Hello Safranim, I received many replies to my questions about kippot in children's books and I had started a document where I was adding everyone's comments, but it got very long and I began to realize that many replies were similar anyway. So, for those of you who were interested in the general consensus of what I received here are the answers in a nutshell, in red:
1. Would Joachim Prinz be wearing a kippa at any time in public? Probably not. It is wrong that he would be depicted in a way that is not historically accurate, even if he wore one at shul, or at study. 2. Do any Jews affiliated with the Reform or Progressive movements ever wear kippot in public? Rarely, but some do. 3. Do Reform Jews wear kippot at all times in the synagogue? Do they have kids wear them at Hebrew school? Kids rarely wear them at Hebrew school, but they do during services, as do the parents, often women do, too. 4. Would a book be too confusing to children if some men at, say, a sukkot gathering, wear a kippah and some do not? Not confusing to most kids, could be confusing to more observant Jews who are more used to seeing that. 5. Do Orthodox or more observant denominations only buy picture books if all the men and boys wear kippot? Or do they not buy picture books from secular publishers anyway? Orthodox libraries will buy secular books as long as they are not about Jewish themes. For Jewish practices, they buy books reflecting their level of observance. If the book is related to Jewish practice, then they would buy books where males are wearing kippot. 6. When was the practice of wearing knitted or patterned kippot begun in North America? No one was able to lead me to anything definitive on this, but the best guesses by people are that the practice began in the 1960's or 70's. Lisa Silverman Co-editor, AJL News and Reviews Curator, Jewish Journal Streaming Guide ________________________________ On Monday, August 2, 2021, 11:01:56 PM CDT, Lisa Silverman via Hasafran <hasafran@lists.osu.edu> wrote: Hi safranim, I am co-editor of the AJL children's book reviews and have noticed a trend but I need someone who knows more about this to comment, please. It seems that children's illustrators are putting kippot on most of the men and boys in Jewish-themed books, and I assume it is to make them acceptable to all denominations. But I find this a rather false narrative in many of these books. For instance, there is a lovely new picture book about Rabbi Joachim Prinz and how he was a civil rights activist and spoke at the March on Washington, but he is wearing a very visible kippah there at the Lincoln Memorial, and photos of him at the time do not reflect that. Here are my questions for anyone who can help--- and certainly one person would not have to answer all of them-- 1. Would Joachim Prinz be wearing a kippa at any time in public? 2. Do any Jews affiliated with the Reform or Progressive movements ever wear kippot in public? 3. Do Reform Jews wear kippot at all times in the synagogue? Do they have kids wear them at Hebrew school? 4. Would a book be too confusing to children if some men at, say, a sukkot gathering, wear a kippah and some do not? 5. Do Orthodox or more observant denominations only buy picture books if all the men and boys wear kippot? Or do they not buy picture books from secular publishers anyway? 6. When was the practice of wearing knitted or patterned kippot begun in North America? thank you in advance for any light that can be shed on this! Lisa Silverman Co-editor, AJL News and Reviews Curator, Jewish Journal Streaming Guide __ Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) ================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: hasaf...@lists.service.ohio-state.edu<mailto:hasaf...@lists.service.ohio-state.edu> To join Ha-Safran, update or change your subscription, etc. - click here: https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran Questions, problems, complaints, compliments send to: galro...@osu.edu<mailto:galro...@osu.edu> Ha-Safran Archives: Current: https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran*40lists.service.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html__;JQ!!KGKeukY!iOtqO2pk_824uswwizo7dCTYLuEK2_XpdEdkQ7NS2O4D6qlv-j4ufaWxOfHEfzShxv3DHzhkA-YQCjc$ Earlier Listserver: https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran*40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html__;JQ!!KGKeukY!iOtqO2pk_824uswwizo7dCTYLuEK2_XpdEdkQ7NS2O4D6qlv-j4ufaWxOfHEfzShxv3DHzhkfYFDjeI$ AJL HomePage https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.JewishLibraries.org__;!!KGKeukY!iOtqO2pk_824uswwizo7dCTYLuEK2_XpdEdkQ7NS2O4D6qlv-j4ufaWxOfHEfzShxv3DHzhkQ9OZqEs$ -- Hasafran mailing list Hasafran@lists.osu.edu<mailto:Hasafran@lists.osu.edu> https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran
__ Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) ================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: hasaf...@lists.service.ohio-state.edu To join Ha-Safran, update or change your subscription, etc. - click here: https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran Questions, problems, complaints, compliments send to: galro...@osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.service.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html Earlier Listserver: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org -- Hasafran mailing list Hasafran@lists.osu.edu https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran
