Re: Black Hats

Nechama Cox (nechama@borealis.com)
Tue, 28 Oct 1997 13:20:01 +0000

Dov Laufer wrote --
<<If one were one of the Queen's subjects, one may have to stand bareheaded
in her presence, but this protocol does not apply to royalty that is not
under the dominion of the Queen. I don't know about Michael, but as a
descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, I consider my lineage just a tad
nobler than the Queen's. As Jews, wherever we may be physically located,
we are first subjects of the KING of KINGS, and His protocol has precedence
over all other protocols, and this protocol demands that we not stand
bareheaded in His presence!!>>

While wearing a kippah when in the Queen's presence is done by Jewish men
who visit her, wearing a hat is not. No matter what your citizenship,
wearing a hat in Her Majesty's presence would be a slap in the face, and I
do not believe it is defensible to say that Jews should do so. As long as a
man does have a kippah on, wearing a hat is not necessary, and it would be
disruptive, at best, to act with such a lack of Derech Eretz (respect) for
the Queen, and it would be harmful to the Jews in England. As such I can
not imagine someone actually arguing that as an American or Israeli Jew,
they would not take off their hat. (Of course this is not to say that they
should be actually "bare headed")

Nechama Cox
London, England
nechama@borealis.com