HARTFORD, Conn. — The red and white lettering that reads GORE-LIEBERMAN 2000 is already on signs, bumper stickers and buttons. But thanks to Marsha Greenberg of Stamford, vice presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman has it stitched on his yarmulke.
Greenberg crocheted the blue campaign kippah for Lieberman when the news broke that Vice President Al Gore asked Lieberman to be his running mate.
Greenberg got the kippah to Lieberman through her friend Harold (Tzvi) Bernstein, who is a cousin of Lieberman. Bernstein delivered it to one of Lieberman’s aides when the candidates were in Stamford recently.
It was an instant hit with both Lieberman and Gore, but Gore immediately claimed it for himself. So Greenberg, who has crocheted kippot since high school, stiched another one for Lieberman.
The vice presidential candidate isn’t the first high-profile politician to wear one of her creations. The late Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin also had one.
Another prominent figure to wear the Gore-Lieberman 2000 kippah is Chabad leader Rabbi Yisrael Deren, who attended the Democratic convention.
Each kippah takes Greenberg about 12 hours to make because the crocheting is so tight and fine. She does it when she has time, usually while she watches television. She says a kippah is the only thing she knows how to crochet.
The design she created for the White House race has been getting a lot of attention. The Associated Press circulated the story of the skull cap and the New Republic wrote a piece on it. She has appeared on local television news with her design.
“Five thousand years of Jewish history and never has one yarmulke caused so much commotion!” said Greenberg. This one, in particular, is in great demand. People are offering upward of $75 for it.
“Had we not moved to Stamford, this wouldn’t have happened,” Greenberg noted. A Philadelphia native, she and her family came to the Connecticut community when her husband, Matt, became the executive director of Jewish Family Services.
Greenberg, a musician by profession, heads the Kol Ehad Orchestra, which has performed at weddings and bar and bat mitzvahs from Pennsylvania to Massachusetts for nearly 20 years. (On a side note, Greenberg and her orchestra are ready to play the latest simcha music at the inauguration.
Whether or not the Democratic ticket wins in November, Greenberg knows there is historical value to the kippah. The National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia wants it. She also plans to donate one to the Smithsonian Institution for its exhibition on presidential campaign memorabilia.
Within hours of the official announcement of Lieberman as a contender for the vice presidency, people started sending jokes on the Internet. Early on, Greenberg composed a “Top 10-List of Ways the White House Would Change Under Lieberman” Among them:
*State of the Union Address would end with an appeal.
*Air Force One grounded on Shabbat and High Holy Days, and seats reconfigured to allow space for minyan.
*Young Israel of Pennsylvania Avenue due to open across the street.
*Israeli diplomats visiting White House for State dinners will have to pre-order traif meals, or risk having to eat glatt kosher with everyone else.
*First Lady’s inaugural gown to be ordered with matching snood.
*Secret Service to confer with local Orthodox rabbis to discuss feasibility of enclosing the White House and Capitol in an eruv.