4 weeks ago

New Publication Discusses The Halachic Status of Shaving the Beard with Scissors and Depilatory Cream

A groundbreaking new publication, The Halachic Status of Shaving the Beard with Scissors and Depilatory Cream, has been released, offering an in-depth examination of the prohibition of beard removal within Jewish law. Authored by Rabbi Moshe Nisan Wiener, this work provides a rigorous halachic analysis that challenges the commonly held assumption that shaving with scissors or depilatory cream is halachically acceptable • Full Story, Download

Drawing from his comprehensive 1,227-page sefer, Hadras Ponim Zokon (fourth edition, NY, 2022), Rabbi Wiener distills critical arguments into a concise 100-page monograph. This publication systematically presents fourteen well-documented responses, demonstrating that beard removal—even by means of scissors and depilatory cream—is fundamentally inconsistent with Torah law.

Historical and Halachic Context

It is widely assumed that non-Chassidic (Litvish) Jews have a longstanding tradition of being beardless. However, the revered halachic authority, the Chofetz Chaim, attested in his Kuntres Tiferes Odom that, in his time, only one in a thousand Litvish Jews removed their beards. As secular influences spread in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, beard shaving became one of the early indicators of religious abandonment. The Chofetz Chaim and other leading Litvish Torah giants, including the Roshei Yeshiva of Slabodka and Telz, and later the Chazon Ish and many others fervently protested against this trend, but their efforts were largely unsuccessful^[1]. See The Beard: Where Chassidim and Misnagdim Agree. As Rav Chaim Kanievsky (the late “Gadol Hador” of the non-Chassidic world) testified in his popular Orchos Yosher (chapter 5): “Throughout our history, it was a disgrace for anyone not to have a beard. It is only in recent generations that some have started to treat this irreverently, having learned this from the non-Jews.”

Those who remained observant but felt societal pressure to adopt a Western appearance sought halachic justifications for shaving. They relied on lenient interpretations permitting the use of close-cutting scissors and depilatory creams. In response, leading halachic authorities—both Chassidic and non-Chassidic—issued public pronouncements declaring this practice unequivocally prohibited by Torah law (issur gomur). Among them, Shaalos u’Teshuvos Toras Sholom and Igros Kodesh of the Rebbe Rashab explicitly stated that those who justify shaving with scissors based on halachic sources “are in error” and violate multiple Torah prohibitions.^[2]

A Critical Examination of Halachic Justifications

The Halachic Status of Shaving the Beard with Scissors and Depilatory Cream addresses the question: Why is reliance on lenient opinions categorically unacceptable, particularly when such views include prominent authorities? Through meticulous analysis of halachic principles, the monograph establishes why beard removal remains impermissible, even under seemingly lenient rulings.

Furthermore, the severity of this issue was underscored by two leading Litvish sages of the 20th century—Rav Avrohom Yitzchok Hakohen Kook and the Chazon Ish (whose positions regarding other issues were radically divergent, nonetheless here both agreed and) — shockingly suggested that the horrific 1929 Chevron massacre may have been linked to the Slabodka Yeshiva students shaving of their beards. This perspective, recorded by Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook (son of Rav Kook) and confirmed by Rav Chaim Kanievsky (nephew of the Chazon Ish), further highlights that even Litvish Gedolim considered beard removal categorically contrary to the Divine will. See: Authoritative Responses to Common Misconceptions chapters 9 and 17.

Clarification on Electric Shavers

It is important to note that this discussion does not apply to electric shavers. All electric shavers, as ruled by the greatest halachic authorities of recent generations, are considered halachically equivalent to razors and are unquestionably prohibited. As Rav Chaim Kanievsky affirmed: “The Chazon Ish prohibited all shaving machines, and all the Gedolei Hador ruled similarly to prohibit them.”

Availability

As a public service, The Halachic Status of Shaving the Beard with Scissors and Depilatory Cream is available for free download here. For those who prefer a printed edition, the book can also be purchased (at nominal cost) on Amazon here.

As attested to in Igros Kodesh of the Frierdiker Rebbe (volume 6 page 335):“When the disease of cutting the beard spread among students of the [Litvishe] Yeshivos, the well-known Gaon, Rabbi Eliezer Gordon [Rov and Rosh Yeshiva of Telz], of blessed memory, adopted the most stringent measures [to stop it]. When he saw that they persisted in their defiance, he mobilized the Gaonim of that time — the venerable Rabbi Y. Dovid Friedman [Rov of Pinsk-Karlin], the venerable Rabbi Eliyahu Chaim Meisel [Rov of Lodz, Poland], and the mighty Gaonim Rabbi Chaim HaLevi [Soloveitchik, Rov of Brisk], and Rabbi Chaim Ozer [Grodzenski, Rov of Vilna] — of blessed memory. He demanded that they place a prohibition on Rabbonim against granting them [students who cut their beards] Rabbinic ordination [Semicha], on Shochtim against teaching them the skill of ritual slaughtering [Shechita], and on Jewish communities against employing them in any religious position.”
See also Kol Kisvei Chofetz Chaim where the son of the Chofetz Chaim wrote in the biography of his father: “Year after year, my father admonished [people] regarding shaving the beard, both orally, in writing .and in his publications. But hardly anyone listened to him.” ↑
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTTo our Jewish brethren, “believers, children of believers”:
There are many who are lenient and cut their beards with scissors, declaring that they are acting in accordance with the Halachah…It is our obligation to announce publicly that they are in error, for this is absolutely prohibited (issur gomur) according to Torah law (mid’oraysa). Many of the earlier and later Torah giants (Rishonim and Acharonim) have proven and clarified that those who do so transgress several Torah prohibitions (kamah lavin) [here the Rebbe Rashab cites source references, including the teshuvah of the Tzemach Tzedek]….Everyone is obligated to inform his family members of this severe prohibition (issur chomur), so that a root of [spiritual] decay will not grow from his family.

Igros Kodesh of the Rebbe Rashab, vol. 2, p. 927, and Shaalos u’Teshuvos Toras Sholom, section 45