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Why Do Orthodox Jewish Men Have Sidecurls?

Hey JITC-

Why do Orthodox Jewish men have sidecurls?

Thanks,
Ivan

Dear Ivan-

Thanks for your question. Those sidecurls are called “peiyot” in Hebrew, meaning corners. This is commonly Yiddishized as “peiyes” and is usually rendered in English in a variety of less-phonetically-accurate spellings, including “payes” and “peyot.” (By the way, the common English-language term is “sidelocks,” not “sidecurls.”) I’ll go with “payes” for the balance of this reply.

Jewish men wearing payes is a pretty straightforward Biblical obligation. Actually, it’s a prohibition as Leviticus 19:27 tells us, “Do not round the corners of your head…,” which prohibits removing the hair that grows in this spot. While most prohibitions apply equally both to men and to women, this particular prohibition applies to men only. This is because the verse continues with the prohibition against destroying the corners of the beard. The two are so interrelated that the prohibition against rounding the corners of the head only applies to those who are prohibited to destroy the corners of the beard, i.e., men.

Now, people sometime mistakenly think that only Hasidic Jews wear payes. This they do visibly, in a variety of styles, including straight, curled and behind the ear. But Hasidim aren’t the only ones who wear payes – all Orthodox Jewish men do, just not as visibly. While some interpret the rule in a way that encourages them to grow their payes long, others see it merely as prohibiting altogether removing the hair that grows there. So, while a Jewish man would not be able to shave his head or to get a mohawk without violating this prohibition, most secular haircuts would not pose any sort of problem. In other words, modern Orthodox men also have payes, they’re just generally indistinguishable from their neighbors’ haircuts.

Now, this last point might seem counterproductive if you clicked on that first link, where you’ll see that, according to the Sefer HaChinuch, the purpose of payes is to distinguish us from our neighbors. The reality is that sometimes our styles align with what’s popular in the society around us, while other times they conflict. For example, hemlines go up and down; sometimes they align with our halachic practices and other times they don’t.

Similarly, if one wanted his hairstyle to emulate Elvis or the Beatles in their heydays, that would have coincided pretty nicely with our halachic requirements. That wouldn’t be the case if one wanted to emulate Yul Brynner, Telly Savalas, Bruce Willis, Patrick Stewart, Billy Joel, Vin Diesel, Samuel L. Jackson, etc. The reality is that sometimes crew cuts and shaved heads are in style, so this mitzvah does inform our style choices. (As an adult male with thinning hair, let me assure you that the shaved head is indeed a tempting hairstyle. Alas, such is not to be!)

Sincerely,

Rabbi Jack Abramowitz
JITC Educational Correspondent

 

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7 comments

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  • Avatar photo Rifky says on June 6, 2018

    I love reading Rabbi Jack’s articles, and this one was no exception. (Are you the same Rabbi Jack who ran the NCSY website in the aughts?)

    I just wanted to point out that the last paragraph of your article lists a few celebs (male) who are completely hairless, apparently by choice. But one example is halachically Jewish, even though he’s not observant. Maybe, for puposes of shmiras haloshon, you should remove his name from the list. Just a thought.

    Reply
    • Avatar photo Rabbi Jack Abramowitz says on June 6, 2018

      Yes, that’s me.

      Thanks for your comments and I appreciate your sensitivity to shmiras halashon. I also had no idea that Billy Joel was Jewish! Nevertheless, I don’t think it’s lashon hara to mention that Jews who are completely non-observant do non-observant things. (I also never said that he shaves his head, just that he’s bald. I don’t know whether nature did that to him, or Norelco!) Billy Joel’s head is pretty public. It’s not lashon hara to discuss things that are publicly-known common knowledge (though it would be lashon hara if one did so with malicious intent).

      Reply
      • Avatar photo Rifky says on June 7, 2018

        Got it. Thanks for responding.

        Reply
  • Avatar photo david and adeline west says on December 30, 2019

    my wife and I are so sorry about the stabbing that took place our prayers are with you and your people we love yall David

    Reply
  • Avatar photo PAMELA KRUEGER says on April 2, 2020

    I felt Ben Gray’s questioning regarding the peyes quite appropriate. As a Christian and a respecter of the Jewish people and their faith I too found myself asking why. Seriously, Lord God of the Universe, why?! I can only imagine the atheists perplexing.
    Especially when one approaches any question with a closed mind as to the answer. Actually it’s a closed heart that prevents the light from entering in.
    I was satisfied with the Rabbis answer regarding being set apart in a quite obvious fashion. I do not believe there’s punishment for cutting the corners of the head, however the humility it must take to wear such a style seems adequate enough.
    Mr. Ben Gray, you can not and will not understand simply because you don’t want to.
    You won’t be satisfied with any answer simply because your religion prevents you from seeing any other alternative.
    It’s ok. Go in peace and let others do the same as you’ll not be converting anyone with your information anymore than you will coif a peyes anytime soon. God bless ❤️

    Reply
  • Avatar photo Bettina says on May 15, 2020

    hellow. I would like to ask the rabbi, why jewish orthodox women shave their head and wear wigs.
    Thanks
    Bettina

    Reply

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