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Kippa Size. Kippa & Women. Keep on Reading ...

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Topic: Kippa, Size

Kippa: Continued from last week...

Kippa size: Rabbi Moshe Feinstein states that the minimum measure is that "which would be called a head covering." Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef, shlita, rules that the kippa needs to be visible from all sides. In communities where larger kippot are worn, if a person wears a smaller one this may indicate a lack of "Fear of Heaven."

Women and kippot: I've heard that in Tunisia and Iran it has been the custom of both married and non-married women to cover their heads when reciting devarim sheb'kedusha, holy matters, such as prayer and Torah. When they made aliya, this practice seems to have been discontinued for unmarried women. Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef, shlita, writes in his Responsa that unmarried women should, in fact, cover their heads for matters of kedusha. Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, shlita, told me that an unmarried woman doesn't need to cover her hair when saying matters of kedusha, but a married woman must cover her head when saying matters of kedusha, even in the privacy of her home.

All this talk about head coverings reminds me of a story I once heard about a boy whose parents decided to name him by picking a name out of a hat. The name they chose... six and seven eighths.

Sources:

  • Rabbi Moshe Feinstein - Iggrot Moshe, Orach Chaim vol. 1.
  • Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef - Yechaveh Da'at, vols. 4&5.

 
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