tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4071304112668222239.post1480790271150205865..comments2023-08-16T04:54:49.668-04:00Comments on How to Cover: A Head-Covering Blog: A Comment Worth The Sharing: On Passing And Jewish IdentityMaya Resnikoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00251303621825787312noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4071304112668222239.post-28775388448790997342016-08-03T08:31:11.284-04:002016-08-03T08:31:11.284-04:00hiii
I truly like to reading your post. Thank you...hiii<br /><br />I truly like to reading your post. Thank you so much for<br />taking the time to share such a nice information. its very useful fo me thanks for sharing..god worklifescchttp://lifescc.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4071304112668222239.post-67214830019077506702014-11-06T01:59:50.769-05:002014-11-06T01:59:50.769-05:00My wife used to cover all of the time. Over the ye...My wife used to cover all of the time. Over the years she has moved away from doing so and typically now she only covers at periodic times at home. Her experience of covering was more negative. Most people in our region do not identify headcovering as something distinctively Jewish and therefore the attention received from wearing one is not always welcome. She has had her fair share of being approached and yelled at in puclic spaces such as the grocery stores for being discerned as a Muslim woman. During one episode wheerein a man confronted her in the store she pointed out that she was not Muslim rather she was Jewish. The man was even more enraged and retorted something stupid to let her know that both were equivalent. To cover one's head in certain setting could be a real safety concern and a woman should not jeopordize her security. This is the reason for the Chabad's insistence that a woman should wear a shetl albeit I've never considered this a legitimate alternative and neither has my wife. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00470187161845805276noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4071304112668222239.post-63621106147511561002013-11-18T21:09:09.397-05:002013-11-18T21:09:09.397-05:00So this is a particularly interesting perspective ...So this is a particularly interesting perspective and conversation for me. For a while, I toyed with covering my hair and found it wasn't for me-- at least at this point in my practice and in my life. While you seem conflicted between being visible as a Jew on multiple levels (in terms of having to pass, in terms of adopting styles, etc), I feel that conflict in a very different way. <br /><br />I live in a neighborhood with many Orthodox and modern Orthodox people. I actually work at YU, in the writing center, as well, and often I feel invisible as a Jew, even after I self-identify or talk about my own experiences as a Jew. I'm going to bring up a very strange example of different treatment that may or may not be completely relevant: when I was (heavily) pregnant, I was standing on the subway. I was dressed in a pair of maternity jeans (because at that point, they still fit haha) and had my hair uncovered. There were a few young Jewish men (kippot-wearing) sitting and chatting in the area that was particularly marked for individuals with disabilities (which I have in addition to my past pregnancy). They looked at me, and I felt like they saw through me; I was not offered a seat and stood the duration of my trip in front of these men. At another point, perhaps not a week later, I had my hair covered with a scarf-- mostly for fun-- and was wearing a skirt. Once more, I saw a Jewish man on the packed train car and he saw and "identified" me and offered up his seat at once, nearly pushing others out of the way to do so. <br /><br />Why do I tell this story? So many things are at play. Perhaps the gentlemen talking really didn't notice me, despite the fact that I had made eye contact. Perhaps they had invisible disabilities that made standing hard for them. Perhaps they had had particularly long days and needed the seats more than the gentleman in the second story. Who knows. All I know was when I felt like I was most visible as a Jew, I was treated by others in the community with a special sort of kindness that I don't often experience when I'm not visible to the community. To me, the concept of being visible as a Jew is a way to connect with the community, rather than to immediately be visible to everyone else. <br /><br />I know it's "my own fault" or something else because I chose/choose not to cover my hair and perhaps dress in a way that would make me more visibly Jewish. At the same time, I wonder what implications that might have for how we behave as Jews towards each other and towards people outside of the Jewish community. I know that 'kol Yisrael aravim zeh lah zeh' but I also feel like being visibly Jewish means that you have a commitment, on a deeper level, to behave with kindness towards everyone. I think that we are identifiable, in many cases, to others when we dress a specific way or don kippot or cover our hair-- and that during those times, it is the most important to keep in mind that we are visible as Jews and that our behaviors reflect on others in our communities. <br /><br />I wonder what an acknowledgement of "standing out" would look like; I don't immediately change course in conversation because I see someone wearing a large cross or a hijab and make that about religion or background. What, in this case, does "identifiability" (ahem) get us? How does it change or not change the conversation, outside of the community? And why?Mikayla ZMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07735262521956220687noreply@blogger.com