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Should We Hide Our Tsitsit or Kippot to Protect Us from the Anti-Jewish Mob?
Demonstrators wearing kippot in solidarity with the Jewish community at a Berlin demonstration against antisemitism in April 2018. Photo: Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch.
This week’s Torah reading is mainly concerned with the 12 men sent by Moses to tour the land of Israel before entering it. On their return, 10 of them stated that although the land was fruitful, the inhabitants were too much of a military challenge. The two dissenters, Joshua and Kalev, were shouted down. Thus, the Jewish people were sent back into the wilderness for another 40 years, until a new generation with a different mental state would be ready to enter.
Mental fortitude is the theme of this week’s reading — and a very relevant one for all of us.
This week’s reading also talks about the fringes — Tsitsit — that many Jews wear, sometimes over their clothes and sometimes underneath:
God said to Moses speak to the children of Israel and tell them that they should make these fringes on the corners of their garments for all future generations and included in the fringes should be a thread of blue and when you look at them you will remember all the commandments which God has given and you will carry them out and you should not allow your eyes and you should not be seduced after your heart and your eyes which so easily seduce you. (Numbers, Chapter 15:37-40).
Archaeologically we know that in the ancient Middle East, aristocrats and priests wore distinctive clothes, including girdles with fringes as a symbol of superiority. The Israelites adopted these fringes to remind everyone of the laws.
The general clothing of the Israelites were square garments with a hole in the middle for the head, falling down at the sides with four corners. That was where the fringes were attached. When the style of clothing changed to be togas or skirts during the Greek and Roman period, which didn’t have four corners, some gave up the law, while others had specific garments made in order to keep the tradition. Of course, this identified Jews as being different in the Graeco-Roman world. Some flaunted it, and others hid or abandoned Judaism.
In the 19th century, after the Enlightenment, Jews began to mix more freely and generally in non-Jewish society, and tried to avoid looking different. It became a pretty widespread custom to make special four-cornered garments that would be worn underneath one’s shirt, and therefore not necessarily visible. The only place that one saw the garment with fringes was in the synagogue, where we have what is called the Talit Gadol, which is much bigger than the smaller Talit Katan, the little one worn underneath.
In the less civilized world that we live in, I have been asked several times whether it would be better if we didn’t wear our Tsitsit, out of fear of being attacked. Some people have even asked me whether they are allowed to take down their Mezuzah because they fear that if their house would be recognized as a Jewish house, it would be vandalized.
This is not a new problem. It has been with us throughout our period of exile, whether in the Christian or Muslim world. Particularly toward the end of the 19th century, as Jews spread out beyond the ghettos, and Jews were attacked, assimilated Jews like Franz Kafka and Marcel Proust withdrew even more.
Wearing Tsitsit in public (and/or kippot for that matter) can take courage. And not all of us have the fortitude to assert our identity openly. And it’s up to us as to how we deal with it. For me, it is a matter of pride and taking a stand — as well as passing on to the next generations that being proud to be a Jew may very often subject you either to ridicule or even attack, but it defines one as a person.
It was so impressive and reassuring during the recent parade for Israel in New York to see hundreds of youngsters and adults walking down Fifth Avenue happily wearing the Magen David, kippot, and flaunting their Tsitsit.
We all make choices as to how much of our tradition we adhere to, and to what degree, but this is a very important test case of who we are and where we stand. This too is about mental fortitude.
The author is a writer and rabbi, currently based in New York.
The post Should We Hide Our Tsitsit or Kippot to Protect Us from the Anti-Jewish Mob? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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North London Synagogue, Nursery Targeted in Eighth Local Antisemitic Incident in Just Over a Week
Demonstrators against antisemitism in London on Sept. 8, 2025. Photo: Campaign Against Antisemitism
A synagogue and its nursery school in the Golders Green area of north London were targeted in an antisemitic attack on Thursday morning — the eighth such incident locally in just over a week amid a shocking surge of anti-Jewish hate crimes in the area.
The synagogue and Jewish nursery were smeared with excrement in an antisemitic outrage echoing a series of recent incidents targeting the local Jewish community.
“The desecration of another local synagogue and a children’s nursery with excrement is a vile, deliberate, and premeditated act of antisemitism,” Shomrim North West London, a Jewish organization that monitors antisemitism and also serves as a neighborhood watch group, said in a statement.
“This marks the eighth antisemitic incident locally in just over a week, to directly target the local Jewish community,” the statement read. “These repeated attacks have left our community anxious, hurt, and increasingly worried.”
Local law enforcement confirmed they are reviewing CCTV footage and collecting evidence to identify the suspect and bring them to justice.
This latest anti-Jewish hate crime came just days after tens of thousands of people marched through London in a demonstration against antisemitism, amid rising levels of antisemitic incidents across the United Kingdom since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
In just over a week, seven Jewish premises in Barnet, the borough in which Golders Green is located, have been targeted in separate antisemitic incidents.
According to the Metropolitan Police, an investigation has been launched into the targeted attacks, all of which involved the use of bodily fluids.
During the incidents, a substance was smeared on four synagogues and a private residence, while a liquid was thrown at a school and over a car in two other attacks.
As the investigation continues, local police said they believe the same suspect is likely responsible for all seven offenses, which are being treated as religiously motivated criminal damage.
No arrests have been made so far, but law enforcement said it is actively engaging with the local Jewish community to provide reassurance and support.
The Community Security Trust (CST), a nonprofit charity that advises Britain’s Jewish community on security matters, condemned the recent wave of attacks and called on authorities to take immediate action.
“The extreme defilement of several Jewish locations in and around Golders Green is utterly abhorrent and deeply distressing,” CST said in a statement.
“CST is working closely with police and communal partners to support victims and help identify and apprehend the perpetrator,” it continued.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) also denounced the attacks, calling for urgent measures to protect the Jewish community.
“These repeated incidents are leaving British Jews anxious and vulnerable in their own neighborhoods, not to mention disgusted,” CAA said in a statement.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, the United Kingdom has experienced a surge in antisemitic crimes and anti-Israel sentiment.
Last month, CST published a report showing there were 1,521 antisemitic incidents in the UK from January to June of this year. It marks the second-highest total of incidents ever recorded by CST in the first six months of any year, following the first half of 2024 in which 2,019 antisemitic incidents were recorded.
In total last year, CST recorded 3,528 antisemitic incidents for 2024, the country’s second worst year for antisemitism despite being an 18 percent drop from 2023’s record of 4,296.
In previous years, the numbers were significantly lower, with 1,662 incidents in 2022 and 2,261 hate crimes in 2021.
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Germany to Hold Off on Recognizing Palestinian State but Will Back UN Resolution for Two-State Solution
German national flag flutters on top of the Reichstag building, that seats the Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, March 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
Germany will support a United Nations resolution for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but does not believe the time has come to recognize a Palestinian state, a government spokesman told Reuters on Thursday.
“Germany will support such a resolution which simply describes the status quo in international law,” the spokesman said, adding that Berlin “has always advocated a two-state solution and is asking for that all the time.”
“The chancellor just mentioned two days ago again that Germany does not see that the time has come for the recognition of the Palestinian state,” the spokesman added.
Britain, France, Canada, Australia, and Belgium have all said they will recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly later this month, although London said it could hold back if Israel were to take steps to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and commit to a long-term peace process.
The United States strongly opposes any move by its European allies to recognize Palestinian independence.
Last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the US has told other countries that recognition of a Palestinian state will cause more problems.
Those who see recognition as a largely symbolic gesture point to the negligible presence on the ground and limited influence in the conflict of countries such as China, India, Russia, and many Arab states that have recognized Palestinian independence for decades.
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UN Security Council, With US Support, Condemns Strikes on Qatar
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
The United Nations Security Council on Thursday condemned recent strikes on Qatar’s capital Doha, but did not mention Israel in the statement agreed to by all 15 members, including Israel‘s ally the United States.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with the attack on Tuesday, escalating its military action in what the United States described as a unilateral attack that does not advance US and Israeli interests.
The United States traditionally shields its ally Israel at the United Nations. US backing for the Security Council statement, which could only be approved by consensus, reflects President Donald Trump’s unhappiness with the attack ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Council members underscored the importance of de-escalation and expressed their solidarity with Qatar. They underlined their support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar,” read the statement, drafted by Britain and France.
The Doha operation was especially sensitive because Qatar has been hosting and mediating negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire in the Gaza war.
“Council members underscored that releasing the hostages, including those killed by Hamas, and ending the war and suffering in Gaza must remain our top priority,” the Security Council statement read.
The Security Council will meet later on Thursday to discuss the Israeli attack at a meeting due to be attended by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani.