Why should British Jews take their skullcaps off?

I was proud when my son, then aged three, wore his kippa (Jewish skullcap) for the first time. We placed the kippa on his head and told him what it meant to be a Jew. ‘Mazel tov!’ we said as we hugged each other, prayed, and sung. We wondered hopefully what he might become – a rabbi, a doctor, an accountant – and we laughed and sung some more. A blessing on your head, mazel tov, mazel tov!

He’s now 17, and for the first time in his life was asked this week to cover his kippa up. An email from his school in London suggested that, in light of Hamas’s attack on Israel and the backlash in Britain, it might be wise not to wear it in public.

It was sage advice, perhaps, but troubling. When he read the email, my son was shocked. He point-blank refused. Wearing a kippa is a religious duty, but it is also a display of our Jewish pride, religious affiliation, and cultural belonging.