Yarmulke is such a funny word. Not as funny as phylacteries, which, as 12-year-old I thought had something to do with birth control. The one thing I knew about yarmulkes was I had to wear one in the Conservative synagogue our family attended. The ushers in the sanctuary and the teachers in Hebrew school made certain all us boys put one of those cheap black satin things on our heads the instant we walked in.
I recalled that early experience as I watched the fierce debate emerging in America about the mandate to wear a mask in public during the coronavirus crisis. In Tuesday’s New York Times, Frank Bruni wrote that to wear or not to wear a mask has become incredibly politicized between those who believe the science of viral transmission follow the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the coronavirus task force, and those who think the pandemic is a hoax think and face coverings are unnecessary.
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