Among Hasidic Jews, payot are often very prominent and sometimes curled, but they are also often tucked discreetly behind the ear. Many observant Jewish men consider it sufficient merely to avoid complete removal of the sideburns. According to a passage in the tractate Bava Metzia , the Talmudic sage Rabbi Yochanan was considered a beautiful man, yet he was not included on a list of rabbis whose beauty reflects that of the biblical patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
The reason, the Talmud offers, is that Rabbi Yochanan did not have a beard. Some Jewish men who usually do shave nonetheless allow their facial hair to grow during periods of mourning. This is traditionally done for 30 days following the death of a close relative.
Many jackets are secured with a special belt called a "Gartel. Frequently, underneath a man's jacket he will be wearing a formal vest like the type of vest which is part of a 3-piece suit. Under the vest will be Tzitsis. Under the tzitsis will be a button-up shirt. So a Hasidic Jewish man might be wearing 4 layers on their torso, plus maybe even a 5th layer of a prayer shawl. These layers are worn all year, even in the summer. First image: a young man with his stringed Tzitzis exposed. Second image: a pair of Hasidic men wearing bekesheh jackets.
The man on the right has a gartel belt on his waist which is wrapped around his body several times. Although the Jewish religion is over years old and originates in the Middle East, Ultra Orthodox Hasidic culture began only around years ago - in Eastern Europe.
A new movement was introduced that emphasized physical activity example: dancing over studying text example: reading Talmudic books.
This movement had a heightened fraternal nature to it - participants formed extremely close-knit communities that centered around a grand rabbi leader known as a 'Rebbe'. The movement survived through oppression, mass emigration and the Holocaust and is now located mainly in the USA and Israel. However, Hasidic Jewish community affiliations are based on the town or city where their families lived in Europe.
There are dozens of sects - corresponding to various places of origin. For example, one of the largest sects is 'Satmar' - named for the city of Satu Mare in Romania. Another sect is called 'Vien' whose origin is from Vienna. Although virtually none of the sect members still live in those cities, the sects maintain their affiliation based on those cities of origin.
Much of the Ultra-Orthodox culture and rules seem unusual in today's Western society. However in the past this was not as much the case. These sets of clothing and customs used to be less dissimilar to the surrounding people. In fact, the main Hasidic mens' clothing is likely based originally on the style of the surrounding non-Jewish community.
The Hasidic men's clothing attire is based heavily on Eastern Europe in the 's or 's. Their clothing back then would have not been seen nearly as different. Also, the heavy layers they wear could have been more appropriate in the colder climates of Poland, Russia, Ukraine, etc. The language spoken by Hasidic Jews - Yiddish - is based mainly on German. Beards, top hats or formal jackets would also have not been unusual in the past.
In United States or Europe, almost all men wore hats and jackets until the recent past. One example of how Hasidic Jewish mens' clothing is not so different from public fashion in the past is: 's USA.
Frock coats and top hats were common among formal men. Beards were common. And alot of men even had biblical first names which share a similarity with Jewish names. In order to avoid the possibility of transgressing over the biblical commandment prohibiting the use of a straight razor on the facial hair, these Jews used a sulfuric compound that served as a depilatory to remove their facial hair.
In the late nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries, the yeshiva students of Lithuania also used this depilatory and were clean-shaven and without beards, at least until they married or assumed communal leadership roles. This was somewhat ironic since some of the famous maskilim - "modern, enlightened" Jews of Lithuania, sported great luxurious beards. Theodore Herzl, the founder of secular Zionism, is easily recognizable because of his great black beard.
In the Chasidic world, however, appearing clean-shaven was unacceptable. This was partly based on kabbalistic reasons not to cut one's facial hair and also as a sign of its refusal to accept the ever-changing fashions of modernity as any sort of substitute for Jewish custom and tradition.
In Eastern Europe, rabbis always wore beards. In twentieth-century America, many Orthodox rabbis were clean-shaven. And how did it become so accepted in both practice and philosophy? The Chasam Sofer, an 18thth century authority, writes that the practice of Jews cutting their beards started in Germany in , the time of the Crusades, as the result of harsh decrees against the Jews.
For reasons of security, Jews needed to be less conspicuous, so they started cutting their beards and dressing in styles more in line with the surrounding culture. For example, the Talmud on Sotah 49b tells us the household of Rabban Gamliel were allowed to wear their hair in decidedly non-Jewish fashions because they worked closely with the secular rulers.
Arguably, such a situation would also apply to trimming the beard without use of a razor. For similar reasons, many Jews in the public arena might not refrain from shaving during sefirah or the Three Weeks.
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