Q&A: Jewish Law and Male Grooming
Jewish Law and Male Grooming
Question
Hello Rabbi Michi,
Is it nowadays permitted for a man to remove body hair, dye white hair, groom his eyebrows, and so on, given that beauty and grooming culture now exists to a considerable extent among men as well (mainly secular men, but not only)?
If so, it would follow that Jewish law can change as a result of the behavior and actions of people who do not take it into account or are lax about it. Isn't there a certain paradox here?
- Thank you.
Answer
Indeed, that is true. I don't think there is any paradox here, at least as long as the change is not made in order to violate Jewish law. It is brought about by those who do not take it into account (that is a subtle but important difference).
Discussion on Answer
In the Perishah on the Tur (apparently Yoreh De'ah, section 182), he asked how the custom regarding "a man shall not wear" changes, such that men too are allowed to do certain things. He answered in two ways: either through many Jews who did not observe the Jewish law, or through non-Jews.
Simply speaking, both answers are true, and one does not come instead of the other (a disjunction).
But in the responsa of Maharam Schick, he understood that the two answers disagree with each other, and wrote that heaven forbid one should rely on the first answer; only when the custom changed because of non-Jews is it permitted.
See also the collected pamphlet "Levushei Binyamin" (Hutah), which dealt with this and even showed that according to some opinions the Jewish law here is influenced even by non-Jewish custom, and not only by Jewish custom.
In general, the Torah prohibited adopting women's practices, and once something leaves that category because men also do it, it does not seem far-fetched that the ruling would change.