Opsherenish

Letter from the Lubavitcher Rebbe Rabbi M. M. Schneerson 

                                                                              B”H                                                       

Greetings and Blessings,

In response to the notification regarding the third birthday of your son … may he have long life,

Quoted below is a portion of a letter from my saintly teacher and father-in-law, o.b.m., regarding the Jewish customs associated with pe’os. May it be the will of the Almighty, Blessed be He, that you together with your wife may she live a long life; raise him, to Torah, marriage and good deeds amidst expansiveness.          

                                            With blessings,        

                                                Signature

This is the wording of my saintly father-in-law, the Rebbe:

“…and with regard to cutting the child’s hair, opsherenish; it is a matter of great importance among Jewish customs. Its main significance is in the education of leaving the pe’os (corners of the hair) of the head. From the day of the haircutting and the leaving of the pe’os on his head, it is the custom to spiritually uplift the child by accustoming him to wear a tallis katan, recite the morning blessings, grace after meals, and the Shema before retiring to bed. The Almighty, Blessed be He, will help you raise him to Torah, marriage, and good deeds amidst an abundant livelihood, with peace of mind in the physical and the spiritual.”

Introduction

Pe’ah means corner. Pe’os is the plural form of the word, referring to; corners. This is the term that is used to describe the hair that grows from the top of the ear, along the side of the ear until close to the end of the tragus, which is the small bump-like portion of the ear that protrudes from the face. Most have the custom to cut the hair at that point (which is the only requirement) while others let it grow long. The word pe’os is also used to describe to the corner of a field that is not harvested, but is left for the poor to take whatever they need.

Hair and Haircutting

Throughout history many groups and individuals gave special attention to the issue of hair. The reasons for this vary and take on connotations that are both physical and spiritual. Some cut their hair as a sign of mourning while others grew their hair as a sign of mourning. Various individuals or groups wore their hair according to their belief systems or personal perspectives.

Historically, hair was associated with strength, as in the story of Samson (Judges 16:19). It was also used as a personal definition or statement. The growth or the cutting of hair was also associated as being part of a pilgrimage to a holy site. There were those who kept their hair short to prevent a connection with the negative aspects of hair. Mysticism, superstition and mythology have many stories about hair.  

Ordinarily, people do not wait a specific length of time before cutting a child’s hair. Rather, the decision is made based on the length of hair that people consider to be acceptable. Some people wait until they feel that their child has developed beyond a point when the cutting of hair would cause pain or anxiety to the child.

Midrash Tanchumah states that when Isaac became three years old, Abraham said to Sarah, “I know a place where they educate children, let us send him there.” According to tradition, that place was the school of Shem and Ever. This would indicate the age that they thought was proper to consider a child’s (more) formal education. Thus it was a natural progression for future generations to follow that same line of thinking, using the age of three to mark the beginning of an educational process. 

SOURCE OF THE CUSTOM

In many Jewish communities it is customary to wait until a boy is three years old before giving him his first haircut. A special celebration is held on (or close to) his third birthday, during which his hair is cut for the first time, being careful to leave the pe’os (corners of the hair) on the head.

The exact date of the beginning of the custom of opsherenish is shrouded in mystery.

The first explicit eye witness account for this custom is of the ceremony that the saintly Ari Zal (Rabbi Yitzchok Luria 1534-1572) held for his son.

In his book Shaar Hakavonos, Rabbi Chaim Vital, the distinguished disciple of the Arizal, writes, “On Lag B’Omer, it is customary for Jews to go to the burial places of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his son Rabbi Elozor, who are both buried in Meron. It is known that people gather there to eat, drink and rejoice.”

He continues; “Rabbi Yonason Sagish personally testified to me that the year before I came to learn with my master, the Arizal took his small son and his entire family to Meron for Lag Bomer. While he was there, he gave his son his first haircut, as was known to be the custom, and he held a celebration in its honor.” Rabbi Vital ends the story by stating: “I have recounted this story to indicate a definite source for this custom.”

Although this is the first personal testimony of the custom being observed in Meron, we see that Rabbi Chaim Vital describes it as “the known custom.” It already existed as an ancient custom in their time. We find that special customs prevail regarding the first haircut even before the time of the Arizal.

In his responsa, Volume 2 #608, The Radbaz (David ibn Zimra 1463-1573) writes: “In regards to your query as to one who made a vow to give his son a haircut at the burial place of Shmuel Hanavi (Samuel the prophet), but has found out that the road is closed and full of danger, what is to be done? It has been the custom in all our areas of habitation to consider this to carry the gravity of a full vow. The reason it carries the weight of a full vow is that people would make and fulfill their vows and donations and give a monetary equivalent of the weight of the hair for the upkeep of the place, for the candles and oil and the other needs. Also, their donations (were made) for the poor and public needs; so due to all of this, it has been accepted as a full vow and is not to be taken lightly…”

Visits to the grave of Samuel the prophet are mentioned in various historic documents, although there is no explicit description of the actual haircutting events. Yet the above description indicates that they held a haircutting ceremony there as well. This means that the custom may go as far back as the time of King David, after the passing of Shmuel Hanavi.

We find a custom of what to do with the hair in the book of Samuel 2 14:26. “Absalom was a Nazarite and cut his hair once a year when it became too heavy and it weighed two hundred shekels.” He then exchanged the hair for money and gave the monetary equivalent of the weight of the hair to the poor or to the priests.   

The custom of the haircut is associated with the Law of Orlah; Just as we do not eat the first fruits of a tree until three years have passed, so too we do not cut the hair of a child until he is three years old. Although this explanation has only been written in more recent times, we find allusions to it in earlier writings.

The Jerusalem Talmud (Pe’ah 1,4) derived the Law of Pe’ah relating to a tree, from the prohibition not to cut the pe’os of the head.

In his commentary at the beginning of the tractate Shevuos, the Ritbah compares the corner of the hair of the face to the pe’ah in a field.

In observation, we find the possibility that the custom of the haircut is ancient in origin. It was an accepted custom in Egypt (which is the location in which the Radvaz was a Rabbi and the Arizal lived before moving to Israel.)  After the Arizal performed this custom it became even more widespread among other Jewish communities. It is possible that at a point in time that occurred between when the Jews left Egypt and the time of King Solomon, someone decided to turn a child’s first haircut into an educational tool. It precedes the formal education of children with a ceremony that negates the customs of the idol worshipping Egyptian male priests.  

 

The Significance of the Haircut

Special significance is attached to the child’s first haircut because it is the first time he is fulfilling the Biblical ordinance (Leviticus 19:27): “Do not round the corners of your head,” and in so doing fulfills the precept of leaving pe’os.

In Shaarei Teshuvah (Orach Chaim Chapter 531:7) we read, “We find much joy and reason at this ceremony as it states ‘It is the custom in Israel that a special celebration is made at the first haircut of a child when he is educated with the commandment of pe’os.’”

The responsa Nechpa Bakesef (also called Pri Mipri, Volume 2, p. 7) writes: “The reason there is such great merriment at the first haircut, with music and dancing, is because of the love of the commandment that the boy is now wearing pe’os.”

In Keser Shem Tov (Gagin Volume 1-2, footnote 690) the author asks, “What is the purpose of this joy?” He responds, “It is because at the child’s first haircut and pe’os is the first commandment we make dear to the child.”

In Iggeres Kodesh of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Vol. 7, p. 235, is stated that towards the end of the book Shivim Temarim, a conclusion is reached determining that the first haircut is part of the commandment of education.

The tradition to leave the corners of the hair of the head uncut is not just a simple practice of one commandment among others. Rather, the pe’os testify to the Jewish identity of the child. Pe’os are called “signs.” Here, the word “sign” means a positive sign of Jewish identity insofar that it is representative of the image of a Jew. The Jews of previous generations wore pe’os and the first thing they were forced to remove (by people wishing to degrade them) was the pe’os, which signified their identification as Jews. Therefore, it is the result of a fundamental concept (as it is written in the Hayom Yom for the 4^th day of the month of Iyar) that the cutting of the hair of the child is a Jewish custom of great educational significance.

This is synonymous with the writings of Maimonides as follows; “We do not cut the corners of the head as the idol worshippers do, as it says, “Do not cut off the corners of your head.” This means that the commandment of pe’os serves as a guard against idol worship. In his Guide to the Perplexed, Maimonides writes that the prohibition against destroying the pe’os is a demonstrative opposition to the statutes followed by the idol worshipping male priests.

Sefer HaChinuch (Mitzvah 251) writes: “One reason for this commandment is to distance ourselves and to remind us to avoid any action or matter related to idol worship. Consequently, this commandment comes with an explicit warning that a man must make for himself a constant reminder to stay away from any aspect of idolatry. This is achieved by leaving the hair next to the ear which is part of the body being part of this awareness.”

Regarding the verse from Leviticus (20:7), “And you shall make yourself holy,” Rashi comments that making oneself holy is achieved by separating oneself from idol worship, as we read in Leviticus (20:26), “And you shall be holy to Me … and I have separated you from among the nations to be Mine.” Thus, in the education of the child in holy matters, the concept of leaving pe’os (i.e., separating oneself from idol worship) is of paramount importance.

Furthermore, in Likutei Sichos (Volume 7, p. 350) we find written that the haircut is considered “a matter of education in holiness…and the beginning of an education which has been sanctified for many years and generations … certainly awakens a special feeling from above, which envelops the child who is being educated.

We find further in Likutei Sichos (Volume 7, p. 351) “A virtue of the first haircut is in its connection to the commandment of the first fleece, one of twenty-four presents given to the priest.”

The Zohar (Volume 3, p. 48b) mentions: “A person whose character stems from the side of judgment and harshness, does not become cleansed until all of the hair is removed.” (see Zohar for more details). Similarly, we find in Leviticus (14:8) “And the one who purifies himself must wash his clothes and cut his hair.” Shaving the hair of a Nazarite reflects the removal of impurities and becoming pure. This is also one of the ideas that is connected to the removal of the hair of a child of three years of age.

It is customary to have the first haircut take place at the burial site of a righteous person. The most popular place to perform this rite is in Meron (in Israel) at the burial site of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai (known by the acronym “Rashbi”). It is to that exact place that the famed Rabbi Yitzchok Luria (the “Arizal”) took his son at three years old for his first haircut.

Throughout the years until and including presently, a huge crowd gathers in Meron on Lag B’omer, which is the 33^rd day of the seven weeks that are counted from the second day of Passover until Shavuos (festival of weeks). It is there, on that day each year, that thousands of people bring their three-year-old male children, to have their first haircuts. According to tradition, this was the day that the bread called “manna” first came down from heaven to feed the Jewish people during their forty years in the wilderness.

In Leviticus (13:33), the word for cutting the hair (vehisGalach) is written with the letter gimmel enlarged. This letter has a numerical value of three. Some have associated this with giving a child the first haircut at three years old.

 

THE FIRST HAIRCUT OF CHABAD LEADERS

The Alter Rebbe (Schneur Zalman, 1745-1812)

“When Rabbi Boruch came to the Baal Shem Tov for Rosh Hashanah in the year 5508 (1743), he was once again asked about the order of conduct with the boy (Schneur Zalman.) Rabbi Boruch told the Baal Shem Tov that when he come home, his wife the Rabbonis Rivkah told him that on the birthday of the boy on the eighteenth of Elul, his speech improved and during the (second) year 5507 the parents felt that their child “has a phenomenal memory. The child has full recall of what he hears (only) one time.”

Our teacher the Baal Shem Tov emphatically warned Rabbi Boruch again, reminding him to conceal the blessing the Hashem had bestowed upon their son. “When people (will) ask about him, respond briefly that you trust in Hashem that his development will be right.”

When Rabbi Boruch entered to the Baal Shem Tov to receive permission to travel home and to receive blessings for the journey, he told the Baal Shem Tov about their decision to bring the child to the Baal Shem Tov for his next (birthday) Chai (18^th day of the month of) Elul, when they “will need to cut the hair on his head and leave pe’os.”

The Baal Shem Tov agreed stipulating that there “needs to be a wagon waiting to return him home.” He does not want the child to know who he is, since he needs to be connected with the Rabbi the Maggid of Mezrich (Sefer Hamaamorim 5711 p.154.) He repeated the admonition to keep the child out of people’s view. “The mother and aunt Madame Devorah Leah should travel with the child. They should arrive on Chai Elul after the morning prayers. After they cut the hair and leave pe’os, they should immediately set out for home and they should be careful that no-one should know about it.” 

When Rabbi Boruch returned home, he found that during the two months that he was away the boy had memorized many chapters of Tehillim. He felt that the child had a unususal ability to grasp and remember things. (“That which he hears one time he remembers.”)

On the fourth day of the week, Chai Elul 5508 the Rabbonis Rivkah and her sister-in-law the Rabbonis Devorah Leah came with the boy to the city of Mezibuz “to our teacher the Baal Shem Tov.” Immediately the Baal Shem Tov “educated” the child with pe’os of the head and blessed him with the priestly blessings. He instructed them to leave immediately and return home, and not to discuss anything about the place they had just been to.  He gave them blessings for a good year and pleasant trip.

The child constantly asked who the man was who had cut his hairs, left pe’os and bestowed blessings upon him. His mother responded that the man was “grandfather.” This was one of the two times that the Rabbonis Rivkah visited the Baal Shem Tov.”

The Tzemach Tzedek (Menachem Mendel, 1789-1866)

“Erev Rosh Hashono 5553the Tzemach Tzedek became three years old. Erev Rosh Hashono after the morning prayers he was given his first haircut, leaving pe’os. The Alter Rebbe blessed him, placing his holy hands on his holy head. The Alter Rebbe organized the first haircutting of his grandson, to fix on him pe’os of the head. He blessed the boy with placing his holy hands on the boys head.”

The Rebbe Rashab (Sholom Dovber, 1860-1920)

“When the Rebbe Rashab was three years old, the Tzemach Tzedek ordered that the haircutting and kleaving pe’os should be done secretly. Towards evening before the day that the child would become three, he ordered that the lad be brought to Tzemach Tzedek’s room and that he should spend the night there.

In the morning, when the child awoke, the Tzemach Tzedek instructed the attendant Reb Chaim Ber, that the child should wash his own hands. He said the morning blessings with him and answered amen. 

After the morning prayers, the Tzemach Tzedek called the Rebbe Maharash and his wife, the parents of the child, and said to them: “The Baal Shem Tov gave the spiritual cruse of oil to his student the Maggid of Mezritch to anoint the Alter Rebbe, to be a leader for generations. With this power my father-in-law was anointed. With this power, I anointed you, and with this power I am anointing him.”