The Tradition of Wearing a Knitted Kippot

Most experts are of the view that wearing a kippot is more of a tradition although is seems to have taken on the force of a law. They further state that that Bible and the Talmud makes no mention about it and therefore local customs have been freely developed, and interrupted during various periods in history. Many others however argue that wearing the kippot is universally accepted and is now accepted and regarded as a defacto law. Accordingly, although there is no official requirement to wear a head covering during prayers, since the customs has become widely accepted, that anyone who goes about without a kippot was not pious.

At first, only men used to wear the kippot but later on even women developed the habit and married Jewish women are anyway required by law to keep their heads covered even under normal circumstances. Apart from tradition, the kippot has now become a fashion symbol with many Jewish women and sometime even non-Jewish women who liked the look of it adopted the kippot as a fashion accessory and started wearing the knitted kippot. Those who have learnt the knack of crocheting and knitting mostly do it by themselves in colors and designs of their choice with Jewish symbols being among the more popular patterns selected.

A very popular design for the knit kippot is the Star of David which most fond mothers who knows knitting, knit for their sons for their bar mitzvah. A knitted kippot is also considered a suitable gift to be given by loved ones to one’s friends children at their own bar mitzvah’s which are accepted with sincere appreciation because there could never be enough kippots to be worn for the many religious and other occasions that takes place in the Jewish community.

A knitted kippot can be made with fabrics such as silk, velvet or satin; but the knit kippot is very popular because of the many colors can designs a kippot can be turned into. The modern belief is that although the kippot is considered religious attire, there is no reason for it to be drab and boring and as such many new and exciting designs of the knitted kippot and other varieties are being turned out these days. Kippots are even being personalized now with names, imprints and embroidery or finished with beaded trimming and other lovely designs that make a kippot more of a symbol of fashion than a religious article of faith.