Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

The Yarmulke Meets Pop Culture

Image by Collin Kornfeind via Aeon Video

Remember when the Forward brought you everything you wanted to know about the yarmulke but were afraid to ask?

A short documentary by Aeon’s Collin Kornfeind explores what we described as character yarmulke. “Reverence” takes a close look at yarmulkes that display brands, sports teams and other references to popular culture. It’s a way to have fun with the traditional Jewish headgear, and at the same time express attachment to Judaism and American culture, the film’s protagonists argue.

Image by Collin Kornfeind via Aeon Video

The film is clearly aimed at those who are no experts when it comes to donning a kippah. About a third of the 12-minute documentary is taken up by explanations of the meaning of the yarmulke. No attention, on the other hand, is given to women who wear kippahs.

If you can get used to the somewhat annoying Klezmer-esque background movies you’ve heard in a gazillion Jewish films before, the documentary is worth a few minutes of your attention — and even if it’s just for the brilliantly done animations.

Image by Collin Kornfeind via Aeon Video

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.