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If I am walking and the wind is very strong - the kippah flies off almost as soon as I put it on and I don't have a bobby pin with me - do I have an obligation to keep putting it on and securing it with my hand or can I pocket the kippah until I get to an indoor location?

The (kitzur) shulchan aruch (http://www.yonanewman.org/kizzur/kizzur3.html halacha 3:6) rules that you can't walk more than four amot without a head covering, are there any exceptions such as strong wind or the like?

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  • @msh210, are tags as useful on mi yodeya as they are on, say, stackoverflow?
    – Ani Yodea
    Nov 22, 2015 at 15:05
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    I believe Rav Moshe paskens that for parnassa one can forgo the head covering. (Also, it's worth noting that the custom is only a few centuries old at most so it seems unlikely that it should ever apply in cases of duress.)
    – Loewian
    Nov 22, 2015 at 15:23
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    duplicate of judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/16894/… ?
    – Loewian
    Nov 22, 2015 at 15:27
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    I assumed both questions are broader based on the language used. That you use different examples doesn't really mean it's a different question. Perhaps you can rephrase to clarify.
    – Loewian
    Nov 22, 2015 at 15:50
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    @AniYodea, I'm not very familiar with SO. Perhaps you have an issue you wish to raise on Mi Yodeya Meta?
    – msh210 ♦
    Nov 22, 2015 at 16:15

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The object of wearing a head-covering is, as quoted in your source, so that we may be imbued with the fear of G-d.

I suggest that the need to be imbued with the fear of G-d is independent of the weather conditions.

Further it should be possible to choose a head-covering which will deal adequately with the weather conditions.

But bear in mind that Shamash.org amongst other sources says:

Many Ashkenazi rabbis acknowledge that wearing a head covering at all times was once considered an optional "midat chasidut" [pious act] but that nowadays, full-time head covering is the norm except under extenuating circumstances.

Sephardic communities generally did not have the custom of wearing a kipa all the time.

Some diaspora Jews leave off the kipa at school, work, or when testifying in court, because of real danger or uneasiness in appearing in the secular world with an obvious symbol of Jewishness.

So, ideally one should have the head covered all the time. Extenuating circumstances can provide an exception but the protection for the fear of G-d will not be there under those circumstances.

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  • Why not wear an additional hat (baseball, flat cap, fedora, etc.) while outside? This was more or less universal among non-Jewish Americans before JFK. It also prevents sunburn to some extent...
    – Kordovero
    Nov 23, 2015 at 2:23
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    You didn't answer the question. The fellow is outside and doesn't have a baseball cap. Either he walks holding his Kippa (or chasing after it, if he needs 2 hands to ride his bike, or whatever) or he pockets it.
    – Danny Schoemann
    Dec 23, 2015 at 9:19

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