The Halacha as Currently Practiced
The Shulchan Arukh (Yoreh Deah 181) records the following law:
Shaving one’s Beard
י. אינו חייב על השחתת פאת הזקן אלא בתער, אבל במספרים מותר, אפילו כעין תער... יא. פאות הזקן הם ה’, ורבו בהם הדעות, לפיכך ירא שמים יצא את כולם ולא יעביר תער על כל זקנו כלל.
10. A man only violates the prohibition of shaving the corners of his beard if done with a razor, but he is permitted to do so with scissors, even if he uses them like a razor.
11. There are five corners of the beard, but there are many opinions [about which are the five]. Therefore, one who fears heaven will fulfill them all by not using a razor on his face at all.
According to the halacha, as recorded above, it is forbidden for a man to shave off the hair of his temples or to shave off the corners of his beard. Both of these rules apply only to shaving with a razor. Using a depilating cream, a waxing process, or just pulling the hair out by hand would not be forbidden. Trimming with scissors are not forbidden either.
The Kabbalists hold that it’s preferable not to cut one’s beard at all.
Origins of the Halacha
Where does this halacha come from? Rabbinically, this halacha is derived from VaYikra 19:27.
לֹֹ֣א תַקִִּ֔פו פְאַַ֖ת רֹאשְׁכ ֶ֑ם וְלֹֹ֣א תַשְׁחִִּ֔ית אֵַּ֖ת פְאַַ֥ת זְקָנ ֶֽךָ:
You shall not round off the side-growth on your head, or destroy the side-growth of your beard.
According to the rabbis, ‘rounding the side-growth of your head’ refers to removing the hair from the temples, and ‘destroying the side-growth of your beards’ refers to shaving the beard.
What about the rule that this prohibition applies only to shaving with a razor? The Rabbis derive this from a comparison between this verse and Lev. 21:5 (aimed at kohanim).
ופְאַַ֥ת זְקָנַָ֖ם לֹֹ֣א יְגַלֵֶּ֑חו... ...they shall not cut the side-growth of their beards.
The verse references the prohibition of cutting the beard but the term here is not “destroy” (שחת) but “cut” (גלח). Why the change in terminology? The Rabbis suggest that this is in order to teach us a rule (b. Makkot 20a; b. Kiddushin 35b):
ת”ר‘ פאת זקנך לא יגלחו’. יכול אפילו גילחו במספריים יהא חייב ת”ל‘ לא תשחית’. יכול ואפילו ליקטו במלקט וברהיטני יהא חייב ת”ל‘ לא יגלחו’. הכיצד? איזוהי’ גילוח שיש בו השחתה? הוי אומר זה תער.
‘They shall not cut the side-growth of their beards’ – I might have thought that it is even forbidden to trim [the beard] with scissors, thus the Torah teaches us ‘do not destroy [the side-growth of the beard].’ [If I only had this latter verse] I might have thought that even plucking out the hair with tweezers or an epilator [would be forbidden]. Thus, the Torah teaches us ‘they shall not cut...’ How does this work? What kind of cutting also destroys? This occurs when done with a razor.
Although the two verses used in this derasha have different contexts, one is aimed at kohanim and the other at all Israelites, the Talmud classifies this midrash as a gezeirah shavah, a homiletical argument based on the use of the same word in two verses. The word in question is peah (side-growth or corner). Since this is the same word used for the removal of hair from the temples, the same deduction—i.e. that the prohibition applies only to shaving with a razor and not to other forms of trimming or depilation—applies there as well.
In short, according to rabbinic halakha, men are never allowed to use a razor to shave their side-burns or the beards.
The Meaning of the These Prohibitions
Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra (1089-1164) offers a two-pronged suggestion (VaYikra 19:27) Ibn Ezra sees two related violations in shaving the beard and side-locks, which work together. First, doing so copies the gentiles. Second, the practice is inappropriate since “if God didn’t want men to have beards and side-locks he wouldn’t have created them with beards and side-locks.”
A very different approach comes from R. Bachya ben Asher (1255-1340), who suggests that beard and side-locks are one of the main ways of differentiating between men and women. Thus, obliterating these markers would create a gap in the gender divide, something the Torah is wary of in other places as well (see esp. Devarim 22:5, where men and women are forbidden to cross dress.)
Rambam (1135-1204) offers yet a third reason, one that stands somewhere in between ibn Ezra’s suggestion and the simple meaning of the text. “It is prohibited to shave off our side-locks the way idolaters once did... It was the way of idolatrous priests to shave off their beards. Therefore, the Torah forbade shaving the beard” (Mishneh Torah, “Laws of Idolatry, ch. 12:1, 7).
Where are the five points of the beard?
Nasan Piryo (Makkos 20a): Lists 7 opinions from the Rishonim with hand-drawn pictures:
- Rivan (Makkos 21a) includes the 2 backmost edges of the jaw below the ear (left and right side), the 2 sides of the chin, and the middle of the chin
- Rabeinu Chananel (Tur Y”D 181) includes the 2 joints of the jaw bone to the skull bone (left and right side), the 2 edges of the moustache, and the neck.
- Rashi as brought by the Rosh (Makkos 3:2-3) includes the 2 joints of the jaw bone to the skull bone (left and right side), the 2 sides of chin, and the middle of the chin.
- Rashi (Shevuos 3a s.v. VeAl) includes the 2 joints of the jaw bone to the skull bone (left and right side), the 2 edges of the jaw bone as it extends forward to the mouth, and the middle of the chin
- Rashi according to the Ritva (Shavous 3b): the lower part of the jaw bond in which the teeth are set to the point of the joint (forming a row on each side for the 4 points) plus the middle of the chin
- Meiri (Makkos 20a) the row on each side which begin in the hallow near the ear following the upper jaw bond ending below the eye, plus 2 backmost edges of the jaw below the ear, and the middle of the chin.
- Rambam (Hilchot Avoda Zara 12:6) includes the 2 joints of the jaw bone to the skull bone (left and right side), the 2 backmost edges of the jaw below the ear, and the middle of the chin.
