There is certainly a long-standing custom among Jewish males to cover one's head, although it has not been clear to what extent one is obligated to do so, nor when and where that necessity becomes more or less important. To define the extreme positions, one possibility could be that a Jewish male is absolutely required to cover his head, pretty much at all times. At the other extreme, one could claim that in all situations it is simply a middat hasidut, a meritorious act, but not a necessity. The truth, as usual, lies somewhere in the middle, so that we have what to talk about in this sheet.

Fundamentally, the modern posqim assume that the custom is largely a middat hasidut, although we will get to the exceptions in a moment. Thus, R. Moshe Feinstein, ztllh"h, ruled that a Jewish man could take off or not wear his yarmulke if he would lose a job because of it. One is not required to forego one's livelihood for the sake of upholding what is at best a custom of the Jewish people. R. Moshe mentions the well-established halakhic principle that one is not required to spend more than a fifth of one's assets in order to fulfill a positive Torah commandment. If one can neglect an actual positive commandment in such situations, certainly one can forego adhering to a widespread custom. I would add, however, that the case R. Moshe was faced with was where the person could be reasonably confident that he would not get the job if he wore his yarmulke. It is important to weigh, in such situations, the difference between real financial consequences and a simple lack of personal comfort with standing out from others.

Lest we think that R. Moshe did not take the wearing of a yarmulke seriously, we should note his ruling that a man who realized that he had davened without a head covering, would have to repeat his prayers. That is because, as the Taz originally noted, there might be an issue of huqqat hagoyim in leaving one's head uncovered. While the Taz applied this to all situations, R. Moshe felt that in America bareheadedness was not in and of itself a practice of the non-Jews (what qualifies as huqqot hagoyim is an interesting topic that we will be-ezrat Hashem discuss in a future sheet). When it came to prayer, however, he noted that contemporary non-Jews do insist that people pray with bare heads. In such circumstances, praying with a bare head (even unwittingly) would qualify as having followed huqqot hagoyim, the practices of the non-Jews, and would therefore necessitate a repeat prayer. I should note that any covering, even one's hand, might qualify to avoid this problem.

Other issues that arose in discussions of bareheadedness were whether there was a particular prohibition of mentioning God's Name without any head covering, of participating in a davar she-bi-kedushah while in this state, and so on. Again, fundamentally, the posqim agree that there is no absolute prohibition, although they do not wish people to take the custom of covering one's head lightly. A teshuvah of R. Shlomo Kluger, although widely rejected, nevertheless contributed an important notion to the discussion. R. Shlomo Kluger, to explain various sources, suggested that in order to walk more than four amot (and be in compliance with the custom) the majority of one's head would have to be covered. For less than four amot, however, he allowed walking with only a symbolic covering.

The notion that of a specific obligation to cover one's head (outside of adhering to a middat hasidut) bothered later authorities, but the differentiation between the majority of one's head and the minority was picked up for other purposes. For example, R. Ovadia Yosef shlit"a, believed that a minimal covering (although he wanted it to be visible from all sides of the person)would be sufficient to help a Jew avoid problems of huqqot hagoyim. For more significant endeavors, such as mentioning the name of God, however, he believes one should have at least the majority of one's head covered.

Interestingly, R. Ovadia's discussion came up in the context of whether unmarried women should have their heads covered for prayers, Torah study, and other mentions of God's Name. Although he recognizes that the general custom is not to require that, he believes that, if it could be implemented without too much strife, unmarried women (and, I suppose, married women who do not generally cover their hair) should have a covering on their heads for all mentions of God's Name (prayers, blessings on food, etc.) , Torah study, and devarim she-bi-qdusha (answering the kaddish, for example).

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