The Miracle of Jewish Independence Today
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I have a few Jewish friends who wear kippahs and sometimes when I'm hanging out with them I feel out of place. Even though I am not Jewish, would there be any problem with me wearing a kippah, too?
Well, on one hand, the Pope wears a kippah.
But on the other hand, a non-Jew should not wear a kippah, since that might deceive others into thinking that he is Jewish.
In practice, non-Jews will sometimes wear a kippah while attending a Jewish religious function (many world leaders have been photographed at the Western Wall wearing a kippah), but in general a non-Jew should not wear one, due to the confusion it may cause.
However, since the idea of a kippah is to have the head covered as a reminder of God, you could certainly use some other head covering, like a cap, to serve that purpose.
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(This may appear first but it's meant to follow what I wrote first.) By not wearing a kippah I prevent those reactions. It seems to me even more likely that a non-Jew would not know all the things Jews are not allowed to do, and that even if he did know, he wouldn't have the strong habit of not doing them. It would be so easy to make a mistake. When I leave a Jewish home on Shabbes with my kippah on, even I once almost forgot to take my kippah off before getting into my car. What a disgrace it would be for someone to see an apparently observant Jew driving on Shabbes.
OTOH as I said, there are other times when I normally don't wear a kippah and I'm in casual situations with observant men who do and are wearing one and I'm okay with that, and I think the letter writer should be too.
I'm a Jew, from birth, and I don't wear a kippah, except when in shul, when at a cemetery, or when eating a proper meal, one where I know all the food is kosher, and where we make the proper blessings and grace after meals. The rest of the time there is, I'm sorry to say, to great a chance I will commit an avera, a transgression of Jewish law, and to an onlooker it will look either like a) Here's an Orthodox man doing this so it must be permitted, even when it's not, or b) Here a man proclaiming with his kippah that he's Orthodox, and yet he's sinning right in front of me. What a hypocrite. Neither of these are acceptable, and neither are acccurate. (Continued in a 2nd comment)
I’m not a Jew, but I am a Jew friend. Would wearing a kippah in solidarity with the Jewish people be considered offensive?
the answer was much too short, I think. I have a kippah for precisely this purpose: to show my support for my older brothers when they are under attack. The point is not to wear some sort of headgear, which is not required for Catholics to honour God, but to show communion with Judaism. I get how it annoys some Jews that Catholics like myself see themselves a reformed Jews, following the rabbi Jesus, as it annoys me that Mormons call themselves Christian, but if a Mormon would show solidarity with oppressed Catholics from time to time I would have to praise that. Sometimes I think it is a reaction (projection) of traditional Jews to Reform Jews being simply an extension to a certain political party.