Michael may be right. If one were one of the Queen's subjects, one may
have to stand bareheaded in her presence, but this protocol does not apply
to royalty that is not under the dominion of the Queen. I don't know about
Michael, but as a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, I consider my
lineage just a tad nobler than the Queen's. As Jews, wherever we may be
physically located, we are first subjects of the KING of KINGS, and His
protocol has precedence over all other protocols, and this protocol demands
that we not stand bareheaded in His presence!!
<<Aren't we all missing the point here? Is it the clothes that maketh the
man or the n'shama within the man? We are so obsessed these days with
Jewish uniforms; black hats, frock coats. two buttons and the like. We keep
sending out coded messages to our fellow Jews; look I twirl my tallith and
hide the black, I'm a Lubavitcher; look I wear a pill box hat on top of my
peah, I'm a Belz lady. Why do we do these things? Can't we just be frum
(religious) without all this klippah (external barriers)?>>
I'm afraid that it is Michael that has entirely missed the point here, at
least in my discourse with Dovid on this subject. We are discussing the
philosophical basis (chochma) for the wearing of a given hat, and what
value it has to the development of moral discipline (mussar) -- not why one
group is superior to another because it adopts a certain style of
headdress. As an aside, I'd also like to remind Michael that there is
strength in diversity -- not just strife. Hashem divided us into twelve
tribes for a reason!
Dov Laufer