Page 210 - Tzurba M'Rabanan Volume1

208 · Hilchot Pe’ot Hazakan Tzurba M’Rabanan

a loaf of bread on Shabbat due to the prohibition of חוליגה ןפואש םושמ ,תושידחה תונוכמב ףא
12
harvesting… he [Rav Shurkin] added that Rav Moshe אלו ,רעשה תשיתכו תניחט תטישב ולא תונוכמב
did not want to include this leniency in his book [Igrot תולח ךותחל אלש רימחהל דצה ותוא אלו ,וכותיח
Moshe], even though there is no prohibition of hashchata ןייטשנייפ מ”רגהש ,ףיסוהו …רצוק םושמ תבשב
here, since a Jew’s appearance should be with a beard.
תונוכמה חוליגב רתיהה תא ורפסב בותכל הצר אל
The practical halachic conclusion is as follows: Any person לכמ ,התחשה רוסיא ןאכ ןיאש ףאש םעטמ ,הלאה
who can grow their beard or trim it with scissors that are not .ש”ע .ןקז םע קר אוה ידוהיה תרוצ םוקמ
similar to a blade should be blessed. But those that are not ונקתל וא ונקז לדגל לוכיש שיא לכ אנידד אנקסמ
able to do so either due to concerns of earning a livelihood
or because it will cause conflict in the home, and therefore ולא לבא ,הכרב וילע אבת ,רעת ןיעכ אלש םירפסמב
shave their beard with an electric shaver, have upon whom ינפמ ןה ,הסנרפ לש תוביס ינפמ ןה ,םילוכי םניאש
to rely, provided they are careful not to hold the shaver םיחלגמו ,תיבב תקולחמ ררועל רבדה םורגל לולעש
tightly against their skin in order not to uproot the hair המ לע םהל שי ,תילמשח חוליג תנוכמב םנקז
from its root… לא הנוכמה תא קדהל אלש ורהזיש דבלבו ,וכומסיש
…ושרשמ רעישה רקעי אלש ידכ ,םינפה רוע

According to this approach, it would seem that one who wishes to use a lift‑and‑cut shaver should first remove
the “lift‑and‑cut” mechanism, as that is what causes the hairs to be uprooted from the skin.
The entire discussion of the poskim is all on the level of standard normative halacha. However, some poskim, such
as the Chida, write that according to Kabbala, it is completely forbidden to shave one’s beard at all. This is based
on a passage in the Zohar (Parshat Naso, p. 130a) and the opinion of the Arizal, cited by the Chida and the Ben
Ish Chai. Nevertheless, Rav Ovadia Yosef quotes some opinions that claim that even according to the Arizal, it is
only forbidden to shave when uprooting the hairs from their roots, but otherwise it would be permitted.

p Yabia Omer, ibid. םש | רמוא עיבי ת”וש . 31

Let us return to the opinion of the Kabbalists [that it is אתלימ ואלד הארנש ,םילבוקמה תעדל בושנו
forbidden to shave one’s beard], which it seems is not an ,תורתסנב קסע ונל ןיאש םגהש ,איה אתקיספ
absolute one. As although we do not deal with hidden ideas, ’טנוקב( ד”ח םילעפ בר ת”ושב יתיאר הנה םלוא
but I saw in the Responsa Rav Pe’alim who quoted the Arizal רעשב ל”ז י”ראה ירבד איבהש )ה ’יס ,םירשי דוס
that it is a severe prohibition to uproot or detach even one לודג רוסיאש ,)םישודק תשרפ( תוצמה ימעט
hair anywhere with one’s hand, as they [the hairs] are the תחא הרעש וליפא ודיב שולתל וא רוקעל אוה
conduits of plenty. Therefore, a person should be careful
not to place his hand on his beard to finger it, so that he will םדא ךירצ ןכלו ,עפשה תורוניצ םה יכ ,םוקמ לכב
not come to uproot or detach any hairs. And he wrote that ידכ ,וב שמשמל ונקזב ודי םישי אלש רהזהל
one need not be particular except concerning detaching and ןיאש ’כו .כ”ע .הרעש הזיא שולתיו רוקעי אלש
uprooting, but if the root of the hair remains in place, and he ראשנ םא לבא ,רקועו שלותב םא יכ דיפקהל
only cuts from the top, one need not be concerned… ,וכראמ ךתוח אוה קרו ,ומוקמב רעשה לש ורקיע
…שוחל ןיא

12. The opinion of Rav Moshe Feinstein is also quoted by other students of his, who explain his approach as being that only a razor is forbidden,
regardless of how close a shave is achieved, as the determining factor is the method of the shave (which is different for a razor), rather than the
result. This ruling is reported by Rav Moshe Heinemann, www.star‑k.org/articles/kashrus‑kurrents/563/electric‑shavers/, as well as Rav Moshe
Tendler, Rav Dovid Feinstein, Rav J. David Bleich, and Rav Yisroel Belsky, all quoted in R. Schwartz’s article, pp. 106‑109. R.Schwartz notes though
that the concern of the Terumat HaDeshen that one blade will cut the hair alone (without the scissors mechanism) is still relevant, and the above
mentioned rabbis had slightly different accounts as to how to determine which shavers are acceptable with regard to this issue. See also an incident
related there in footnote #84 where Rav Moshe appears to have permitted a pre‑cursor to the lift‑and‑cut shaver, though it is hard to determine
definitively that he would have allowed today’s models. [Addition of the editors of the English edition]

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