Dh asked to remove his kippah clip

[jewishmum]

DH works in a factory and was asked to remove his kippah clip because it's metal and it could contaminate the food product. While I understand the concern, he can't wear double sided tape to keep his kippah on as it hurts his head so I'm not sure what the alternative is?

@kateandme

What did you not understand? That poster said that her sons wear the larger kippahs which dont need a clip. She then clarified for non-Jews that the size and style of kippah can vary and have different meaning and importance to different Jews. So that no one would follow up and say "then why cant OP's husband just wear a bigger one." She was pre-emptivley saying that the bigger ones may not be suitable for OP's husband.

I really don't understand what you found confusing.

I thought she wanted an explanation on what the 'big statement' they make was

Could you sew a loop inside the kippah and then attach the clip to that and then his hair? nobody would see it.

Basically you can tell a lot about someone's politics and their religious practice from their style of kippah (there is huge diversity even under the umbrella of Orthodoxy, plus some Jews who aren't Orthodox also wear kippot). It might not seem like such a big deal in a workplace where others are unlikely to know these things, but presumably OP's husband might feel awkward and not himself in a kippah that's strongly associated with a different community.

I don’t know anything about the practicalities of wearing a Kippah but I do know a bit about vintage ladies hats, some of which need a bit of help to stay on (especially the smaller half hats or sculptural disc style hats) so I’m wondering if you might find something helpful in traditional millinery supplies?

Perhaps something like this could work?

www.petershams.com/collections/combs/products/plastic-side-combs-amazing-quality

They are generally stitched just inside the hat rim (screen shot from a YouTube video to show this)

Are people not allowed to wear clips in their hair to keep hair out of their face while working?
If the kippah clip is not allowed then other clips should not be allowed either.
Or if other people are allowed to wear plastic clips then he should be allowed to wear a plastic clip too.

If people are tying long hair back with clips while DH has been told he is not allowed to wear the kippah clip then there's something off....

could he not have one reserved for work, on which you could attach elastic to go under his chin to keep it in place?

I’m with those who can’t see why a hairnet over the Kippah wouldn’t be acceptable. After all, if it’s meant to stop hair getting in the food, surely it’s going to stop a great, big clip! Also, consider comparable situations with any colleagues e.g. hijab clips, hair clips, piercings etc.

I do wonder if they've underestimated what a pain this is for him. And I'm also worrying about a double standard. Usually in places where you have to wear a hairnet for work people with long hair are required to use bands, clips and pins etc to ensure their hair is contained underneath it. If their hairnets aren't up to keeping clips/pins out of the food, perhaps they need (much) better hairnets.

I know this might be a bit awkward but perhaps at work your DH could have a look at how people with long hair fasten their hair back under the nets. Then say to his manager "well Sean and Natalie use metal pins to keep their hair back?"

What's the food product. It wouldn't be chicken would it?

Unless he fully submerges his head into the tomato soup or peanut butter, I don’t see why he can’t wear a clip in his hair.

I’m probably being really dense here, but I don’t understand what the problem is if he’s wearing a hairnet. Even if the clip came loose, the hairnet would catch it, wouldn’t it? They’re like thinner shower caps, aren’t they? So they’d cover his kippah and the clip. If it isn’t substantial enough to catch a clip, then how would it prevent hair from coming out? And how is it any different from someone with long hair using pins to clip it back?

As someone who's quite hungry right now I would sign up for that job

If their hairnets aren't up to keeping clips/pins out of the food, perhaps they need (much) better hairnets.

Yeah, I'm no expert on this but I'm not that keen on the idea of hairnets that won't keep a metal clip out of the food!

I have no helpful suggestions for OP’s husband behind the aforementioned sewing-in-a-clip stuff, but this mental image had made my lunch break 😂

I broke a tooth eating a ready made sandwich that had bits of hard clear plastic in it. At least with metal you can see it but I suppose it could do more damage if you swallowed shards of metal.

i work with food and we wear 2 hairnets, one over the other. All our products pass through metal detection, which I thought was pretty standard for food production, I also think a metal clip is preferable to a plastic one as it would set of the metal detection whereas a plastic one wouldn’t and would allow plastic contamination to pass through. Everything where I work has metal in it, included rubber seals on big Vats etc, so that if they fall off into the food they get detected. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I do know kippah style is meaningful but could he wear a Bukharan style one just for work?

🤣😂🤣😂

No!!!

Glad I'm not only one. Visions of op gluing it to their poor dh head

Right, I was suggesting that Jewishmums husband can wear a larger kippah without a clip, but size or design of kippah can tell another person a lot about level of observance or background etc. eg very religious men tend to wear quite large black kippot. Others will wear small crochet or leather with their favourite football team on it!

I have a relative working in a factory and she has to remove her hijab but then they are also strict on rings, jewellery etc too. She says doesn’t want to question it and be discriminated further as she needs the jobs but I always think it’s worth questioning. Tell him to look around and observe what others are wearing and if they are making allowances on other things I would question why what your Dh is wearing is such an issue.

It could have been read as saying that the kippas worn by non-Jews come in different styles which then makes a statement.

That would be very confusing, as of course non-Jews tend not to wear them.

A larger separdi type kippa should stay on by itself.

Piercings, hair clips, false nails, non medical jewerly, fake eyelashes etc are not permitted on food factory floor, but surely these items cannot be compared with wearing a clip to keep a piece of religious hair covering in place!

Clips for religious purposes could be worn but should perhaps be put through a number of controls which would help ensure they don't end up in the food. If any business bans kippahs, turbans and hijabs, this is discrimination pure and simple or a very lazy/incompetent food safety management. Nothing else.