Naftali Bennet is Israel’s first prime minister who wears a yarmulke.
Along with all the weighty issues that have arisen in the wake of Israel’s new government, it seems like at least some people are wondering how Bennett keeps his yarmulke on his bald head, JTA reported. After all, all the usual methods such as bobby pins aren’t of any use to him.
In 2013, when Bennett was just beginning his career in politics, he said on a comedy show that he uses a mixture of tape and gravity to keep his kippa on his head. But once, when he was speaking outdoors on a windy tape, he was out of tape and had to resort to using chewing gum instead. “I had to improvise,” he said. “So we MacGyvered it.”
In all seriousness, Bennett actually uses tape to keep his yarmulke on, but not Scotch tape. Instead, he uses a product developed and sold by Chaim Levin, a 65-year-old bus driver who lives in a mostly Modern Orthodox suburb of Tel Aviv.
The product, developed in 2013, called the Kipa Keeper, consists of reusable hypoallergenic double-sided medical tape, which will adhere yarmulkes to even the baldest of heads. A pack of 40 costs 40 shekels, about $12.50, including delivery.
“It was Yom Kippur, when everyone in the beit knesset bows down [to the ground] and I saw that 20 to 30% of the mitpallelim had their kippa fall to the floor,” Levin, himself a bald kippa-wearer, told JTA. “I realized I had to come up with an idea for kippas to stay on heads.”
When Levin heard in 2015 that Bennett, then serving as the economy minister, used his product, he asked him to join him in a photo in the hope that it would boost sales.
“It really helped,” Levin said. “There are still people who call them ‘Bennett’s stickers.’”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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8 Responses
what surprised me most was that he is the first pm to wear a kippah
I think to call another human being the name “bald” is extremely not right and extremely not fair.
If we stab each other inside our own nation, then when the arabs decide to devour us alive, Hashem will not intervene. Hashem will only help us if we sincerely try our maximum to become one united, friendly and understanding nation.
The name “bald”, I saw already at a few different sites.
Woe r the eyes and ears to see and process this piece of news.
For starters; wernt u all excited that u finally got a YIDISH MEDINA years ago?! Now heres the irony when u have a brain the size of a nut; The founders of Israel were totally expressive in their views of being anti religion anti Torah. Are u people with me??! So for the past few yrs, the Chareidi MKs were cozying up to Bibi cuz he allowed them into his coalition only cuz his bigoted selfish agenda allowed it. He never officially wore a yarmulke, hes a total Mechalel Shabos, eats Neveilas and Treifas but he was GOOD. WHY?? Isnt this a בושה beyond comprehension?? Is a Yarmulka a pass to Judaism? No! U havta practice Judaism to be a Yid and none of the founders nor their students did. In fact they all abhorred our holy Torah and tried to eliminate Yidishkeit. G d prevailed.
Now another Zionist PM, who is thae same עוכר ישראל as his predecessors, but now its the end of thw world! Suddenly a yarmulke is an issue. If it wernt so tragicomical, u cldve laughed ur heads off these religious Zionists that think its the end of the world w Bennet and his cohorts.
ITS ALL THE SAME! G d despises the acts of claiming a State before we are redeemed and NOTHING AND NOBODY can make the situation any better. Its all a despicable act of defiance against our holy Torah. Yes, and even if Bennet dons Tefilin. All for naught. Theyre all spiting G ds name and are perfectly ok with it. Its all a SHANDE.
When I was in Mesivta Chaim Shlomo, Rabbi Leibush Langee told us that at night, if you say krias shma sh’al hamitah with proper kavanah and yiras shamayim your yarmulke will stay on your head all night. I have experienced this to be truthful
Possibly the stupidest article ever posted on YWN. Are all other frum men hairy on top?
IF HE USES A THUMBTACK, THAT MAKES HIM A BAAL MOOM.
avraham- There is nothing wrong with he word “bald” Rabi Akiva was bald and his son is called Rabi Yehoshua ben Karcha, “son of the bald one”
As a person with a journalism background, I am perturbed by this article. “Fluff” pieces about incendiary individuals only serve to legitimize and normalize such figures, focusing on their non-controversial elements. Think of the news outlets which focus on biden’s choice of how to spend family time, or how kamala harris dresses.
Now think of the implications of writing about the past times or food preferences of nasrallah or abbas. Would that be acceptable?
Bennet is just as dangerous as arab terrorists, but instead of declaring war on jewish bodies, he has declared war on the Jewish soul, undermining the status quo vis a vis religious issues and the relationship with the religious community. He has even yet to distance himself from his allies’ proposed bills to outlaw kiruv r”l.
Gadol hamchtio yoser min ha’horgo.
The piece of cloth on his head is of no relevance and only serves as a tool of misdirection. Menachem begin did not wear a yarmulkah, but was exponentially more religious and committed to Judaism than this man. Not that he was perfect, but he facilitated the growth of Torah on a grand scale, and worked together with Gedolei yisroel; he also kept shabbos and kashrus.