8 Comments

• josh waxman

  There are some Orthodox Jews who hold that certain electric shavers are permissible as “Misparayim Ke’En Taar.” Perhaps a razor would be a better illustration.

  Indeed, that Rashi only mentions the prohibitions being warded off by the duck, not the cow.

• e.

  according to the “alter rebbe” ….
  it’s meaning is “l’kadesh atzm’cha b’mutar lach” – to make yourself holly through not doing what you are allowed to do
  so the duck should have said to the “cake” and the “fancy shmancy clothing” to “back away”
  and the cow should have said to the game boy (and “nice ”yidishe“ novel’s”)
  “moo”

  p.s.
  nice idea !!!
  nice to see you again duck !!!

• yanky

  please….
  yes away with shavers…!
  isn’t this a chabad community??!!

• josh waxman

  yes it is. and you have the perfect right (obligation!) to say it is forbidden, if that is your position.

  but still, this is both a chabad community and a jewish community. if there are halachic positions (such as that of Rav Moshe Feinstein) which fellow jews follow that some electric shavers are OK, then it should not be grouped with pork and shaatnez. Especially in a commentary on a pasuk that says “i will separate you from the NATIONS.” Do you see what i am getting at?

  Kol Tuv,
  Josh

• me

  To josh Waxman:

  Please do not say “like Rav Moshe Feinstein” before you look into the matter
  Because (although I myself did not look into the matter, still) I have heard it is not so clear as to whether he actually holds that.

  Thank you
  Anonymous

• josh waxman

  Why be anonymous? You make an excellent point, and you should be proud to be making it!

  I’m aware (I think) of the machlokes. That does not mean that I should refrain from mentioning this. E.g. Rav Dovid Feinstein apparently holds that Norelco shavers with modifications (and people do in fact perform the modifications) are acceptable. There are rabbis who do pasken shavers are allowed at least in part based on Rav Moshe. They may be correct or the may be incorrect, but they do at least think they are following Rav Moshe. Thank you for mentioning that there is dispute about this, as it is an important point.

  The fact that there are polemics about it (and this issue is one which has attracted polemics) does not mean that the other side must fall silent. For example, there are some who insist that in terms of sheitels, Rav Moshe Feinstein privately retracted entirely, and the Lubavitcher Rebbe was misunderstood.

  Regardless, there are frum Jews who follow poskim who hold that the electric shavers they use are permitted.

  Kol Tuv,
  Josh

• Lion of Zion

  r. josh,

  from what i understand, not shaving/trimming a beard is very important to chabdniks. it’s not something you can appreciate from an intellectual or halakhic perspective (if i may say so to you), because that’s not what’s at work in this instance.

  the permissibility of using an electric shaver (or any other method for removing facial hair) is only incidental to the point that is being made in the cartoon. thus the shaver in the cartoon is not a statement against shavers per se, but rather a statement of the importance of an untrimmed beard (the shaver is only a symbol). so citing rav moshe is pretty irrelevant as far as they are concerned. (what you need to show is that one does not have to grow a beard altogether, not that one may use a shaver should he choose to remove it. and for this purpose, the photographs from pre-war yeshivot say more than any teshuvah one can cite.)

  anyway, i remember reading a good article on shavers in techumin (early 90s?), but i’m not sure how relevant it is today since shaver technology has changed.

  kol tuv,
  ari
  blog: agmk.blogspot.com

• mashpia

  levi, you never cease to amaze me! i love your comics, to say the least!