Historic Legal Affirmation on the Halachic Status of Trimming the Beard Discovered
In light of the renewed public discussion surrounding the halachic status of trimming the beard, it has become clear that many are unaware of a remarkable and historically significant document: a joint halachic ruling issued by members of the Beis Din of Crown Heights together with the Vaad Rabonei Chabad Hakloli, presented in the extraordinary form of a legally attested court Affirmation — a format carrying the same legal force and effect as a sworn affidavit in judicial proceedings.
This historic Affirmation was signed by leading Rabbonim of Anash at the time—during the interim period between the passing of Rabbi Z. S. Dworkin, the Rov of Crown Heights, and the election of a new Beis Din—listed below in alphabetical order:
Rabbi Moshe Bogomilsky
Rabbi Yehuda K. Marlow
Rabbi Sholem Morozow
Rabbi Abraham Osdoba
Background
Forty years ago, in 1986, an inmate in the custody of the New York State Department of Correctional Services (DOCS) challenged in Federal Court the constitutionality of DOCS Directive #4914, which required prisoners to trim their beards to a maximum length of one inch. The inmate, an Orthodox Jew, argued that his sincerely held religious beliefs prohibited him from shaving or trimming his beard.
After six days of testimony — during which the Court heard extensive evidence concerning both the sincerity of the inmate’s religious convictions and the State’s asserted institutional interests — the United States District Court ruled in the inmate’s favor and granted injunctive and declaratory relief.
During the trial, the Rebbe’s secretary, Rabbi Chaim Yehuda Krinsky, described the matter as a “landmark case.”
The District Court decision may be viewed here:
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/649/512/1631397
(The case was later appealed by New York State and ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which overturned the ruling on technical grounds unrelated to the underlying religious issues.)
The Rabbinic Testimony
During the proceedings, the inmate’s legal team presented Rabbi Moshe Nisan Wiener, author of Hadras Ponim Zokon, whom the Court formally qualified as an expert witness in halacha on this issue. In response, the New York State Attorney General presented a Rabbi at Yeshiva University, to challenge Rabbi Wiener’s testimony. Rabbi Yaakov Yehuda Hecht also submitted an affidavit supporting the inmate’s position.
The Plaintiff’s Post-Trial Brief records, among other matters, that:
“…despite Rabbi …’s effort to disparage Rabbi Wiener’s opposing scholarly conclusions, he repeatedly admitted that Rabbi Wiener’s views on trimming the beard — which he even called a ‘perversion of Jewish law’ — were nevertheless held by other rabbis.
He acknowledged that there were authorities in prior generations who forbade trimming the beard, though he attempted to minimize their views…
Rabbi …. expressed considerable animus toward Rabbi Wiener, at one point likening him to ‘a donkey who carries books’ and suggesting he was liable to be ‘excommunicated’ . Rabbi …. also appeared hostile to the Hasidic movement in general. When asked if he was affiliated with any Hasidic group, he said “Thank God, no”… Rabbi … dealt with contemporary rabbis who disagreed with him…by disparagement…
When shown the affidavit of Rabbi Jacob Hecht, who stated that a Hasidic Jew could not comply with Directive #4914 if it required trimming the beard, Rabbi … could only respond that ‘Rabbi Hecht errs seriously in his interpretation of Jewish law’ …
In short, despite Rabbi …’s assertion that opposing views were not authoritative, he was ultimately compelled to concede that there were rabbis who held contrary opinions.”
The Historic Affirmation
In response to the confusion generated during these proceedings, and in order to clarify and definitively document the authentic halachic position, members of the Rabbonim of the Beis Din of Crown Heights together with members of the Vaad Rabonei Chabad Hakloli convened for a formal session.
They subsequently issued and signed a formal Affirmation, duly attested before a notary public, setting forth the halachic foundations for the prohibition against trimming the beard and affirming that maintaining an untrimmed beard constitutes a bona fide and binding religious obligation.
Relevance Today
Especially in light of renewed public discussion and confusion generated by recently published articles, the contents of this historic Affirmation are of exceptional importance for anyone seeking clarity and an authoritative presentation of the halachic position.
The full text of the Affirmation, together with a facsimile of the original historical document, appears below.
Joint Halachic Ruling
by the Rabbonim of the Beis Din of Crown Heights
and the Vaad Rabonei Chabad Hakloli
Regarding Trimming the Beard
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
| Plaintiff, -against- CHARLES J. SCULLY, HAROLD J. SMITH, WALTER KELLY, EVERETT W. JONES, THOMAS A. COUGHLIN III and HIRSHEL JAFFE, Defendants. | 84 Civ. 5612 (CES) AFFIRMATION |
STATE OF NEW YORK )
COUNTY OF KINGS ) ss.:
RABBI MOSHE BOGOMILSKY, RABBI YEHUDA K. MARLOW, RABBI SHOLEM MOROZOW, RABBI ABRAHAM OSDOBA do individually and severally solemnly affirm under the penalty of perjury:
1. We are active DAYANIM (Rabbinical Judges) serving on the Rabbinical Court of Lubavitch, known as “Vaad Rabonei Lubavitch,” which convenes in the world Lubavitch headquarters in Brooklyn, New York. The “Vaad Rabonei Lubavitch” is the official arbiter of Jewish law for the Lubavitch Chassidic movement, which is headed by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson. The “Vaad Rabonei Lubavitch” is an autonomous body which rules independently on all issues of Jewish law. Our rulings and decisions are not subject to referral to or review by any outside party. We have never been instructed by the Lubavitcher Rebbe that any outside Rabbi should be the final arbiter in matters brought before us.
2. The refusal to trim, shave or otherwise remove the beard is a religious practice which has been followed by Torah-observant Jews throughout Jewish history. It is axiomatic in Rabbinical literature that the beard is possessive of intensive sanctity and is considered the manifestation of the Divine Image in man; its hairs correspond to the Biblical “Thirteen Attributes of Divine Mercy” and thus should not be severed. The cutting of the beard has always been considered an act of sacrilege and religious desecration by Judaism.
3. In addition to these considerations, the cutting and trimming of the beard has also been proscribed based upon legal, halachic prohibitions with sources in the Bible, the Talmud, works of the Talmudic sages, classical Talmudic commentaries and medieval legal codes of Jewish law. This is the opinion of the Tzemach Tzedek of Lubavitch (1789–1866), the third Lubavitcher Rebbe, who analyzed these sources in great depth and profundity, and is also the position of numerous of the most prestigious authorities of Jewish law throughout the centuries. They have ruled that various statutory provisions of Jewish law prohibit the cutting and trimming of the beard.
4. It is broadly accepted by all opinions in traditional Torah sources that the wearing of a full, untrimmed beard is of great religious significance and meritorious value in Judaism. Many Torah-observant Jews throughout the ages (including during the Holocaust and today in the Soviet Union) have risked their lives and livelihoods in order to maintain a full, untrimmed beard. At the present time, a large segment of Orthodox Jewry strictly adheres to this practice of not trimming the beard, including the majority of Chassidic Jews belonging to the various Chassidic movements.
5. We have examined paragraph III.B.1 of Directive 4914 of the New York State Department of Correctional Services which states in substance that prisoners in the custody of the Department must trim their beards so that they are not more than one inch in length. In consideration of the beliefs described above, an Orthodox Jewish prisoner who maintains a beard for religious reasons has a valid religious objection and should not be required to comply with the one-inch beard limitation of Directive 4914. This applies regardless of what the prisoner’s practices might have been before his incarceration.
Affirmed before me this 10th day of February, 1986.
| Notary Public: Samuel Light Notary Public, State of New York Qualified in Kings County Commission Expires March 30, 1987 | Rabbi Moshe Bogomilsky Rabbi Yehuda K. Marlow Rabbi Sholem Morozow Rabbi Abraham Osdoba |
