What is the Sudra?

Sudra comes from the word “Sudarium” in latin, which means a sweat cloth, used to clean one’s face.

The Sudra Headdress is an ancient jewish headdress with first mentions being all the way back in biblical times, for example in the Babylonian Talmud, Ancient Jews would wear a headdress similar to the keffiyeh or turban, so why don't we see anyone walking around with a sudra in the street?

Well, According to Benny Katz of the Zionist Freedom Alliance:

“In ancient times, it was common for Jews to wear keffiyeh, but the conquest of the region by Islamic tribes brought with it a series of laws that gave non-Muslims an inferior position in society. Synagogues could not be built higher than mosques and Jews could not ride atop animals for fear that they would appear higher than Muslims. As the keffiyeh came to be seen as the crown of the Arabs and its wearer was attributed an honorable status, non-Muslims were forbidden from wearing such garments”

There are even mentions of the Sudra in the Yemen Law of 1666 which made it forbidden for a variety of religious minorities to wear all types of headdresses, including

The Keffiyeh

- Jewish man from Yemen Wearing a Sudra

So. we know that the sudra originated in ancient Biblical times, we know why it was forbidden in ancient times, so what about the modern era? Well, there have been attempts to revive this Ancient majestic Judean headdress, for example by Sudra Collection team , The semitic site and the Jewish rights activist , Rudy Rochman. Hopefully soon the Sudra will return to being part of the daily life among the Jews of the world.