Q&A: Using a Razor Blade
Using a Razor Blade
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I know the Jewish law. My question is why—after all, the source of the prohibition is a primitive, disgraceful custom that involved injuring the body and belonged to barbaric behavior, the kind that saw value in mutilating the body.
Today, by contrast, shaving with a razor is the most normal and proper thing to do. It is a gentle and clean action whose purpose is to make a person look better.
Shouldn’t there be a change accordingly?
Answer
Where did you get that explanation from? Various reasons have been given for the prohibition, but we do not derive Jewish law from the reason for the verse, and certainly not in such a speculative way. It seems to me that you are confusing "do not cut yourselves into factions" with the prohibition of rounding the hair of the head.