What a kippa really tells you about its wearer

JTA — The Pew Research Center this week repackaged its recent findings on Israeli Jews into an explainer about what a kippa tells you about its wearer.

“In Israel, the type of kippa – or lack thereof – worn by an Israeli Jewish man often is strongly correlated with his religious identity as well as some political views,” Pew noted.

For example, a large black fabric kippa is typically worn by a ultra-Orthodox Jew. A colored or patterned crocheted kippa usually adorns the dome of a modern Orthodox Jew. And a black crocheted or knitted kippa-wearer is most likely “traditional.”

Pew does not exhaust all the possibilities for the kinds of kippahs worn and what they mean, however. Below is our research department’s guide to some styles that Pew left out.

If you’ve ever donned a kippa, even if only for your third-cousin’s bat mitzvah, we’ve got a category for you.

Colorful beaded yarmulke

You are a Jewish feminist.

Rainbow kippa

You are LGBTQ or LGBTQ-friendly.

Large pink satin kippa

You are attending Stacie’s bat mitzvah.

Puffy kippa that sits on your head like a dumpling

Former British prime minister Tony Blair puts on a kippah for a Hanukkah ceremony with then-prime minister Ehud Olmert (unseen) on December 18, 2006 in Jerusalem, Israel. (JTA/Getty Images)

You are a politician visiting a synagogue for the first time.

Elaborate Bukharan kippa

You are a Bukharan Jew – or a New Age rabbi.

Matching kippa-tallit set

You wore it once – at your bar mitzvah.

Crocheted kippa that looks like a slice of watermelon

Illustrative photo of a watermelon-motif kippa (JTA)

You were the class clown in Hebrew school.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles kippa

Illustrative photo of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles themed kippa (JTA)

You were bar mitzvahed in 1989.

Donald Trump kippa

Illustrative photo of a man wearing kippa that reads ‘Donald Trump 2016,’ in support of the Republican presidential contender. (JTA)

You want to piss off your family at the seder.

Giant red kippa

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. (JTA/Wikimedia Commons)

You are a macher in the Catholic Church.