Kippah-Wearing Student Told to Prove Religion

Patch:

The parents of a Jewish student at Northwood High School are upset after the principal asked them to provide a letter from a rabbi justifying the kippah their son wore to school.

Last week Steven Tanenbaum's 17-year-old son, Caleb, began coming to classes wearing a kippah sruga -- a Jewish head covering that his mother had knitted for him.

Read the whole story: Patch

Comments

[pjinaries]

12:13 AM on 02/03/2012

He should send home any kid wearing a crucifix under the same rules.

[Jerry Leibowitz]

11:42 PM on 02/02/2012

As an orthodox Jew who knows the school and principal firsthand, I know for a fact that he is extremely tolerant of orthodox Jews. When the school hosted a pizza party, he made sure that they only ordered kosher pizza. There are many kippah wearing Jews in the school. Those that really do wear "normal" kippot do not need a letter.
I also have heard from a very reliable source that the kid in question wore a huge "kippah" that was more like headgear than the "knitted Kippah" that was described in the article.
Finally, I have seen the father fly completely off the handle and scream curses at someone in public.

[LabRat]

10:27 AM on 02/03/2012

What, dad has a temper so they are the only parents required to get a note from their rabbi attesting to the family's level of faith?

[Jerry Leibowitz]

12:02 PM on 02/03/2012

No- I am saying that there have been many, many kids who have worn kipot in that school and the principal has allowed all of them without any notes. Facebook Caleb Tanenbaum and notice his cornrows and the hat he is wearing in his facebook page. He was not wearing a "Kippah srugah" as the article stated but a very large hat (if you are familiar with the nach nach nachman kippot, this was even larger.) He was actually stopped because the school (and not the principal) was concerned about security and what he could be hiding under the hat. The principal said that he has seen lots of kippot in many styles, but never one that looked like that. That is why he asked for a note.
As for my remark about the father, I am just saying that he flies off the handle.
The article completely misstated the event and they will be doing a followup article interviewing orthodox students there. Unfortunately, the article is scheduoed to come out on Saturday so that the orhtodox community who need to hear the truth willmiss it.

[juanjo]

02:32 PM on 02/05/2012

It is indeed odd that the "kippot police" have arrived. I have seen many different styles of kippot over the years. If you go on line and look you can see a wide assortment of styles and colors. Some are embroidered with all sorts of stuff on them. I have even seen them for children with cartoon characters on them. As a youth I wore a small knotted one that just barely covered the very top of my head. Now I see people wearing all styles of kippot, some of which cover the entire head. Some are extremely colorful while others are not. I have two I like to wear. One is a large black, knitted one which covers most of my head. The second is very similar to what the Naked Archeologist wears but a lot more colorful. I wear that one to shul.

So I asked a rabbi friend to tell me if there is anything in the various rabbinic commentaries setting out a particular standard for kippot. Sorry to disappoint you Jerry but there are none. So this kid's mother knitted him a kippah that was different from what you are accustomed to seeing. So???? Next you will be telling me the brand of refrigerator I should use to store my kosher food in?

[Jerry Leibowitz]

09:19 AM on 02/06/2012

Juanjo,

I have been wearing a kippah all my life and I have seen all brands of kippot. My son wore a Nachman yarmulkah when he came back from Israel (ask your rabbi what that is).
My son knows the boy in question. The boy admitted to my son firsthand that he was not wearing a kippah but something that could be devined as headgear. If you took my advice and looked up his facebook picture (Caleb Tanenbaum), you can see what he is wearing in that picture. It is not a kippah. The "kippah" he wore was very similar to the type of headgear that gangs wear and it really was a security issue. Also this was a sudden decision to wear a "kippah." He had not been wearing it before.
(Ironically, the reason he was in the public school was because he was thrown out of the yeshiva for not wearing a kippah.) Add to this, I have seen his father in action and he is just the type of person to fly off the handle even when he is wrong.

[Ukie3]

08:29 PM on 02/02/2012

The school... the county even, should count themselves lucky that all the parents want is an apology letter from the principal. And give the kind people a gift basket while you're at it... chump.
As a student of another Montgomery County Public School I am surprised that this kind of thing would happen here, especially in Silver Spring, which has many Jewish residents.

[James Wills]

07:12 PM on 02/02/2012

A principal and school board with too much time on their hands. There must be more important issues than harassing a childs religion for these "leaders" to focus on.

[iam7545 r]

06:07 PM on 02/02/2012

Another example of a liberal trying to suppress religion. It is happening everywhere now to all religions with the exception of Muslims. I take offense at the response by the AISH Rabbi to the school. ANY Jew can wear a Kippah. One does not have to be observant or measured by any other yard stick. We are Jews because our Mother is a Jew. That is the ONLY requirement to be a Jew.

Can you imagine the blowback if this was done to a Muslim student?

[juanjo]

02:38 PM on 02/05/2012

Who said anything about the political persuasion of the principal? Ignorance and stupidity are not restricted to any particular political position as is readily seen when one reads any media.

[iam7545 r]

05:57 PM on 02/05/2012

The school is in the most liberal county in the USA

[charlespublicaccount]

01:59 PM on 02/02/2012

This article title is misleading. The principal asked the kid for a note explaining the kippah (which the kid just started wearing a week ago), presumably because hats are not allowed in school. This is not news.

[LabRat]

06:01 PM on 02/02/2012

No. The principal asked his parents to get a note from their Rabbi. He didn't believe the parents when they confirmed that the kid was indeed Jewish. Unless that principal has a letter on file from the Rabbi or Iman for every Jewish and Muslim kid who wears headgear for religious reasons he was out of line. And given the population of Silver Spring, that would be a large number of students.

[juanjo]

02:36 PM on 02/05/2012

Religious head coverings are allowed where a mere fashion statement is not. That has been the law for a long time. I am 57, almost 58 and that was the rule when I was a kid in grade school and high school. We had Jews and Sikhs at my high school who wore the head coverings required by their faiths. The only problem I ever had was with some gentile kids who would try to snatch mine off. After I beat a couple of them into the ground for doing so, it wasn't such a problem any more.