My 14 year old son was very excited when he saw this yesterday, and made sure to point it out to me:
Making a play on words from the “Leatherman (TM)” multi-use pliers tool, the joke of the knitted kippa crowd is calling the ubiquitous kippa clip — the “LeatherDOS.” I’ve posted about it before here — when it (as a joke) was featured in an ad for the “Srugim” TV show.
But now it has become a reality. Makor Rishon’s “Motzash” magazine discussed this product this past weekend, as did Ma’ariv/NRG. I’ve translated part of the NRG article:
Much to everyone’s surprise, Yaakov Goldberg (who isn’t religious and doesn’t wear a kippa) — an industrial-design student at the Holon Technical College decided to change the LeatherDOS from a joke to an actual product.
“For years I dreamed of an ‘upgraded’ kippa clip and I always saw my religious friends using their kippa clip for all sorts of things. I decided to take the idea one step forward and prove that one can truly use a kippa clip for any use. Within the framework of my studies, we needed to create something from metal, and this was an excellent opportunity to turn my dream into reality.”
During its development stage, Goldberg surveyed his religious friends and collated a long list of possible uses for the clip and chose the most “practical” — knife, screwdrivers, coin replacement for shopping carts. To date, he has only made 85 of the clips and is selling them for 25 NIS each. “I know that the regular clip costs about 1 NIS…but everyone who has seen this so far is excited about it and willing to pay the higher price. My costs are high, but if the idea catches on, hopefully I will be able to lower the price,” Two of the clips have already been sold on ebay to U.S. buyers for the full price.
One day he believes his clip will become the common one for kippa wearers, and he would even want to combine it with USB/disk on key functionality. Goldberg says he needs to consult with a rabbi about the possible “muktza” issues for wearing a USB kippa clip on shabbat (or a multi-tool clip).
We wish Goldberg lots of success — as this item sounds like a winner! You can follow the Leatherdos and get more information from his facebook page.
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