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== In classical rabbinical literature==
== In classical rabbinical literature==

The forbidding of shaving the ''corners of the head'' was interpreted by the [[Mishnah]] as prohibiting the hair at the [[Temple (anatomy)|temples]] being cut so that the hairline was a straight line from behind the ears to the forehead<ref>''[[Makkot]]'' 20b</ref>; thus it was deemed necessary to retain sidelocks, leading to the development of a distinctly Jewish form of sidelock, known as [[payot]]. As for the Beard, more complicated views arose; the ''corners of the beard'' were interpreted to refer to five extremities, namely the point on each cheek near the temples, the point at the end of the cheek bone towards the centre of the face, and the point of the chin<ref>''[[Shebu'ot]]'' 3b</ref><ref>''Makkot'' 20a, b</ref>.


Because the biblical prohibition against shaving uses the Hebrew word ''gelech'' (''גלח''), which refers to shaving with a blade against the skin, [[Talmud]]ic rabbis interpreted it to ''only'' refer to single-bladed [[razor]]s, and ''only'' to situations that involve the hair being cut close to the roots, in a smooth manner<ref>''Makkot'' 3:5</ref><ref>[[Sifra]] on ''[[Kedoshim]]'' 6</ref>.
Because the biblical prohibition against shaving uses the Hebrew word ''gelech'' (''גלח''), which refers to shaving with a blade against the skin, [[Talmud]]ic rabbis interpreted it to ''only'' refer to single-bladed [[razor]]s, and ''only'' to situations that involve the hair being cut close to the roots, in a smooth manner<ref>''Makkot'' 3:5</ref><ref>[[Sifra]] on ''[[Kedoshim]]'' 6</ref>.

Revision as of 19:42, 7 October 2007

Shaving is the subject of much debate and scrutiny within Judaism.

In the Bible

The Holiness Code of the Torah appears to completely forbid the shaving of the corners of the head and prohibits the marring of the corners of the beard[1], with particular emphasis on priests not marring the corners of the beard[2]; as with many other parts of the Holiness Code, the Book of Ezekiel describes similar regulations, stating that the priests should not shave their heads, or let their locks grow long[3].

However, there were clearly exceptions, with the Book of Ezekiel itself adding that priests should keep their hair trimmed[4], and the Priestly Code of the Torah arguing that, in certain cases of tzaraath, the beard and hair should be completely shaved away[5]. The Priestly Code additionally requires that Nazarites shave their heads, 7 days after any contact with corpses[6], and the Deuteronomic Code compels captive women to shave their head after the conclusion of mourning for their parents[7]

The prohibition against cutting the corners of the beard may also have been an attempt to distinguish the appearance of Israelites from that of the surrounding nations, and reduce the influence of foreign religions[8]; Maimonides criticises it as being the custom of idolatrous priests[9].

Origin

According to biblical scholars, the shaving of hair, particularly of the corners of the beard, was originally a mourning custom[10]; the behaviour appears, from the Book of Jeremiah, to also have been practiced by Arabic tribes[11][12][13], although some ancient manuscripts of the text read live in remote places rather than clip the corners of their hair. Biblical scholars think that the regulations against shaving hair may be an attack on the practice of offering hair to the dead, which was performed in the belief that it would obtain protection in sheol[14]; Nazarites shaved after contact with a corpse, captive women shaved after mourning the death of their parents, and the general prohibition in the Holiness Code is immediately followed by a rule against people cutting their own bodies for the benefit of the dead[15].

Textual scholars date the Priestly Source, and the Holiness and Priestly Codes within it, to the late 7th century or later[16]; it appears that before this time, the shaving of the head during mourning was permitted, and even encouraged[17]. The Book of Amos, which is dated by textual scholars to the mid 7th century[18], as well as the Books of Isaiah and of Micah, which textual scholars date to a slightly later period, portray Yahweh as instructing the Israelites to shave their head as an act of mourning[19][20][21]:

...Yahweh... called you to weep and mourn. He told you to shave your heads in sorrow for your sins-[22]

In classical rabbinical literature

The forbidding of shaving the corners of the head was interpreted by the Mishnah as prohibiting the hair at the temples being cut so that the hairline was a straight line from behind the ears to the forehead[23]; thus it was deemed necessary to retain sidelocks, leading to the development of a distinctly Jewish form of sidelock, known as payot. As for the Beard, more complicated views arose; the corners of the beard were interpreted to refer to five extremities, namely the point on each cheek near the temples, the point at the end of the cheek bone towards the centre of the face, and the point of the chin[24][25].

Because the biblical prohibition against shaving uses the Hebrew word gelech (גלח), which refers to shaving with a blade against the skin, Talmudic rabbis interpreted it to only refer to single-bladed razors, and only to situations that involve the hair being cut close to the roots, in a smooth manner[26][27].

In rabbinic literature of the Middle Ages

Gradually, various mechanisms developed by which Jews evaded the shaving regulations of Jewish law. The Shulchan Aruch argued that because scissors have two blades, it would therefore be permitted to trim the beard by using them, since the cutting action would come from contact between two blades and not from that between blade and skin[28]. In Germany and Italy, by the end of the seventeenth century, Jews started removing beards with the aid of pumice stones and chemical depilatories, which would leave the face smooth, as if it had been shaven[29]; at the time, this was strenuously opposed, somewhat hopelessly, by Hillel ben Naphtali Zevi[30] and Joseph Fiametta[31]. Menachem Mendel Schneersohn argued that shaving a beard would fall under the biblical regulation against males resembling a female; the Shulchan Aruch interpreted this regulation[32] in a different way, arguing that it forbade men from removing hair from areas where women were accustomed to remove hair, such as underarm hair[33].

In Kabbalah

The Zohar, one of the primary sources of Kabbalah (a form of Jewish mysticism), attributes holiness to the beard, and strongly discourages its removal, declaring that even the shortening of a beard by scissors was a great sin[34]; it was even said that Isaac Luria, a significant figure in the history of Kabbalistic mysticism, meticulously avoided touching his beard, lest he should accidentally cause hairs to drop from it[35]. Kabbalistic teachings gradually spread into Slavonic regions, and consequently beard trimming was prohibited in these areas, even if it involved scissors[36]; it was the Hasidic Jews who more closely followed Kabbalistic practices than Jews of a Lithuanian or misnagdim background, and thus it became the Hasidic Jews who are known for the distinctive traditional practice of growing their beards. However, in Italy, shaving the beard was so popular that even the Italian followers of Kabbalah did it; an Italian Kabbalist even went to the extent of arguing that beard shaving was only prohibited in Canaan, and was actually to be encouraged elsewhere[37]

In Modern Judaism

File:Hasidim.jpg
Hasidic Rebbes and Hasidim with beards and payot.

Some modern Jewish religious legislators in Orthodox Judaism, including Moshe Feinstein and Yosef Eliyahu Henkin, permit the use of electric razors for the purpose of remaining clean shaven, because, in their view, electric razors work like scissors, cutting by trapping hair between the blades and a metal grating[38][39]. However, other modern Jewish Rabbinical authorities, such as Avraham Yeshayahu Karelitz and Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky, consider electric razors to work in the manner of primitive razors, and consequently prohibit their use[40]. Many Orthodox Jews prefer to grow beards, for a variety of religious, social, and cultural reasons, even if they believe that electric shavers would be permitted; many Orthodox Jews, even non-Haredi Jews, today grow beards to keep the tradition of their ancestors, regardless of the permissibility of their removal.

See also

References

  1. ^ Leviticus 19:27
  2. ^ Leviticus 21:5
  3. ^ Ezekiel 44:20
  4. ^ Ezekiel 44:20
  5. ^ Leviticus 14:9
  6. ^ Numbers 6:9
  7. ^ Deuteronomy 21:12
  8. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia
  9. ^ Maimonides, Moreh 3:37
  10. ^ Peake's commentary on the Bible
  11. ^ Jeremiah 9:26
  12. ^ Jeremiah 25:23
  13. ^ Jeremiah 49:32
  14. ^ Peake's commentary on the Bible
  15. ^ Leviticus 19:28
  16. ^ Richard Elliott Friedman, Who wrote the Bible
  17. ^ Peake's commentary on the Bible
  18. ^ Peake's commentary on the Bible
  19. ^ Micah 1:16
  20. ^ Isaiah 22:12
  21. ^ Amos 8:9–10
  22. ^ Isaiah 22:12
  23. ^ Makkot 20b
  24. ^ Shebu'ot 3b
  25. ^ Makkot 20a, b
  26. ^ Makkot 3:5
  27. ^ Sifra on Kedoshim 6
  28. ^ Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah, 181
  29. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia
  30. ^ Bet Hillel, on Yoreh De'ah:187
  31. ^ Shemesh Zedakah 61
  32. ^ Deuteronomy 22:5
  33. ^ Shulchan Aruch, 182
  34. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia
  35. ^ Judah Ashkenazi, Bakhr Heteb, on Yoreh De'ah
  36. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia
  37. ^ Shabbethai Bekhr Responsa Bekhr 'Eshek 670
  38. ^ Heinemann, Moshe. "Electric Shavers". Retrieved December 2006. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  39. ^ Eidut L'Yisrael, p. 145
  40. ^ "Electric Shavers in Halacha". Retrieved December 2006. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
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