Thursday, December 31, 2009

Need a Yarmulke (Kippa) In An Emergency? If You Have An iPhone, You're In Luck



Did your rabbi walk into a restaurant where you were eating and catch you not wearing a yarmulke?  Did you get pulled into a weekday minyan and not have a kippa in your pocket?  Fear not, for technology has come to your rescue.  This week a new application, iKippa, was introduced in the iTunes Application store for users of iPhones and iTouch.

For only 99 cents, you can choose a photo of a knitted kippa (seruga) or an embroidered white silk yarmulke and have it in place atop your head faster than you can say Sholom Aleichem.  

How does it work?  You start the app on the iPhone or iTouch and it displays the kippa of your choice.  Then place the device on top of your head with the screen facing up, and you're in business.

According to a report in VosIzNeias, this is more acceptable according to halacha (Jewish law) than covering your head with a hand, and of course, it frees both hands for eating or gesturing.

As the iTunes catalog puts it (misspellings included),
For those moments where you need Yamaka and you don’t have one
Now your iPhone can help you with all types of Yamaka’s for the everyday and for special occasionsChoose your Yamaka design and than flip your iPhone face up, for those rare times when you need to put it on your head.
אל תיתפס בלעדיה. כיפה לכל אירוע, עכשיו באייפון שלך. מיום טוב ועד הכיפה הסרוגה, האייפון שלך הוא כעת גם כיסוי ראש לשעת הצורך.
בחר את העיצוב המתאים לך, והפנה את מסך האיפון שלך כלפי מעלה לפני שאתה מניח אותו על ראשך
Will it work?  Well, even if it is halachically OK, if the wearer doesn't have the poise of a fashion model when walking, or bends over his plate when eating, or shuckles even slightly when davening, you have to believe that the hi-tech head covering will soon be on the floor, and maybe in more than one piece.  Will iPhone insurance cover such uses?  Sounds like a job for the lawyers to tackle.

As the latest iteration of the classic Jewish religious head covering, it has not yet made its way into the catalog of kippot as shown in Wikipedia, but we wouldn't be surprised if it showed up there within a few days.

1 comment:

  1. Hi there,


    I do have an Iphone, I am really lucky in this case!!

    Thanks,
    Jonathan

    ReplyDelete