[Avodah] king's groove on heads.....??

[Lisa Liel]

On 8/25/2011 9:51 PM, kennethgmiller at juno.com wrote:
> R' Harvey Benton asked:
>
>> i read a gemmarra or perush or medrash that states the kings of
>> israel had a groove on their heads so that the crowns would fit
>> (there was a groove allegedly on the crowns) is this true?
>
> I have a groove on both sides of my head, which seems to be the result of wearing eyeglasses for the past 50 years. It seems that my head kept growing, except where the frames of the eyeglasses would not allow it to grow. Listmembers (of the male persuasion) are welcome to feel this groove for themselves.

I have the same thing.  I'm glad you posted this.  I thought it was just me.

> We're getting into "cause and effect" territory. If RHB's source suggests that this groove existed before the king began wearing his crown, and its purpose is to make the crown fit better, then I have no explanation. But if the groove developed *after* the king wore his crown for a while, then what's actually happened is that the head grew to fit the crown, not that the crown fits the head.

As I recall, the midrash says they're born that way.  Also, that the 
crown had a bar across its diameter; that's what the groove fit around.

Lisa