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<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>From: Avroham Yakov <A
href="mailto:avyakov@hotmail.com">avyakov@hotmail.com</A><BR></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>>>Why are beards considers so choshuv?<BR><BR><BR><BR>We know from
the seder how Rav Azariah had a big gray beard<BR>come via a
miracle.<BR><BR><BR><BR>But to get a beard requires two things: good genes and
not<BR>shaving. A person has no control over<BR>the genes, and to grow a
beard, a person just does not shave. That is the opposite of l'fum tzara
agra.<BR><BR><BR><BR>So with that, why does Judaism consider a beard so
chashuv?<BR><BR><BR><BR>Aside from the issue of the permissibility of eclectic
razor,<BR>why is a beard so chashuv? And why do<BR>many men feel
embarrassed by their inability to grow a full bread (having
peach<BR>fuzz)? <<<BR><BR><BR><BR></DIV></FONT></FONT>
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<DIV>>>>>></DIV>
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<DIV>1. It wasn't R' Azariah, it was R' Elazar ben Azariah, quoted in the
Hagadah, "Harei ani keven shiv'im shanah" -- "I am like a man of seventy years
old." He was the man who was appointed head of the Sanhedrin or something
like that at the age of 18 and miraculously his beard turned white, so that
the other chachamim would respect him as an elder and not look down on him as a
youngster. The white beard is a sign of age and in general, in the Torah
world the elderly are given more respect than the young, because they are
presumed to be more knowledgeable and wiser. "Zekenim" is virtually a
synonym for "the wise and learned." "Zaken = zeh shekanah chachma."</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>2. Since there is an issur of shaving with a razor, not shaving at
all is a sort of hiddur mitzva. There is also an issur of not cutting off
the corners of your beard, i.e., the payos, and once again, leaving the whole
face unshaved is a sort of hiddur mitzva.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>3. Shaving off the beard is considered a denial and denigration of
one's masculinity -- it is a sort of "feminizing" thing to do, making one's face
look more womanly and less manly, so that's one reason it's frowned upon in
certain frum circles. The beard is /both/ a sign that one is adult
and no longer a child, and /also/ that one is male and not female.
Obviously in Litvishe circles where all the bachurim go beardless, they are not
concerned that being beardless is "effeminate." But even in those circles,
men are strongly encouraged to grow their beards after marriage, when they need
to appear more adult and less juvenile. (And maybe they also need to be
more masculine in their role as husband and father? Just
speculating.)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>4. Why do men care if their beard grows in spotty, fuzzy or
sparse? -- that is because, as members of the human race, they are subject to
the trait of vanity. Men want to be handsome! For a similar reason
-- because they care how they look, even at age 80 -- women mind very much if
they find themselves growing a beard, even if it is only peach fuzz, and they
will go to great lengths to eliminate facial hair. This now brings us back
to the "effeminate" side of eliminating one's beard, showing that the removal of
facial hair is a feminine thing to do.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>5. One of the most charming typos I have seen in a long
time is your reference, above, to the "eclectic razor" -- which
is quite different from Occam's razor. Occam's razor would be the
simplest, most straightforward answer to your original question. The
eclectic razor would be, I guess, shiv'im panim laTorah. It would
give 70 different answers without, however, shaving the truth.</DIV>
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<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff><BR></FONT><B><FONT color=#0000ff>--Toby
Katz<BR>==========<BR><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#000000 size=2
FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10"></B>--------------------
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