Ask The Rabbi
January 10, 1994, Issue #5

========================================================================

This edition contains:
1.      Why men wear sidelocks (peyot)
2.      How to submit questions
3.      How to retrieve back issues of Ohr Somayach publications

========================================================================

Our first reader from University of Maryland writes:

>Dear Rabbi,
>
>I've always been fascinated by the dress of Hassidic Jews and
>wondered why it is that the men grow long sidelocks?
>
>signed,
>Curious in College Park

Dear Curious,

Let us approach this question in two parts, briefly.

First of all, the Torah commandment is not only for Hassidim,
but intended for _every_ Jewish male. The Torah teaches:
   
	"Do not cut off the hair on the sides of your head..."
								 Vayikra 19:27.

A Jewish male must leave sideburns (peyot) down to the joints of the jaw 
that are opposite the ear, approximately a third of the way down the ear.

Secondly, the custom to wear _long_ peyot is mentioned in the Talmudic
commentary of Tosefot (compiled in Touques, France, approx. 1300 CE : 

        "One has to be exceedingly careful not to remove his Peyot even
        with a scissors because they are like a razor; therefore the
        accepted custom has been to leave long peyot on children when 
        they have their first haircut."  (Nazir 41b)

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch in his commentary on the Torah suggests that 
peyot form a symbolic separation between the front part of the brain and 
the rear part. The front part is the intellectual, the rear part is the 
more physical, the more sensual. The wearer of peyot is thus making a 
statement that he is aware of both facets of his mind, and intends to keep 
them to their appointed tasks.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The above answer first appeared on soc.culture.jewish, before the ASK THE 
RABBI list began.  When it did, Howard at Mt. Holyoke wrote to us asking:

>If the Torah commands that men (I assume there's another passage 
>somewhere that makes this commandment refer only to males) "not cut off 
>their hair on the sides of [their] heads," then why are the sideburns 
>cut off "approximately a third of the way down the ear?"   Either we 
>are commanded to not cut the hair, or we are commanded to let it grow 
>to a certain length.  
>
>Where did the length interpretation come from?

Good question!

The length interpretation is based on the word "peyot", which means
"corners", referring to the corners of the head. See Rashi on the 
verse in Vayikra 19:27; Rashi also gives a lengthy description (sorry!) 
of the locations of the "corners", and why they are called "corners".

The reader in Mt. Holyoke is correct in his assumption that only MEN are 
obligated to wear peyot.  This is further explained in the Gemara in 
Kiddushin 35b.

========================================================================

Questions are welcomed from ALL readers at ALL levels for inclusion in the 
Ask the Rabbi column. Questions of interest to our general readership may 
be answered in this column; for those of a more personal nature, we will 
try to answer personally via e-mail.

To submit a question, address it to:
        ohr@jer1.co.il
to insure correct handling, set the subject to "ASK THE RABBI"

To subscribe to ASK THE RABBI, send the message:
        sub ask {firstname} {lastname}
to 
        listproc@jer1.co.il

========================================================================

Remember, all Ohr Somayach lists are now archived on the jerusalem1 gopher.  
Back issues of torah weekly, parasha Q&A and ask the rabbi are now only an 
FTP connection away!

To access the jerusalem1 gopher, type:

        gopher jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il

at your prompt, or just find "Jerusalem1" listed on the gopher you already 
have access to.  Once you are in, look for "List Archives."

Compuserve users already have access to back issues directly from the 
Religion Forum, Library #2!

======================================================================== 
   Jewish   L         EEEEEEEE  Prepared by Ohr Somayach Instutitions
     J      L         E         22 Shimon Hatzadik Street, POB 18103
     J      L         Exchange  Jerusalem 91180, Israel
J    J      L         E         Tel: 02-810315 Fax: 02-812890 
 JJJJ       Learning  EEEEEEEE  Internet:ohr@jer1.co.il
========================================================================