The Whole Truth

The Whole Truth

... everything you always wanted to know about Jews

An exhibition of the Jewish Museum Berlin from 22nd March until 1st September 2013.

I visited the exhibition on Monday, 22th April 2013. It is really worth to see it. Very well done and very instructive.

Some impressions about Jewish head coverings:

The "hat section"

The headlines

Special kippa with the name of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov

Same style with pompom like here:

Knited White Kippa (כִּיפָּה) Worn by Breslov Kids

I can highly recommend to you the article:

The Top Hat that decended from Heaven, and other Musings on Jewish Head Attire

by Michal Friedlander, too.

The Chortkov Shtreimel (שטריימל)

(c)Wikimedia

Dovid Moshe Friedman
(1827-1903)
1st Rebbe of Chortkov

A shtreimel with a very high and pointy crown.

For further details, refer as well to my post:

The Shtreimel - שטריימל

History of the Jewish Shtreimel - שטריימל

The shtreimel is the Jewish hat with the most mysterious story behind it. Today considered as a holy hat which emphasizes the divine in the head of his wearer, the legend has it, that it is the biggest sign of humiliation ever imposed on the Jews of Europe. 

It started during the Fourth Council of the Lateran under Pope Inocent III. when in Canon 68 was proclaimed:

Jews and Saracens of both sexes in every Christian province must be distinguished from the Christian by a difference of dress. On Passion Sunday and the last three days of Holy Week they may not appear in public.

 In consequence Jews had to wear a special headgear as well.

In the Netherlands and other European countries the outcasts were forced to wear a fur tail (fox tail) on their back.

Pieter Bruegel the Elder

The Cripples

In this context Jews wrapped fur tails around their hats.

A further story I read was that in Russia Jews wrapped fur tails around their kippot that they remain unrecognized in the public and couldn't be identified as Jews.

Another hat which humiliates the Jewish people was the Jewish Hat.

© picture from A History of Jewish Costume

© picture: Raymond Faure

Reenactment in Goslar, Germany

Judenhut

See as well the very instructive film:

Hats of Jersusalem by Nati Adler

and the article:

The Top Hat that decended from Heaven, and other Musings on Jewish Head Attire

by Michal Friedlander

How a Shtreimel Center Looks Inside

Some nice pictures of a Shtreimel Center in Mea Sharim, Jerusalem

© all picture: BHOL

Old Fashioned Shtreimel - שטריימל

Old fashioned Shtreimel made out of sable fur

A shtreimel worn in the 1950s. Long time ago Jewish people wore a kippah with one fur tail around. Also during some periods, in Russia it was forbidden to wear a kippah. I order to hide the kippah the Russian jews wrapped a fur tail around her kippah.

The old fashion sthreimel revives this habit and in consequence it is not high and small in diameter.

Nowadays the shtreimelech are higher and are made of several pieces of fur. They resemble a crown. The new trend in the USA is to be even higher and bigger than in Israel.