“You can see people wearing them!” he quipped in a distinctive London accent.
In the face of a spate of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activities on campus and in the surrounding community, the Chabad rabbi hatched the idea of a “Day of Jewish Pride.”
Kaye, along with fellow Chabad of Berkeley Rabbi Yehuda Ferris and student volunteers, set up shop on Sproul Plaza and handed out Shabbat candles, “Proud to be Jewish” stickers and the aforementioned blue kippot. Emblazoned with a stylish scripted “Cal” in gold leaf, the skullcaps were designed by Kaye’s wife, Soro Leah.
In less than three hours, the rabbis exhausted their supply of 170 kippot. The Chabad table attracted “Jews from all walks of life, and even some non-Jews” according to Kaye. The rabbi received enough encouraging calls and e-mails following the event — many from people who missed out on their opportunity for the Cal yarmulke — that he’s ordered 400 more kippot.
“This is a great move. Jews should be proud of who they are and not be afraid of showing who they are on the outside as well as inside,” said freshman Gil Leeds.
While Leeds wears a kippah to class every day, it’s not often he has so much company.
“It’s special to have everyone else wearing one in unity,” he said.
Freshman Chris Silver, who nestled a blue kippah atop his gargantuan, Jimi Hendrix-style Afro, saw the yarmulke giveaway as a demonstration of resilience in the face of anti-Semitism.
“Our community in Berkeley has come under attack. The Hillel was vandalized, there have been bomb threats and a number of students have been physically harmed. It’s very uncomfortable. It’s scary,” he said. “Will this help? I don’t know. People prey on the weak. I don’t think the community should be scared to visibly be who we are. It’s good for Jews to be proud of who they are.”
And the scripted “Cal” touch wasn’t lost on the students: “I can even wear it to football games,” exclaimed freshman Sam Ferguson.
Several kippah-wearers also saw their blue headgear as a means of making a statement about the Middle East.
“I want to stand up for Israel. We should support Israel in hard times,” said Georgiy Elfond, a Ukrainian-born senior. “I’m Jewish and I especially want to express a connection against the anti-Semitism that’s gone on in Berkeley.”
Elfond said he has been ridiculed on campus for his support of Israel. The senior claimed that after a friend drew an Israeli flag on the chalkboard in a library room reserved in Elfond’s name, a library worker told Elfond to “stop drawing that s—- flag or I’m going to blacklist you.”
On a campus beset by anti-Israel as well as anti-Jewish activity, the Chabad rabbis experienced only one slight disruption during more than three hours on Sproul Plaza.
Toward the end of the giveaway, a thirtysomething man with a Germanic accent sarcastically praised the rabbis for their “good work” in killing Palestinians.
“Yeah, keep on killing,” said the man. “Yeah, I’d be proud of that. Keep up the good work.”
Ferris could only shake his head and exclaim, “Hooooo boy!”
Kaye and Ferris chalked up the day as a complete success, and Kaye hopes to hand out kippot again sometime next semester.
“We had people today wearing yarmulkes who wouldn’t be caught dead in a yarmulke,” exclaimed Ferris. And though he handed out roughly one skullcap a minute, the rabbi plans to keep his giveaways on a small scale.
“If we get too big, the Cal people will be on us for royalties,” he said with a chuckle.
Other East Bay Stories
Sukkot in April Closing of Oakland JCS will end after-school program