I wonder if these Rabbis think the Shivtay Koh (12 tribes) appeared in Pharoh's court dressed like Al Capone, too?
I'll point out further, at the risk of denying my daughter a good husband, that the law books tells us to dress for prayer in the way that we dress in the street, ie in the way that respectable people present themselves.
The gangsters in this photo fail on two counts. First, they aren't at prayer. Second, if the president of the United States is without his hat, that is a pretty good sign that appearing with no hat is considered "respectable" in that time and place.
So why are they wearing hats? Perhaps because they put Jewish style ahead of Jewish law.
UPDATE: This post isn't an argument against wearing hats in prayer. It is an argument against treating hats (and a specific type of hat, no less) like an essential uniform. This is something new under the Jewish sun. The Chofetz Chaim and earlier authorities would not have recognized this idea. They taught that Jews must wear only what respectable people wear, a defintion that changes with the time and place. Outside of prayer, a hat has no inherent purpose.
The way some very-Orthodox Jews treat there hats today is a new development and one that should trouble thoughtful Jews.
