Rabbi Blum: Not Every Haircut Is Permitted

Rabbi Eliyahu Blum addressed a question about haircuts in which the lower part of the head is cut very short while the top remains relatively long, and referred to the laws of the sidecurls and the concern of imitating a foreign culture. Rabbi Eliyahu Blum, the rabbi of the Neve Sha'anan community in Haifa, a dayyan in financial matters, and formerly head of the Hesder yeshiva in Nahariya, commented on a question concerning haircuts common today among young people, in which the lower part of the head, up to the area of the sidecurls, is shaved or cut very short, while the hair on the top of the head is left relatively long. In his detailed remarks, he examined the halachic aspects related to this haircut style. According to the conclusions he presented, any haircut that harms the sidecurl area in a way that may lead to the prohibition of rounding the corners of the head is forbidden. He also stressed that great caution is needed in this matter. "When the haircut clearly expresses imitation of a foreign culture, or a manner of arrogance and a breach of the boundaries of modesty, there is room to forbid it on the basis of 'and you shall not walk in their statutes'," he wrote. At the same time, he noted that a layered haircut in itself is not necessarily the same as a "komi" or "blorit" haircut that was prohibited in the words of the Sages. "It is certainly fitting for every ben Torah to consider whether his outward appearance reflects honor, modesty, and fear of Heaven, as befits someone who bears the name of Heaven upon him. Therefore, I am not surprised that there are educational institutions that do not allow this haircut because of the spirit it brings with it," he added. Rabbi Blum also warned about a situation in which the length of the hair at the front of the head could interfere with properly putting on the head tefillin.