Tembel hat

Famous Israeli general and archaeologistYigal Yadinwearing a tembel hat

Atembel hat(Hebrew:kova tembel,כובע טמבל) is ahatwhich is anIsraelinational symbol.The tembel hat was commonly worn byJewsinMandatory Palestineand laterIsraelfrom the beginning of the 20th century until the 1970s and was a symbol of hard-working, Zionist Israelis.It especially became associated withkibbutzim,tzabarim,and Israeli youth movements.In Israelicartoonsit is still used to symbolize the typical Israeli (e.g., the cartoon characterSrulik).Tembel hats were most notably produced by theATA textile company.

Etymology

In Hebrew slang, tembel means silly, stupid, or fool.It is not known whether the slang term was named after the hat or the hat after the slang term. There is a theory that the tembel hat was originally the heavy-duty hat of theTemplars Christian movementthat was active in Israel at the end of the 19th century and in the beginning of the 20th century. By this theory the hat's first name was "Templars' hat," but it was changed to "tembel hat" by theArabswho could not pronounce the P and the correct vowels.However, it is more likely that the name "tembel hat" derives from theTurkishorOttomanword "tembel" which means lazy.The Tembel's shape is the same as thepileus,the hat adopted by freed slaves in Greek and Roman antiquity and adopted as a symbol of freedom at the time of the French Revolution. The ancient pileus survived inAlbaniain the early 20th century and may have influenced the leaders of theSecond Aliyah,who adopted the hat.

See also

• Biblical sandals
• Bucket hat
• Israeli fashion
• Culture of Israel