I Went to Work Naked Today.
Okay, not literally. It just felt like it.
Why?
I was raised to wear a hat in public. Be it a baseball cap, newsboy hat or a borce, you just wore a hat outside. And I don't think I'm the only Jew who does this. I once jokes to my wife that if you are walking down a NY street and you see a guy in dress slacks, a nice button down shirt and a ballcap, odds are you've just spotted a fellow Jew.
I don't know what my parent's reasoning was exactly but I know what mine was for continuing to do it:
Chilul HaShem.
Now, bear with me here. I'm not saying that wearing a ballcap automatically frees me from the restrictions of not making a Chilul HaShem. I'm saying should I Chas v'Sholom do something that causes a passerby to judge me harshly, the first thought will be "What a bum. Shameful." instead of "Look at that Jew. Shameful.". With the hat I'm only representing myself and possibly the fans of the team whose logo graces it. With an exposed yarmulka, I'm saying I represent the Chosen People.
Which is probably the best argument why I should not wear a cap.
A story, by way of illustration:
A non-Frum friend of mine was giving me a lift to Brooklyn once. This friend doesn't keep Shabbos or wear a yarmulka of any sort. I don't know if he keeps Kosher and I doubt it. He does, however, have a kind and giving soul. While we were driving in I felt a little uncomfortable by his... aggressive driving. Worried about a Chilul HaShem. I began to pocket my kippah.
"What are you doing! Put that back on! You're a Frum Jew and you should be proud of it. If you think my driving will cause anti-Semites to have fuel, tell me. Don't hide."
He's a smart man. I'm not, so it took some time for the lesson he was trying to teach me to sink in: That's exactly what I was doing. Hiding my yidishkite. Trying to blend in with the rest of the world.
I'm trying to change that aspect of my personality. It's hard. I now live in a largely Jewish area and I still carry a hat with me. If it's sunny I wear it. If I'm going through an area where I think Tzakonot Nafashot might apply I put it on. However, when we go out as a family I try to leave it in my bag.
Go team HaShem!
Why?
I was raised to wear a hat in public. Be it a baseball cap, newsboy hat or a borce, you just wore a hat outside. And I don't think I'm the only Jew who does this. I once jokes to my wife that if you are walking down a NY street and you see a guy in dress slacks, a nice button down shirt and a ballcap, odds are you've just spotted a fellow Jew.
I don't know what my parent's reasoning was exactly but I know what mine was for continuing to do it:
Chilul HaShem.
Now, bear with me here. I'm not saying that wearing a ballcap automatically frees me from the restrictions of not making a Chilul HaShem. I'm saying should I Chas v'Sholom do something that causes a passerby to judge me harshly, the first thought will be "What a bum. Shameful." instead of "Look at that Jew. Shameful.". With the hat I'm only representing myself and possibly the fans of the team whose logo graces it. With an exposed yarmulka, I'm saying I represent the Chosen People.
Which is probably the best argument why I should not wear a cap.
A story, by way of illustration:
A non-Frum friend of mine was giving me a lift to Brooklyn once. This friend doesn't keep Shabbos or wear a yarmulka of any sort. I don't know if he keeps Kosher and I doubt it. He does, however, have a kind and giving soul. While we were driving in I felt a little uncomfortable by his... aggressive driving. Worried about a Chilul HaShem. I began to pocket my kippah.
"What are you doing! Put that back on! You're a Frum Jew and you should be proud of it. If you think my driving will cause anti-Semites to have fuel, tell me. Don't hide."
He's a smart man. I'm not, so it took some time for the lesson he was trying to teach me to sink in: That's exactly what I was doing. Hiding my yidishkite. Trying to blend in with the rest of the world.
I'm trying to change that aspect of my personality. It's hard. I now live in a largely Jewish area and I still carry a hat with me. If it's sunny I wear it. If I'm going through an area where I think Tzakonot Nafashot might apply I put it on. However, when we go out as a family I try to leave it in my bag.
Go team HaShem!
posted by - Typo Lad | 7:16 AM
2 Comments:
For posts, you can just click on the formatting buttons... the [i] stuff doesn't work (plus, it's < > ).
I had a similar story, posted a couple weeks ago.
My father tells a story of when he was working in the hospital, and he didn't used to wear his kippah (we were still in the process of becoming ba'alei tesuvah), he once encountered a patient that was clearly from the "old country". Thrilled to see a landsman, my father started speaking to him in Yiddish. After the patient got over his surprise from this pharmacist with shoulder-length black wavy hair and no kippah speaking to him in Yiddish, they started having a conversation, and, in the course of the conversation, my father mentioned that he didn't feel comfortable yet wearing a kippah at work. In my father's words, "he just ripped into me. 'Are you embarrased to be Jewish? Be proud of it! I'm 87 years old, and I want everyone to know that I'm Jewish!'" My father says that, while that wasn't a "turning point" for him, it did get him to start thinking more seriously about wearing his kippah at work.
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