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214 · Hilchot Pe’ot Hazakan Tzurba M’Rabanan

tool, it would not be permitted to use electric the skin and cuts it several millimeters above the
shavers today, as they are used worldwide and skin. At the moment of cutting, some of the hair
are definitely considered machines that are com- remains above the root, but that small bit of hair
monly used for shaving. is pulled back into the skin after being cut, and
According to the Meiri, whichever way one the skin therefore feels smooth. Rav Ovadia
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understands his opinion, it would seem that elec- Yosef approvingly quotes this opinion of Rav
tric shavers would be forbidden, since they both Shlomo Zalman Auerbach.
shave many hairs simultaneously and cut the Rav Ovadia Yosef continues that Rav Moshe
hairs, as opposed to pulling them out. Feinstein was quoted as permitting electric shav-
There are some poskim who permit using ers, but that he did not record this in writing, be-
electric shavers, and we will try and understand cause he believed that the Jewish way was to grow
how they define the Gemara’s terms and their a beard.
relevance to electric shavers. Rabbi Rabinow- In light of the above, Rav Ovadia Yosef con-
itz writes that modern electric shavers should cludes that anyone who grows a beard will be
be permitted, similar to melaket and rehitny, be- blessed, but one who must shave for various rea-
cause one hair at a time is caught in the mesh, sons may use a shaver, but only on condition that
and the blades do not have sufficient strength to he is careful not to push the machine too force-
cut more than that at once. Rabbi Yisrael Rosen fully on his skin (for the reason that will be ex-
zt”l questioned this approach, because accord- plained below).
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ing to all of the Rishonim, the heter of melaket Another possible argument to permit a shav-
and rehitny is due to the fact that it is uncommon er is to define the action of the shaver as “scis-
to shave with them, as stated by Tosafot, and he sors that are like a razor.” Even though we clari-
therefore rejects Rabbi Rabinowitz’s opinion. fied that this leniency would seemingly depend
However, Rabbi Rabinowitz’s heter might be suf- on the quality of the shave, one can also define
ficiently justified according to how we interpret- it by the manner of shaving, namely, two blades
ed the Meiri (in the first understanding), but this working together, and as modern shavers use
explanation still seems difficult to rely on. two blades that work simultaneously, they can be
Other Acharonim offer alternative approaches considered as a “scissors that are like a razor.”
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to permit shavers, and we will review several of There are other Acharonim who forbid the use
their approaches. First, several Acharonim do not of a shaver, because, in their opinion, the shaver
define shavers as hashchata at all. Rav Shlomo is identical to a blade. One basis for this approach
Zalman Auerbach explains that the action of is a story told about the Chazon Ish, in which
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a blade is defined as hashchata because it totally he purportedly tested a shaver on his hands that
removes all the hair, but modern shavers do not were dirtied with ink. When he moved the shav-
remove the entire hair that is protruding above er over his hands, they became cleaned, which
the skin. Although the face is often smooth after seemingly indicates that the blade of the shaver
using an electric shaver, Rav Shlomo Zalman ex- is in direct contact with the skin and can there-
plains that the machine pulls the hair away from fore “shave off the ink.” A shaver would thus be

17. Techumin vol. 22, p. 447; www.zomet.org.il/?CategoryID=198&ArticleID=218&Page=1
18. Minchat Shlomo 2:97:6
19. Yabia Omer 9, Yoreh Deah 10
20. This appears to be the opinion of Rabbi Rosen in the article quoted above: www.zomet.org.il/?CategoryID=198&ArticleID=218&Page=1, and
in particular section 4. It also appears to be the opinion of Rav Shabtai Rapaport; see there section 6.

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