The cardboard yarmulkes that have long been a fixture at the Western Wall will no longer be seen. In their place have come new yarmulkes made out of white material - made in China.
The Western Wall Legacy Foundation received a donation of one million of the new yarmulkes (skullcaps, or kippot), courtesy of Michael Mirilashvili, in memory of his late father Moshe. The donation by Mirilashvili, president of the Georgian Jews World Congress, was coordinated with the offices of Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch.
The rabbi's office announced that the old cardboard yarmulkes did not "sit well" on one's head, and would often have to be held there manually. In addition, the new head-coverings look much more dignified than the folded-and-stapled cardboard shapes.