Are you a girl who likes to rock a headcovering, but is unsatisfied with those flimsy little white things at the door of the shul that look like Thanksgiving turkey decorations? Are you not quite ready to part with your luxurious locks for a wig? Jealous of your man and his hot hot kippah, but cognizant of the fact that traditional kippot look about as cool on women as sandals with black socks look on men?
Well then. Worry no more, my funky Semitic sistahs, because Rina Baraz and Diaspora Girl are here for you, bringing an estrogenated revolution to the world of Jewish headwear.
Company owner, Rina Baraz, has created Diaspora Girl (www.diasporagirl.com) to fill the spiritual needs of Jewish females without offending their sense of style.
Now, a woman can daven in a kippah that is expressly tailored to her individual taste. Now, a Bat Mitzvah can stand at the bimah with the congregation wondering where she got her cute, funky kippah.
The twelve kippot currently being offered by Diaspora Girl are so hip, she can wear hers while she hangs out with friends or is whisked away on a romantic evening with her special beau!
Young mothers, ladies and Bat Mitzvahs now have a choice. They don’t have to pin a little doilie to their heads any longer. No need to try and squeeze into a fashion created for the opposite sex. Now they have their own line of kippot dedicated to preserving their style while they express their spirit.
I have to admit, the kippot are pretty cool in a Bat Ayin meets Trenchtown meets LL Cool J kind of way. But why Diaspora Girl?
What is a Diaspora?
This is a group of people who refuse to conform to the mainstream. They have their own thing going on.
I thought the Diaspora was the Jewish world outside of Israel, and in fact one of its biggest problems was that Jews in it were far too eager to conform to the mainstream. But I could be wrong. So who’s a Diaspora Girl, then? Well, among other things…
[The Diaspora Girl] knows that the world doesn’t revolve around her but she knows how to make it go ’round.
She acknowledges she isn’t the most powerful thing in the universe but she’s still a powerhouse.
This makes sense, of course, because the Israeli Girl, in contrast, is absolutely convinced that the world revolves around her and that she is the most powerful thing in the universe.
So kol ha-kavod to Diaspora Girl for prosifunkstifying up the shul a little. And keep your eyes peeled for their upcoming line of tie-dyed, distressed tallitot and rainbow-colored tefillin.
Just kidding.
Um, I hope.
- God’s JIB Picks. - 5/14/2007
- Amy, Amy, Amy… - 4/28/2007
- Inside the mind of a seminary girl. - 4/21/2007
Are you sure it is ok for a muslim girl to wear these?
Michal, that’s why Ashton always wears hats. I’m not kidding. Plus, if you’ve ever been here before, you know that any post here can devolve into some sort of sexual reference…sad, but true.
Holy cow! How did this turn into a sex talk? The whole point of a kippah is to show reverence for G-d. The kippah is a symbol that G-d is always above us (and our ego!). It’s a good reminder that we’re not alone in the struggle.
Here is a pretty good overview of the topic of a woman covering her hair. The idea that a non-virgin has to is a minority opinion that is not accepted. Also, there does not seem to be any source for the idea that there is any connection between sex/tumah/covering one’s hair.
http://www.chaburas.org/hair1.html
http://www.chaburas.org/hair2.html
Besides, Dina, your logic is flawed. If you can get rid of the tumah on your fingernails by washing them, then why can’t you get rid of the tumah on your hair by washing it? Conversely, if you don’t wash your hands, no one requires that you walk around in public wearing gloves.
Gevalt! A Bat Mitzva having sex! Dude, that’s 12 years old!!
Sounds like the Diaspora Grrls don’t know whether they want to look like the goyim in their funky headwear, or if they want to look like the Orthodox, but only kinda, and without the rules. Either way, sounds like a disaster to me. :-/
AHHH SHE STOLE MY NAME! See… look what happens when I don’t visit jewlicious in a while… lol
Dina, What is the source for this explanation you posted? I had learnt in a Gemara that the reason that this practice came about was that in earlier societies, only prostitutes would go out w/ out their head covered so this is what juxtaposed this particular action. I was not aware of any real ideological or spiritual connotations.
Dina, you make a great and interesting point when you note that the concept of head-covering would really be for women who have had sex, not just married women anymore. (Hey, client, c’mon, women are already wonderful and holy; it’s the men who are messed up already—-ok, now I’m really stretching some info I read somewhere, but it was in the same spot where I found out that female headcovering is mentioned a ton, while male headcovering (kippot) supposedly started out as a cultural/social (nonrequired) thing.) I’ll try to find some sources, but I’m being particularly lazy right now.
Dina, This is really fascinating. I ve never heard about it. And it s just women? guys dont get that schmutz after sex? Please, you gotta tell me where do you get these news from so i can stop laughing at that and starting to have a pitty at my unlearned self. untill then – :)))))
The hair covering isn’t really about modesty. Certain tumahs leave the body through hair or nails. So, the same way you have to wash your hands in the morning (when you wake up, the tumah that was in your body because you were sleeping leaves through your nails) to get rid of “residual tumah” in your nails, a woman has a particular tumah that leaves through her hair after she’s had sex. Therefore, her hair should be covered when she’s in public.
It’s funny, the rule only goes on married women nowadays, but it really belongs to any woman who’s had sex.
I still don’t get the head covering thing. The modest attire as I understand it includes loose fitting garments, numero uno. So I often see this head covering and real tight sexy skirts.
Personally if I am looking at a woman w/ licentiousness, I am not looking at the hair first but last. But I am trying to mend my nasty ways, so I am looking a bit less.
These were popular a few years ago here in Israel – no shortage of funky female headgear options among the religious-zionist crowd.