarmulke Stands for All Jews: Navigating Shifting Signs from Synagogue to School in Luxembourg(https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12397-023-09524-8?utm_source=toc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=toc_12397_44_1&utm_content=etoc_springer_20240616)
Anastasia Badder  |  January 2024
"Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and a material approach to religion, this article argues that the yarmulke comes to point to different levels and modes of observance and identities and enable different possible belongings in the secular public sphere as it travels across contexts that include different definitions of and attitudes toward religion and Jewishness."

More than headwear: My yarmulke as a symbol of faith, not target of hate(https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2020/01/09/more-than-headwear-my-yarmulke-symbol-faith-not-target-hate/)
David Kulp  |  January 2020
"Upon arriving as a freshman to Emory University in Atlanta, I had a decision to make: To wear or not to wear?"

Jewish Women’s KIPPOT: Meanings and Motives (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/310537666_Jewish_Women's_KIPPOT_Meanings_and_Motives)
Helana Darwin  |  April 2017
"Very few studies have explored the meanings of Jewish women’s kippot. This article advances Amy Milligan’s ethnographic research on this matter through open-ended survey data from 576 Jewish women who wear kippot. Unlike Milligan’s lesbian sample, this largely heterosexual sample claims to wear the kippah for many of the same reasons that men do: to “do Jewish,” “feel Jewish,” “look Jewish,” and to display their status relative to other Jews."

The Transformation of American Jewry and Men’s Headgear: The Story of the Yarmulke from 1945 to 1975
(https://econ.columbia.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2017/07/Aminadav-Grossman.pdf)Aminadav Grossman  |  April 2014
"This thesis considers the change between the early period of the twentieth century where the yarmulke was rarely worn in public or written about in the media and the postwar years from 1945 through the 1970s, when there was a minor eruption of writing about Jewish head covering followed by gradual acceptance in general public institutions. What inspired American Jews to challenge the status quo and stand up for a practice that would differentiate them from their peers and  colleagues?"

Yarmulke: A Historic Cover-up?
(https://hakirah.org/Vol%204%20Rabinowitz.pdf)Dan Rabinowitz  |  2007
" In modern society, the wearing of the yarmulke has come to signify the wearer’s commitment to strict religious observance.
However, the actual halakhic obligation of wearing a head covering is the subject of much debate."

New designs added regularly! Visit our Etsy Shop!

Welcome to mostlyarmulkes!

We are a boutique Judaica store featuring handmade, whimsical and unique yarmulkes...and more!

Shop the over 240 items via our Etsy shop!

Subscribe for (infrequent) updates including discounts and new product launches!

New designs added regularly! Visit our Etsy Shop!

Welcome to mostlyarmulkes!

We are a boutique Judaica store featuring handmade, whimsical and unique yarmulkes...and more! Shop the over 240 items via our Etsy shop! Subscribe for (infrequent) updates including discounts and new product launches!

We are a boutique Judaica store featuring handmade, whimsical and unique yarmulkes...and more!

Shop the over 240 items via our Etsy shop!

Subscribe for (infrequent) updates including discounts and new product launches!