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Bochur Invents Simple Solution to Kippa ‘Problem’

As a child, Sholom Ber Cohen played the title role in the “Agent Emes” DVD series, about a kid secret agent who devotes his life to helping the Jewish people. Now, as a young adult, Ber has found another way to help out; but this time he needs the contribution of the Jewish community to make it happen.

He has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the Action Kippah, a revolutionary solution to an age-old Jewish problem.

The idea behind the Action Kippah is both simple, and brilliant: Ber discovered that by using elastic bands to attach a standard kippah (or yarmulke) to a stretchable, sports headband, a Jew could participate fully in athletic activities, and still adhere to the tradition of keeping his head covered at all times.

“It was really just on a whim”, explained Cohen. “My mother had purchased a new sewing machine, but soon ran out of things to sew. I guess that got wheels in my head turning, and the next time I was out on the court, struggling – as usual – to keep my kippah on, the idea just hit me.”

After a successful test of his invention out on the court (“it worked even better than I thought”) Cohen surmised that other Jews would want one too. It helped that he was no stranger to the world of selling products to a Jewish audience (his father’s Agent Emes series has been a popular hit for over ten years), but clothing manufacturing was way out of his league. So for that he turned to his grandfather for advice and guidance. “Zayde ran a successful wholesale topcoat business for over 30 years. He’s been helping me set this up from day one.”

Over the past year, Cohen has sourced a special sports mesh fabric, consulted with fashion designers and factories overseas, and developed a brand logo. “I’ve got about a dozen different color combinations ready to go into production now,” says Cohen, “except that there’s the money thing…” His voice trails off as he says this. The earnest young man has poured his own savings into setting up a business entity (Jewish Sportswear, LLC), and developing his prototypes; “But making six thousand, fully packaged Action Kippahs, requires a lot more cash than I have just laying around. That’s why I thought of Kickstarter.”

Kickstarter is the preeminent “crowd funding” website in the world today. It allows innovators in the fields of film, music, fashion, and technology, to introduce their projects to the entire the world, and raise money to get their dreams off the ground.

Anyone in the world can contribute toward a Kickstarter project, and they are only charged the amount of their pledge when and if the project is fully funded. “We still have a long way to go,” explains Cohen, “It’s been up for a few days, but I don’t know if people understand they are supposed to make a pledge.”

“As I say in my video, you don’t have to be religious, or Jewish to appreciate the beauty of this idea,” says Cohen, “and I with G-d’s help, we’ll get our first run produced and ready for sale by this fall.”

At time of publication Sholom Ber has managed to raise $8,841 of the $18,000 goal.

Click Here to check out his Kickstarter Page

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49 Comments

  • Fan

    Cool idea. Could use this when I exercise. I will definitely pitch in.

  • great voice

    Aside from the great kippah idea, Ber has a fantastic voice. hey, if he can keep a tune – he’ll be able to sing and dance at the same time without his kippah falling off his head ;)
    Hatzlacha.

  • Go cohens!

    go ber and avrami!
    you guys rock!
    its a great idea and i hope all goes great!

  • klippedkippahs

    These are used by Jewish Day School athletic teams for years. They are fully compliant with HS and collegiate rules and regs.

    klippedkippahs.com

  • all the way from london

    nice idea and by the way you left your football by us !
    thanks,we are enjoying every bit of it!

  • Great Idea

    But I can make my own by taking a stretchable, sports headband and attaching it to my own yarmulka with pieces of black eleastic you just have to attach the black eleastic with a needle and thread.

    Of Course it won’t look as nice but it can be done

    • Genius

      You can also make your own T-shirt with a needle and thred and some material to match your kippa

    • no way

      Why would you want a nice Jewish boy – who still cares that his yarmulka should stay put – to wear a yankees cap instead of a yarmulka (worn to remind us all the time of Hashem)? Keep the yarmulka.

    • Anonymous

      it would be amazing-BUT
      theyre targeting only the frum community-no one else would buy them

  • good luck

    looks kind of funny. why not just use a big knitted kipa that covers your whole head?

  • Kippah

    What is stopping anyone else “inventing” this? Does he have some kind of patent?

  • surprised

    Why doesnt he get a bank loan or a small business loan.
    This is not Tzedaka
    This is a money making venture. There are people who really need Tzdaka

    • Milhouse

      Tzedakah? Who said anything about tzedakah? Where did you come up with that from?

  • Incredulous

    #18: Did you watch the video? He said it is patent pending. I guess that means he has applied for a patent.
    #19 : Kickstarter is a “crowd funding” website. People actually put up money to support the development of innovative ideas and products. How easy do you think it would be for him to get a bank loan today, with credit so tight, and a completely unproven product?
    Banks wouldn’t touch it.

  • wow

    Cute and i like the creativity but it just wont work for a few reasons.
    1)How big’s the market already.
    2)why would people spend money when they can just wear clips or a cap they’ve had for years.
    3)it looks rediculous.

    You never know at the end of the day but…..

  • don't be such losers!!

    Give this guy a chance. Let him make a go at it. Hopefully this will work great and then he will go and do another project much bigger than this one.

  • Hatzlocha Rabbah

    Simple and brilliant. Much better than Klippedkippah.com. I’ve used bandanas, large yarmis or something like what no. 11 posted. Nevertheless, What’s stopping another great idea being manufactured. If I had money to invest, I’d prob go for the whole thing. Ok so it won’t make millions, but if marketed well, it could turn into a nice business. Don’t stop with one idea…keep thinking out of the box. Hatzlocha Rabba. Wishing you only the best!

  • LOSERS

    some of these comments only show the envious, mean side of some people. The boy deserves a lot of credit for being ambitious and industrious, instead of sitting and texting all day like a lot of other people here do. and there are enough Jews who wear kippas for him to make a go of it, not everybody wears only one kippah until it shreds. I wish him all the best of success. And all the negative people incuding number 11 get a life and learn to love, at least to live and LET LIVE!!!!! Now that this kid came up with the idea, you became so brilliant that you could do it yourself!…… listen to what you sound like!

  • great idea

    ye go to the shark tank
    maybe they can help

    you sould do also a sleep version one too

  • like the whole thing

    but especially the jingle, “♫so get the action kippah always on top of your game♫”

  • Simpler Solution

    As long as one is going to wear a headband there is no need for it to be sewn to a special yarmulka that comes with the headband as in this idea (although maybe the idea is good for making fashion statements with matching yarmulkas and headbands).

    Simply attach elastics, by hooks, clips, sewing or by simply tying them onto a regular headband, and then CLIP the ends of the elastics to one’s regular yarmulka. After one’s workout just unclip the yarmulka and remove the headband.

    Alternatively, even without being attached or clipped to one’s yarmulka, one’s yarmulka can be kept on, even when doing somersaults, by simply attaching an elastic from one side of the headband to the other and simply passing the elastic OVER THE TOP of one’s yarmulka. This could be done from right to left and from front to back so that the elastics crisscross over the top of the yarmulka (which of course could be rotated to any angle as desired). One’s regular, everyday yarmulka will then not fall off no matter how much one runs around (although it may get sweaty).

    The main thing is to use our brains, both for physical exercise and for spiritual exercise, learning Torah in particular. Of course making a living is also very important. May Hashem help us all to reach our full potential!

  • doubtful

    If I had to guess I would say #37 is NOT backing the Action Kippah on Kickstarter.

  • To #37

    Contractions! Mr #37!
    You win the award for longest most incoherent Internet post ever!! Well done!!

  • A Dad

    Love the video and admire your product and motivation. I hope that you are wildly successful and that this leads to other ideas and ventures.

    Hatzlocha Rabba