[Avodah] "Yeshivishe Payes"

[Danny Schoemann]

On 6/6/07, Marty Bluke <marty.bluke at gmail.com> wrote:
> With regards to the length of payists, the poskim point out that the
> shiur of hair in general is to bend back the hair on itself, about a
> half a centimeter.

Which doesn't quite match with YD 181:9 which says that the shiur of
the Paye is from the [top of the] forehead till the [top of the]
jawbone - and this entire width Lo Siga Bo Yad - shouldn't be touched.

The Beis Lechem Yehuda (ibid) clearly says that the Ari z"l would cut
his Payis if they grew longer than that, so that the hairs all reached
the bottom of his ears.

The Pischei Tshuva (ibid 3) brings a Tshuva from the Chasam Sofer
allowing one to comb that hair - in response to R' Akiva Eiger's query
on the matter.

But - as has been pointed out - there's no halachic point in having
part of the area "long" and the rest short.

- Danny