Jewish hat. Traditional Jewish headdresses: interesting facts

Early 19th century. The reign of Nicholas I is in full swing - the same one who published decree on cantonists. This terrible decree overshadowed an endless series of others, generated by the tireless imagination of the despot and his entourage. One of them is the ban on... wearing traditional Jewish clothing, beards and sidelocks. For insubordination - Siberia and prison companies. Soldiers and policemen, rejoicing at the “dust-free” work, catch Jews by their long lapsardaks, cut off their sidelocks, and rip off women’s wigs. What about the Jews? They are trying with all their might to escape. They pay off with huge bribes, hide in their homes, cover their beards with scarves and pray for the decree to be repealed.

Mid 20th century. The world has gone crazy. The Nazi monster rules over most of Europe. Jews, beaten, robbed, humiliated, locked in a ghetto. And decrees are rained down on them, one more inhumane than the other. Among them is a ban on wearing a beard and sidelocks. For disobedience - death. Many Jews sigh - "life-threatening" - and shave off their beards with tears. But there are entire groups, in particular, young Gur Hasidim, who proclaim: this is “Gzerot Hashmad” - an attempt to end Jewry, one cannot agree; We will die, but we will not give up! - and hide in bunkers, where they continue to teach Torah, sharing meager food with each other, and maintain their Jewish appearance.

What made Jews at all times desperately fight to preserve their specifically Jewish appearance? And why did this appearance so irritate the Jew-haters?

Many Jews, even those who dress in normal modern clothes, wear pile. She is also called yarmulke. For me, for example, it’s just a hat, but in fact they differ in color, material and cut for a reason. Religious Jews choose a kippah according to the style worn in their community.

On top of the yarmulka, the Jew almost always puts on a headdress. In rare cases, this may be a cap, which is called cassette, casket or dashek. But it's mostly black hat. There are 34 main types of this headdress, each of which indicates the origin, community affiliation and even social status of the owner!

Litvak(Lithuanian Jew) or Lubavitcher Hasid wear a hat kneich with a longitudinal crease.

Litvak someone who occupies a high position in the community wears a luxurious and expensive hat hamburger g, without any creases. She is also called maftir-gitl. Many Hasidim wear the simplest of hats on weekdays - Kapelyush, similar to kneich, but without creases in the crown or bends in the brim.
But all this cannot be compared with the headdress called straiml! This is the most natural fur hat! And there are many types of them too. Wide and low, regular cylindrical shape is called "shtrayml", low and wide, not strictly shaped, shaggy-shaggy - called "chernobl", and the tall black fur cylindrical hat is called "spodic".

Simple strimle worn by Hungarian, Galician and Romanian Hasidim, furry blackblood- Ukrainian, and spodik- Polish Hasidim. This is real fur! In the heat, yeah. Recently, even Pamela Anderson came to Israel in the hope of persuading the Knesset (Israeli parliament) to ban the sale of natural furs, and the Orthodox to refuse wearing these shtraimlov :)

Let me make a reservation right away that we are talking about religious Jews. They are datish ("dat" - religion), also called Orthodox, in general, Jews who keep kashrut, read the Talmud and live according to the Torah. I’ll write about them separately, but now I’d like to talk about their appearance. The photographs are not mine, found on the Internet to illustrate the story.

I'm about white blanket, poncho type, I wondered what it was called. I started surfing the Internet. As a result, I found a lot of interesting things. Let's start with hats.

Many Jews, even those who dress in normal modern clothes, wear pile. She is also called yarmulke. For me, for example, it’s just a hat, but in fact they differ in color, material and cut for a reason. Religious Jews choose a kippah according to the style worn in their community.

On top of the yarmulka, the Jew almost always puts on a headdress. In rare cases, this may be a cap, which is called cassette, casket or dashek. But it's mostly black hat. There are 34 main types of this headdress, each of which indicates the origin, community affiliation and even social status of the owner!

Litvak (Lithuanian Jew) or Lubavitcher Hasid wears a hat kneich with a longitudinal crease.

A Litvak who occupies a high position in the community wears a luxurious and expensive hat. Hamburg, without any creases. She is also called maftir-gitl. Many Hasidim wear the simplest of hats on weekdays - Kapelyush, similar to a knitch, but without creases in the crown and bends in the brim.

Both kneich and capelush, and most of the hamburgs are made of hard felt. Other types of hats are made of velor, more like velvet or even short-haired black fur, which is as hard as ten-millimeter plywood. For example samet, one of the most expensive and luxurious styles. The owner of the Samet is almost certainly a Hungarian Hasid.

There is also plush- traditional hat of the hereditary Jews of Yerushalmi. Popularly it is called flicker teller(flying saucer) or super. It has wide brims and the height of the crown is only 10 cm.

But all this cannot be compared with the headdress called! This is the most natural fur hat! And there are many types of them too. A wide and low one, of regular cylindrical shape, is called “shtreiml”, low and wide, loosely shaped, shaggy-shaggy is called “chernobl”, and a tall black cylindrical fur hat is called “spodik”. A simple shtreiml is worn by Hungarian, Galician and Romanian Hasidim, a shaggy chernobl by Ukrainian ones, and a spodik by Polish Hasidim. This is real fur! In the heat, yeah. Recently, even Pamela Anderson came to Israel in the hope of persuading the Knesset (Israeli parliament) to ban the sale of natural furs, and the Orthodox to refuse to wear these stripes :)

Let's stop there. In the next part we will try to understand the clothing of Orthodox Jews. Don't switch :)

It is difficult not to notice an Orthodox Jew in a crowd - their unusual clothes always give them away. But why exactly these styles and colors? Let's find out...
An Orthodox Jew must observe a minimum of 613 rules of the Pentateuch every day. According to them, not only food, but also clothing is kosher. Blogger Sergei Anashkevich decided to figure out exactly how religious Jews dress, and why they wear the clothes they do.

If you think that they are all equally black and white, then you are very mistaken. It turns out that there are 34 types of black hats alone, each of which carries information about its owner. Knowledgeable people can accurately indicate by the color of the stockings, the material of the lapserdak and the shape of the headdress: this is a Yerushalmi, this is a Hasid of such and such an admor, this is a bakhur, and this one is already married.

Rebbe, did Abraham wear a black frock coat?
“I don’t know,” the rabbi answered, “whether Abraham walked around in a silk robe and shtreimle.” But I know exactly how he chose his clothes. I looked at how non-Jews dressed and dressed differently.

Already in biblical times, Jews dressed differently from other peoples, and, according to the Jewish sages, the people of Israel were awarded the exit from Egypt due to the fact that they did not change their clothes. The Jewish people have since dispersed throughout the world. But only its religious representatives, having met, will be able to recognize each other as blood brothers by the characteristic appearance of black clothing.

According to the orthodox themselves: “Clothing does not so much hide as it reveals the essence of a person. It is written: “Be humble before the Almighty.” We prefer dark suits because they are modest, festive and neat. That is why white shirts are “in fashion” among Orthodox Jews. That is why God-fearing Jews will never allow themselves to go out on the street wearing sandals on their bare feet.”

There is basic clothing - halachic, which is worn by any Jew who keeps the commandments. This garment includes a head covering and tzitzit with 4 edges. A mandatory element is a quadrangular cape (poncho) with a hole for the head and four tassels along the edges. The cape itself, called tallit katan (or arbekanfes), can be hidden under clothing or worn over a shirt, but the tassels are always straightened over the trousers. It is made from white wool with or without black stripes. The corners are reinforced with overlays made of simple fabric or silk, and threads of tzitzis - tassels commanded by the Torah - are threaded through the holes in the corners.

If there are two (or one) blue threads in the brush, then most likely you are looking at a Radzin or Izhbitsky Hasid. The secret of making theylet, a blue dye obtained from the chyloson mollusk, was lost almost 2000 years ago and was rediscovered at the end of the last century by Rabbi Gershon Hanoch of Radzin. However, most rabbis did not recognize his recipe. Sephardim and many Hasidim have not one, but two holes on each corner of the tallit katan. In addition, on some brushes, in addition to the four (double) obligatory knots, you can see from 13 to 40 small knots on the thread turns. This feature can also be used to distinguish members of different communities.

Traditional Jewish men's clothing is a tailcoat or frock coat. The tailcoat has no pockets and is fastened from right to left, like all traditional Jewish men's clothing (by non-Jewish standards, “female-style”), has a deep slit and two buttons at the back (where the tab is).

Robes are, as a rule, clothing for special occasions: festive silk, embroidered with a black on black pattern, a tish robe for festive dinners, a yeshiva robe made of the cheapest fabric without lining - for classes in a yeshiva or koilel. On Shabbat and Yom Tov, many Hasidim wear a special black satin cloak - bekeche. Both the hood, the frock coat, and the robe of the Hasid should be tied with a belt woven from black silk thread or fabric.

Litvaks may wear jackets on weekdays. Hasidim wear hoods (rekl), which naturally also have differences. For example, lapels are pointed or rounded, or instead of the usual three buttons there are six (two rows of three), this is the case among Satmar Hasidim. In addition to hoods, there are also bekechi (bekeshi), zhugshtsy (jube). And all this is strictly black.

The trousers can be either regular black or knee-length - ealb-goyen. Hungarian Hasidim wear short trousers; they tie the leg with a drawstring under the knee and wear black knee socks - zokn. In some communities, on holidays or Shabbat, it is customary to exchange black knee socks for white ones. Ger Hasidim tuck their regular trousers into knee socks. This is called “Cossack” knee-highs (kozak-zokn).

Non-black clothing is worn mainly by the Hasidim Reb Arele and some of the Breslov and other Hasidim residents of the Meo Sheorim quarter. On weekdays they look like this: a plush (flying saucer) on the head, under it - a weise yarmulka - a white knitted kippah with a tassel in the center of the dome. White shirt, wool tallit katan, vest and caftan made of special fabric (kaftn).

Kaftna fabric is white or silver with black or dark blue stripes. This fabric is produced only in Syria and is smuggled to East Yerushalayim. On Shabbat, the flying saucer will be replaced by a Chernobyl or regular shtreiml, and instead of a caftn with a silver background, the Hasid will wear a gold one. Sometimes (and on Shabbat and holidays - necessarily) a brown satin bekesha with an embroidered collar is thrown over the caftan.

Let's get back to the hats. A Jew almost always puts on a hat or cap over a kippah (yarmulka). In rare cases, it may be a cap of the old European cut, usually worn by old Hasidim from Russia and Poland - a kasket (kashket or dashek). Gray six-piece caps, vaguely similar to a cassette, are worn by children and teenagers in Litvak families. On weekdays, most traditional Jews wear a black hat. According to hat traders, there are 34 main types, each of which indicates the origin, community affiliation and even social status of the owner.

The traditional hat of the hereditary Jews of Yerushalmi is plush. It is also called a flicker-teller - simply a flying saucer or super. It has wide brims, but a low crown - only 10 cm.

Other types of hats are made of velor (more like velvet or even short-haired black fur), which is as hard as ten-millimeter plywood. Among these hats one can highlight the Samet, one of the most expensive and luxurious styles; its owner is probably a Hungarian Hasid.

A simple Litvak or Lubavitcher Hasid wears a kneich hat with a longitudinal crease. Litvak, who occupies a high position in the community, will exchange the kneich for an expensive hamburg (or maftir-gitl) - without creases and dents. Many Hasidim wear on weekdays the simplest of hats - the kapelush, similar to a kneich, but without creases in the crown or bends in the brim. All of them are made of hard felt.

But the most “bright” and most eye-catching headdress of all is the shtreiml. This is the most natural fur hat. Only Hasidim wear it and only on Shabbat, yom tov, at a wedding or to meet the rebbe. Moreover, there are more than two dozen types.

Usually, it is a black velvet kippah, trimmed with fox or sable tails. Wide and low, regular cylindrical shapes are actually “shtreiml”, low and wide, loosely shaped, shaggy ones are called “chernobl”, and a tall black cylindrical fur hat is “spodik”.

The price of a shtreiml can reach several thousand dollars. The history of shtreimla began many years ago, when non-Jews ordered the Jews of one of the communities to wear the tail of an animal on their heads. The purpose of this order was to humiliate and disgrace the Jew. The Jews had no choice, so they took animal tails and made hats out of them.

A simple shtreiml is worn by Hungarian, Galician and Romanian Hasidim, a shaggy chernobl by Ukrainians, and a spodik by Polish Hasidim. There are special styles of shtreiml, which are not worn by entire communities, but only by their heads, rabbeim. This group includes sobl or zoibl - a tall shtreiml made of sable fur, cap - something between a spodik and a shtreiml.

Shtreiml is worn only by married men. The only exception is a few dozen hereditary families in Yerushalayim. In these families, the boy first puts on the shtreiml on his coming of age, and his bar mitzvah at the age of thirteen.

In 2010, Pamela Anderson, an animal activist and fashion model, wrote a letter to members of the Knesset in the hope of persuading them to ban the sale of natural fur, and the Orthodox to stop wearing these furs.

Among the symbols of the religious identity of the Jews there are many curious things that very much set them apart from the modern mainstream defined by European culture. Among other things, such an item is the characteristic small cap that devout Jews wear on their heads. We will talk about the name of the Jewish cap on the back of the head and what it means in this article.

Name

A religious Jew is distinguished from the crowd by his characteristic Jewish cap. It’s not difficult to remember what it’s called, because it’s a very simple word - “kippah”. However, it also has another name. And you probably thought to yourself when you saw a man whose head was covered with a Jewish cap: “What is it called?” You can see a photo of such a dress below. And another name inherent in this element of the Jewish toilet is the yarmulke.

Description

This is a very small cap, most often knitted or sewn from several pieces of fabric, that covers the top of the head. It has no functional purpose. Its whole meaning is rooted in religious tradition. Therefore, a skull cap is often worn even when another headdress, such as a hat, is put on the head. Of course, such hats can sometimes fly off, for example, under a gust of wind. To avoid such an annoying situation, some Jews attach it to their hair using a special hairpin.

About wearing a kippah

Above we found out what the Jewish cap on the head of a Jewish believer is called. Now let us dwell in more detail on the meaning of this custom. So, in ancient times, covering the head was a symbol of man’s worship before God. So, if in our time it is customary to remove the hat as a sign of respect, then in ancient Palestine, on the contrary, the head was covered. The same tradition has been preserved in Judaism as a religious system. But if previously a prayer shawl was mainly used to cover the head, today this same Jewish cap has come to the fore. The name of such a blanket is no secret - tallit. In general, they are still used today, but mainly by clergy - rabbis, hazanim, and so on.

Only the servants of the Jerusalem Temple, which has not existed for almost two thousand years, are required to wear a ritual headdress according to the Bible. However, the custom of covering one’s head with a kippah does not have the status of law. This is a pious custom. Orthodox Jews wear it all the time. Adherents of the conservative wing wear a yarmulke only during prayer and meals. Adherents of Reform Jewish communities believe that wearing a kippah is a personal choice, but, in principle, optional. It is interesting that both non-believers and non-believers can wear a yarmulke - firstly, when they enter the synagogue (sometimes this is even an obligation), and secondly, at any time at their personal request, in order to express respect or solidarity with the Jewish community and religion (depending on the context of the situation).

It should be noted that a yarmulke is a men's headdress. In some denominations of Judaism, however, women are also allowed the distinctive Jewish cap. Tradition does not say what such a cap is called in this case. Most likely, exactly the same.

Types of yarmulkes

There are many types and styles that a Jewish cap can have. It is very difficult to study and describe what one or another of them is called, since classification can be carried out not only by size, materials, shapes and colors, but also by intra-community traditions. However, if you study this entire system, then by looking at the skullcap it will be easy to figure out which religious movement the Jew belongs to. And in some cases, learn something else. For example, Ashkenazi Jews wear kippahs, which have four or six gussets. The colors are kept strict, most often black. But Sephardim, on the contrary, love small colorful skull caps with embroidery or ornaments. Followers of Hasidism prefer to hide their kippots under hats and fur caps. Some of them wear white kippahs as a sign that they are studying Kabbalah. By the way, there are also special tassels that can be used to decorate a Jewish cap. The name of a kippah made of velvet with pigtails is also known - shtreiml. But Chabadniks wear a strict black six-bladed jacket.

Etymology

The word “yarmulka” comes from the Turkic language and is most often associated with the word “yagmurluk”, which means “raincoat”. This word came into use among Jews through the Polish language, in which it means hat. Other theories trace the word "yarmulke" to Hebrew or Aramaic roots and give it the meaning of "fearing God" or "fear of the king." But as for the word “kippah”, it simply means “covering” in Hebrew. The same name is given, for example, to a dome as an architectural element. By the way, speaking about the name of the Jewish cap on the head, it would not be out of place to mention that the stress in the Hebrew language in the word “kippa” falls on the last syllable, whereas in Russian it most often falls on the first.

So now let's look at the clothing of Orthodox Jews. If you think that they are all equally black and white, then you are very mistaken. It turns out that there are 34 types of black hats alone, each of which carries information about its owner. Knowledgeable people can accurately indicate by the color of the stockings, the material of the lapserdak and the shape of the headdress: this is a Yerushalmi, this is a Hasid of such and such an admor, this is a bakhur, and this one is already married.

- Rebbe, did Abraham wear a black frock coat?
“I don’t know,” the rabbi answered, “whether Abraham walked around in a silk robe and shtreimle.” But I know exactly how he chose his clothes. I looked at how non-Jews dressed and dressed differently.

2. Already in biblical times, Jews dressed differently from other peoples, and, according to the Jewish sages, the people of Israel were awarded the exit from Egypt due to the fact that they did not change their clothes. The Jewish people have since dispersed throughout the world. But only its religious representatives, having met, will be able to recognize each other as blood brothers by the characteristic appearance of black clothing. According to the orthodox themselves: “Clothing does not so much hide as it reveals the essence of a person. It is written: “Be humble before the Almighty.” We prefer dark suits because they are modest, festive and neat. That is why white shirts are “in fashion” among Orthodox Jews. That is why God-fearing Jews will never allow themselves to go out on the street wearing sandals on their bare feet.”

3. There is a basic garment, halakhic, that any Jew who keeps the commandments wears. This garment includes a head covering and tzitzit with 4 edges. A mandatory element is a quadrangular cape (poncho) with a hole for the head and four tassels along the edges. The cape itself, called tallit katan (or arbekanfes), can be hidden under clothing or worn over a shirt, but the tassels are always straightened over the trousers. It is made from white wool with or without black stripes. The corners are reinforced with overlays made of simple fabric or silk; threads of tzitzis - tassels commanded by the Torah - are threaded through the holes in the corners. If there are two (or one) blue threads in the brush, then most likely you are looking at a Radzin or Izhbitsky Hasid. The secret of making theylet, a blue dye obtained from the chilozon mollusk, was lost almost 2000 years ago and was rediscovered at the end of the last century by Rabbi Gershon Hanoch of Radzin. However, most rabbis did not recognize his recipe. Sephardim and many Hasidim have not one, but two holes on each corner of the tallit katan. In addition, on some brushes, in addition to the four (double) obligatory knots, you can see from 13 to 40 small knots on the thread turns. This feature can also be used to distinguish members of different communities.

4. Traditional Jewish men's clothing is a tailcoat or frock coat. The tailcoat has no pockets and is fastened from right to left, like all traditional Jewish men's clothing (by non-Jewish standards, “female-style”), has a deep slit and two buttons at the back (where the tab is).

5. Robes - as a rule, clothing for special occasions: festive silk, embroidered with a black on black pattern, a tish robe for festive dinners, a yeshiva robe made of the cheapest fabric without lining - for classes in a yeshiva or koilel. On Shabbat and Yom Tov, many Hasidim wear a special black satin cloak - bekeche. Both the hood, the frock coat, and the robe of the Hasid should be tied with a belt woven from black silk thread or fabric.

6. Litvaks can wear jackets on weekdays. Hasidim wear hoods (rekl), which naturally also have differences. For example, lapels are pointed or rounded, or instead of the usual three buttons there are six (two rows of three), this is the case among Satmar Hasidim. In addition to hoods, there are also bekechi (bekeshi), zhugshtsy (jube), etc. And all of this is strictly black.

7. Pants. They can be either ordinary black, or knee-length - ealb-goyen. Hungarian Hasidim wear short trousers; they tie the leg with a drawstring under the knee and wear black knee socks - zokn. In some communities, on holidays or Shabbat, it is customary to exchange black knee socks for white ones. Ger Hasidim tuck their regular trousers into knee socks. This is called "Cossack" knee-highs (kozak-zokn).

8. Clothes of a non-black color are worn mainly by the Hasidim Reb Arele and some of the Breslov and other Hasidim, residents of the Meo Sheorim quarter. On weekdays they look like this: a plush (flying saucer) on the head, under it - a weise yarmulka - a white knitted kippah with a tassel in the center of the dome. White shirt, wool tallit katan, vest and caftan made of special fabric (kaftn). Kaftna fabric is white or silver with black or dark blue stripes. This fabric is produced only in Syria and is smuggled to East Yerushalayim. On Shabbat, the flying saucer will be replaced by a Chernobyl or regular shtreiml, and instead of a caftn with a silver background, the Hasid will wear a gold one. Sometimes (and on Shabbat and holidays - necessarily) a brown satin bekesha with an embroidered collar is thrown over the caftan.

9. Let's return to hats. A Jew almost always puts on a hat or cap over a kippah (yarmulka). In rare cases, this could be a cap of an old European cut, the kind usually worn by old Hasidim from Russia and Poland - a kasket (kashket or dashek). Gray six-piece caps, vaguely similar to a cassette, are worn by children and teenagers in Litvak families. On weekdays, most traditional Jews wear a black hat. According to hat traders, there are 34 main types, each of which indicates the origin, community affiliation and even social status of the owner!

10. The traditional hat of the hereditary Jews of Yerushalmi is plush. It is also called a flicker-teller - popularly a flying saucer or super. It has wide brims, but a low crown - only 10 cm.

11. Other types of hats are made of velor (more like velvet or even short-haired black fur), which is as hard as ten-millimeter plywood. Among these hats one can highlight the Samet, one of the most expensive and luxurious styles; its owner is probably a Hungarian Hasid.

12. A simple Litvak or Lubavitcher Hasid wears a kneich hat with a longitudinal crease. Litvak, who occupies a high position in the community, will exchange the kneich for an expensive hamburg (or maftir-gitl) - without creases and dents. Many Hasidim wear on weekdays the simplest of hats - the kapelush, similar to a kneich, but without creases in the crown or bends in the brim. All of them are made of hard felt.

13. But the most “bright” and most eye-catching headdress of all is the shtreiml! This is the most natural fur hat! Only Hasidim wear it and only on Shabbat, yom tov, at a wedding or when meeting with the rebbe. Moreover, there are more than two dozen types of them! Usually, it is a black velvet kippah, trimmed with fox or sable tails. Wide and low, regular cylindrical shapes are actually “shtreiml”, low and wide, loosely shaped, shaggy ones are called “chernobl”, and a tall black cylindrical fur hat is “spodik”.
The price of a shtreiml can reach thousands of dollars. The history of shtreimla began many years ago, when non-Jews ordered the Jews of one of the communities to wear the tail of an animal on their heads. The purpose of this order was to humiliate and disgrace the Jew. The Jews had no choice, so they took animal tails and made hats out of them.

14. A simple shtreiml is worn by Hungarian, Galician and Romanian Hasidim, a shaggy chernobl by Ukrainians, and a spodik by Polish Hasidim. There are special styles of shtreiml, which are not worn by entire communities, but only by their heads, rabbeim. This group includes sobl or zoibl - a tall shtreiml made of sable fur, cap - something between a spodik and a shtreiml. Shtreiml is worn only by married men. The only exception is a few dozen hereditary families in Yerushalayim. In these families, the boy first puts on the shtreiml on his coming of age, and his bar mitzvah at the age of thirteen.
In 2010 Pamela Anderson, an animal activist and fashion model, wrote a letter to members of the Knesset in the hope of persuading them to ban the sale of natural fur, and for the Orthodox to refuse to wear these stripes...:))