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Op-Ed: To Beard or Not to Beard, That is the Question

by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Musings on the fall of Matisyahu’s Facial Locks

Matisyahu is a friend of mine so I was not going to comment on his choice to shave off his beard. It was his personal decision. Live and let live. But I changed my mind when my children told me that they were reading all over the internet that young, impressionable, orthodox Jewish youth were also choosing to shave off their beards following Matisyahu’s lead (I’m assuming these were young men, rather than women, who made the choice). It was then that I decided to weigh in.

After my first appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show a few years back, one of her producers called me up to her office. “You did well. We liked you. Oprah liked you. You know, you could even, maybe, become a regular on this show. There’s an issue, and it’s just me saying it. Your beard. It’s… it’s.. out of control. It sort of all over the place. Ever think of trimming it?”

“I can’t,” I said, “for religious reasons.”

“Oh no, oh no you don’t,” she said. “We’ve had other orthodox Rabbis on the show. And they’re clean shaven. They go on with their Yarmulkes and no facial hair.”

“OK,” I said. “You got me. True, there are many orthodox Jews who shave their beard and who have a different understanding of the Bible’s laws about shaving. But I’ll tell you why I still can’t shave my beard.”
“I’m listening,” she said.

“Well, if I did it, I’d be doing it for you, for TV. And that’s just not a good enough reason. Because the moment I let TV determine who I am, then I’ve lost my identity. I’m in this business to impact on the culture, not to have the culture impact on me.”

She and I remained friends and I did the show again and was even chosen to host a daily radio show on the “Oprah and Friends” radio network, beard and all.

I am a fan of Matisyahu, and not just of his beard. I am a fan of his beautiful music and even more his beautiful lyrics. But most of all, I am a fan of what distinguished him and set him apart. In short, his Jewish pride. Whereas so many others made compromises in order to fit into the mainstream culture – just think of all the Jews in movies and on TV who changed their names so it sounded more mainstream – Matisyahu made zero compromises. He got up on Jimmy Kimmel, scraggly beard and Hassidic hat, and electrified America with his proud identity. That identity was central to everything he was. Not because of the Jewish gospel of facial hair, but because of what it all said. In essence, he was saying this: “I am so good at what I do that I don’t have to trim my identity to suit you. Just try and keep me down. You won’t succeed. I’m that good.” There was chutzpa and moxie in what he did. It was in your face, bold and unapologetic. And it turned everyone, from every culture, on, and made more proud to be whom they were.

I remember when I was Rabbi at Oxford that I befriended Dr. Baruch Blumberg, who had won a Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1976 for identifying Hepatitis B. Although raised orthodox, by the time I met him he was no longer so. But he was proudly Jewish, and he went by his Hebrew name professionally. Why? Because when you’re that good you don’t have to change anything about yourself to fit in.

Matisyahu said on his Facebook post that his decision to remove his beard had something to do with the fact that he had once believed that ‘in order to become a good person I needed rules—lots of them—or else I would somehow fall apart. I am reclaiming myself. Trusting my goodness and my divine mission.”

Fair enough. It’s his life. G-d bless him. He will always be my friend. But firstly, the idea that rules only stifle is incorrect. Relationships without rules almost always fall apart. Rules can often serve as channels for expression and revelation. Somalia has no rules. America has many. You can’t really get a speeding ticket in Somalia. But then you can’t really build a society there either. They need more rules. Gay Talese’s book Thy Neighbor’s Wife which studies 60’s experimentation with open marriage shows what happens to marriages when the rules are removed.

But more importantly, why is shaving off one’s beard any less of a rule than having one. On the contrary, beards are natural. Shaving them off is not. And sure, we cut our hair and our fingernails. We do a lot to have our appearance conform to societal expectation, which just magnifies the need to have at least one aspect of our personality not conform and remain organic, which is why so many hippies had beards. They wanted to show that they refused to conform.

There is more.

Ask anyone to name America’s most respected president and both scholar and Joe Public alike would say Abraham Lincoln. He was honest. He was committed to freedom. He was loyal to his wife (though she was quite mad). He had ironclad convictions that could never be swayed. And he was hairy.

No joke. There is historical evidence that points to the fact that Lincoln became the man we immortalize with five-dollar bills and majestic memorials only after growing a beard. In the fall of 1860, Lincoln was the Republican nominee for President, and the Election was approaching rapidly. His popularity among the people was spotty at best, and he’d suffered numerous defeats in the past. And then, Lincoln received a letter. Eleven-year-old Grace Bedell of Upstate New York wrote to the long-faced, bare-chinned presidential candidate, “All the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husbands to vote for you”. Nowadays advice like that would merit the title of political consultant, and Grace would have herself a lucrative career. But at the time, she was rewarded with a response penned by Mr. Lincoln himself, and with the very fruition of her advice: Lincoln won the election, and he did so with a beautiful beard.

Coincidence? I think not. Let us not shy away from the obvious conclusion. Men with beards are empowered with the capacity to lead. And don’t go shaking your head in dismissal. This is a fact that can be easily demonstrated through a number of primary factors.

First, simple logic. We as a society, whether justly or unjustly, still link leadership with a degree of masculinity. A full beard is a sign of the robust mountain man. Who can argue with that? Take Russell Crowe in the Gladiator. Can you imagine an unshaven man like Richard Simmons in the role? Or take Topol in Fiddler on the Roof. Would ‘If I were a rich man’ have worked with clean shaven punim?

Second, a bearded man is an honest man by choice and not by circumstance. A man with a whiskerless chin has nowhere to hide if he is telling an untruth. His facial expression are bare and exposed to the world. Thus, we can only deduce, that a man who is hairless whom is telling the truth is doing so not because he would choose to be honest, but rather because he is forced to. A man with a beard, however, has a permanent disguise. Matisyahu himself acknowledged this when he accompanied pictures of his hairless new face with his lyrics, “At the break of day I look for you at sunrise. When the tide comes in I lose my disguise.”

The bearded man knows he can avoid liability for any untruths. He can hide behind his muttonchops, and no one would be the wiser. But he chooses to have his words mimic his heart. His beard lends him conviction

Third, a beard is also the sign of patience and commitment in a man. We are in the age of the short attention span, experiencing the world in text messages, sound bites, and video clips. Thus, to wait out the cultivation of a beard would seem to many of today’s youth to be an unthinkable test of endurance. Growing a beard is not a choice with an immediate pay-off. One must last through a series of stages of peach-fuzz ugliness before reaching the final goal of manly beauty. You must deal with the wife who won’t kiss you because your face is rougher than a gravel road. You must endure the straggly, dangly stuff, looking every morning in the mirror and encouraging yourself, “I may be hideous now, but patience and perseverance will bring out my inner Lincoln. Good things come to those who wait.” Intellectuals have long pointed out that the definition of maturity is delayed gratification. If that is so, then the bearded man is maturity incarnate.

Fourth, a beard represents confidence and individuality. A man who grows a beard is a man who is sure of himself. A man who grows a beard is not afraid to stand alone. He does not let himself be swayed by the opinions of his wife (“Oh, no honey, not a beard!”) or of American pop culture. A bearded man knows what he wants and sets out to get it. Just as Lincoln faced unpopularity across the entire nation: anger from the North that he was losing so many of their sons, brothers, and husbands in a war that was all about a cause, and from the South who called him “Satan incarnate”, he held his head high and did what he was called to do. There can be no denying that the fortitude he received from growing his beard was singularly responsible for his determination. He led our nation to the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and to an age of freedom that most had deemed impossible.

OK, I’m being flippant. But come on, let’s have some fun. The story itself is preposterous. Matisyahu’s beard became a Google alert?

So, in a moment of half-seriousness, let me say that it seems that so many trail-blazing individuals throughout history have born beards. From literary giants like Allen Ginsberg, Ernest Hemingway, and Walt Whitman, to Business Visionaries like Andrew Carnegie to the entirety of the Impressionistic Art movement. One can only imagine how it happened to be in 1874 at the Exhibition of the Revolts in Paris. Perhaps it was Degas, perhaps Renoir, maybe Monet – surely one of them showed up sporting facial hair, and one by one the masters followed suit. Of course only bearded men can be artists. They have to fashion that facial hair every morning into something presentable, a challenge and a pleasure that the devilish clean-shaven man will never know. The same thing seems to have happened in the small community of truly great film directors: Scorsese, Spielberg, Coppola, Cameron, Kubrick – bearded, one and all.

And my final point: a bearded man has the perfect paradoxical relationship between raw instinct and careful cultivation. Much like our own United States of America – a land which includes the most refined and developed urban centers in the world, and at the same time claims home to wonders of nature which remain untamable: the canyons of Colorado, the Redwoods of California, the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee – this is a land that remains much the same as it was before man ever got his hands on it. Our country is pure, and raw and passionate, and all the same structured and ordered and cultivated. So too, should all real individuals be. And only a man with a beard can combine the bohemian and the bourgeoisie in a manner that we can read upon his face. Literally. You may be thinking, “But if you want a truly ardent and artistic soul then why don’t we seek out a brilliant, bohemian artsy-type? Maybe what our country needs is someone with long hair to tap into our passion and soul!” Uh-uh. Read carefully: that would mean finding a hippie, and they already had their decade. No my friends, the new era belongs to those brave bearded few. May their flowing facial fullness continue to lead and inspire us into a time when no man will be dependent on a razor ever again.

Shmuley Boteach, wild beard and all, was labeled by Newsweek as the most famous Rabbi in America. The best-selling author of 26 books, he has just published Ten Conversations You Need to Have with Yourself (Wiley) and on February 1st will publish Kosher Jesus (Gefen). Follow him on Twitter @RabbiShmuley or on his website at www.shmuley.com.

This Op-Ed reflects the views of its author. It does not necessarily reflect the views of CrownHeights.info or its Editors.

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42 Comments

  • A Lubavitcher

    Matisyahu made the choice because in his proffessional life, singing for all stripes, Yidden, Goyim etc. we became more confused which adfded to the already existing challenges that a Bal Tshuva experiences.
    My issue is with our own who turned Natisyahu into a hero, icon, celebrety. His songs and lrics should not be heard in a Chassidishe home.
    A pop somg is not A chassidishe niggun coming from the Avodas Hashem of a Chassid. Country music, pop, etc etc is good for some who do not understand the Neshama of a Niggun. Most of Niggunim today by our modern singers were made up in the shower room not during Krias Shema Al Hamita. They should not exist in a Chassidishw shtub.
    Matisyahu is fine Jewm searching for his identity going from Freier to frumer, to Lubavitcher, to Breslaver to beardless. That is fine. He is searching. But what are his songs doing in a Chassifishe shtub?

  • Could have done much better

    Rabbi Shmuley. Thank you for addressing this issue, however I thought you could have done much better at explaining the importance of a beard from a Jewish perspective based on what the Kabbalah and our Rebbe’s have said of the meaning of a bared.

    I enjoy reading your articles, I think they are mind provoking, I thought you could have driven the point of the importance of a beard home much stronger and better.

    May you will write a follow up

  • Steve

    the article was too long, self agrandising, with many inappropriate references to goishe books and ideas. stop writing about this big dope already. he was never really frum, he used lubavitch to gain some fame. he is not a BT, he is a confused guy who thinks he can do what ever feels good to him.

  • Batya

    What you wrote has nothing to offer our bochurim. The frame
    of reference men with beards in the american culture is not what we want our youth to want to identify with. We B“H
    have whom they can look up to and identify with. Therefore I find your article ”Nisht tzu dezach”. As far as Matisyahu is
    concerned, I do hope for his sake that he finds his way back
    to serve the aibishter with his whole heart and soul. I think the only way he can do it, is by leaving the goyishkeit he is so involved in, and give up his career. I don’t believe that a personal can be really frum and not be separated from the tumah that the entaertainment world is all about. May we be zoche to see the aibishter’s glory throughout the world. A lictigen Chanukah!

  • English Book about the Beard in Judaism

    A brief but comprehensive book on this subject was recently published by KTAV entitled “The Beard in Jewish Law – Halachic Imperative or Kabbalistic Stringency.” This work summarizes the primary issues involved and demonstrates the positions of the major authorities from Lithuanian, Chassidic, and Sephardic traditions.

  • Rantor

    Shmuely, we have a guy on the tv ie matisyahu, saying that chasidic Jews have beard for the mercy And blessings. That is not true. Yes, it does have a connection to that, but we do not rest on shabbis for peace of mind. Shabbis may bring peace of mind but we rest bc that’s what the Torah says. Matis, in your next interview say “the Torah says do not allow a shaver (razer) on your face.” yes, some orthodox Jews have a modern way around it. But many halachik authorities disagree. So, stop telling the media that a bunch of chabadniks have beards in hopes of some mercy.

  • Is the Beard a Halachic Requirement?

    Rabbi Boteach is to be commended for explaining the significance of the beard in a manner that can be appreciated even by those who are not Torah oriented.

    But is the beard (also) a halachic imperative?

    Following is a translation of the Rebbe Rashab’s statement regarding shaving, addressed to the entire Klal Yisroel (not just Chassidim):

    “Important Announcement

    ”To our Jewish brethren, “believers, children of believers”:

    “Since there are many who permit themselves to cut their beards with scissors, basing it on what is quoted in the Shulchan Aruch and declaring that they are acting thus in accordance with the Halacha as stated in Shulchan Aruch –

    ”It is our obligation to announce publicly that they are in error, for this is absolutely prohibited (Isur Gomur) according to the Torah itself (Midorayso), as many of the earlier and later Torah giants (Rishonim and Achronim) have proven and clarified that those doing this transgress several Torah prohibitions (Kamo Lav’vin)…[here the Rebbe Rashab cites several source references].

    “Everyone is obligated to inform his family members of this severe prohibition (Isur Chomur) so that it not be a root for growth of [spiritual] decay from his family. Everyone should be aware that all the issues about which we wrote were stated in accordance with the dictate of our holy Torah (Daas Torah), and whoever transgresses this should know that the sin is upon his head. And whoever listens to our words here shall be blessed with abundant blessings for all good forever.”

    [For the original Hebrew, see the Igros Kodesh of the Rebbe Rashab, vol. II p.527].

  • YOU SOUND LIKE A HELLINIST

    I was laughing the whole way through this article, and you probably think you are intelligent!?

    We jews wear beards because it is G-DS WILL! not because we are more honest wearing one!???

  • freds

    Nice? Not , it is super nice. Bravo the author, whoever you are. I hear you so well. Nice, nice, nice. My first reaction was also not worrying about the singer, but about other, the real people who might get wrong message. I personally never heard his music, but I am sure that he is not that special as people make him. So what, famous? Where? among whom? who cares who he is and what he does. Thousands weekly come and leave religious, it is normal flow, who cares about one guy

  • confusing article,,,lacking depth

    so whats the point…was it bad that matisyahu shaved his beaar…u did not expound upon the point of ure kids noticing that other ppl shaved there beards too…you tottaly confused me, and ure answers were childish and lacking depth!

  • matisyahu is a fraud

    Maybe you should write an article discussing why he has not Tznius women in his new chanukah music video

  • Good on you Shmuli

    WELL SAID SHMULEY,
    Hope Matisyahu reds your article.
    He definitely needs guidance; he s a lost soul.

  • It is all a Publicity Stunt

    He wanted publicity he got it!
    Because he became beardless people who never heard his songs are going to listen to them to find out what it is all about.
    If it makes him loose MONEY or FAME he will bring his beard back.
    Now you have proof!

  • true chabad chossid

    I have to say whoever wrote this wrote it in a very beautiful way. Very smart and to the point!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Like a true chabad chassid
    Happy Chanukah
    And may hashem send us MOshiach now!!!!!!!

  • Dearest Matis

    Kudos! A beautiful article but a bit too long. That last few paragraphs reduce the impact of the key points made in the first 2/3rds. People might cling to – and argue about- some humor injected at the end. The KEY points Matis needs to see, in my humble opinion, are:

    1) The beauty of Matis with the beard. The strength of character it projected. etc..

    2) There are people following Matis’ moves! Worse, many of those WILL c”v go all the way down due to this.

    3) The episode Rabbi S.B. had with the TV show, the ‘nisayon’ (test from above) to shave his beard. Didun notzach!

    3b) The beautiful reason given, that tv/society will not control you. Rather the other way around.

    4) Matis should kindly realize that in disputing the kabbalah reason that 13 midos of rachmim are bestowed via the beard, he is disputing the Zohar Hakodosh(!) who is the original source for this statement. (Matis might of thought it’s just a few kabbalist’s idea. But no, it is from the Zohar!)

    4b) I think Matis has realized his mistake by now. He now needs all the strength to return. Never give up! He needs to listen to his own lyrics!

    Thank you.
    PS. Yes! We all have a right to voice our opinion in THIS case.

  • who cares

    forget the halacha of the beard thats a seperate issue. he looks horrible! big ears, weird face, and possible not too straight!
    sad sad sad!

  • well written, sort of

    the first half of the article is a well written explanation of the importance of having principles and living our lives according to a higher standard than the latest societal fashions. he should have stopped right there. why spend the second half of the article describing how having a fashionable beard (lincoln, degas, ginsberg) contributed to their success? for generations yidden were moiser nefesh for yiddishkeit because they believed in hashem and his torah. their appearance (including beards) always set them apart from society at large, and that was exactly the point! we are supposed to be an example to the greater world, not the other way around. we are here only because previous generations understood this well. if matisyahu (ben yochanan) decided to shave his beard would matisyahu miller be here today to struggle with his religious identity?

  • Professor Shaggy

    Very witty and pithy… Love the way you have highlighted the absurdity of the media while weaving in some fascinating and substantive information. This was one of those rare articles where you really “let your hair down” and give the reader a peak behind the curtain to see ‘Shmuly“ as opposed to the often projected ”Wizard”….. Kudos :-)

  • Does it matter?

    Matisyahu made a decision out of weakness or a misconceived strength. Whatever his motivation, he has a Right to Choose just as we all make decisions in our life that are interpreted by others as Wrong. It really is not our business. The fact that he is popular and, therefore, more impressionable on people, still does not change the fact that he has his own inner battles to fight with.
    Unfortunately, those so easily swayed by this public figure, which I assume was part of the reason for the article, are not the ones that will be so easily swayed by your most eloquent writing.

  • Soul Sista

    Shmuely,

    While you way in with a long and eloquent note stating the power of a beard I think you have missed his point entirely. Taking the conversation away from Matisyahu and his beard I want to bring it to the realm of simple baalei teshuvah.
    My parents are both baalei Teshuvah and B“H I was brought up in a religious home and have always had a Torah education. That did not however mean that I did not have questions of my own, and something that frustrated me about growing up with Baalei Teshuvah parents is the general attitude that was given over to them and in turn to me, which was: Just walk the walk, talk the talk and soon enough you will feel it. In short fake it till you make it.
    It was not that they did not appreciate my questions, but delving into them was just not something they felt comfortable with or were given the tools to do (especially my mother). Leaving me to feel that they were somehow brain washed and the choice they made was naive.

    And as I grew up more and met more baalei Teshuvah and Jews from frum homes and I realized that this was not a unique attitude. That purely and simply the average Jew is a robot who once had or has fleeting moments of connection but for the most part plays a ridiculous game of conformity. So desperately feeling the pressure to belong that they surcome to a variety of conformities, that often take the form of Chumra, and wind up forgetting what turned them on in the first place.

    Now before this becomes a discussion of community rules, the Rebbe and yada yada, I want to stress my point, which is that we are bringing up immature Baalei Teshuvah, who are given enough tools to have a Jewish home and look the part. But at some point, when something is stirred, like a child questioning or an inconstancy they fall short.

    So relating beck to Matisyahu, I totally connect to and commend his process. I think he is going back to place of claiming what was shown to him for his own.
    within the realm of Halacha and as a holy Jew.

    May Matisyahu’s koach to shine his light from within inspire us all to stop the show and find the source of our light. B/c straight up when Mashiach comes he will be able to smell the BS, and guess what, our kids already do.

    I once heard a wise man say; ”When my child veers of the derech that I had set before him, there is only one thing I can do and that is make the derech wider”.
    And Yes there are 70 Panim to the Torah, not 71, but come on Chevre we got to start respecting the plurality in our tribe and giving our children the tools to explore them with faith, confidence and pride.

    Chanukah Sameach

  • thank you

    this is a coherent article that is seriously relevant and cogent. thank you for taking the time to author an article worthy of discussion and instruction. we need to address this issue because sweeping it under the rug only continues to trip up others who are not directed as to where the bumps are. if one person is enlightened and made aware of what to avoid so that they dont fall and hurt themselves it was worth it. thank you for printing this as i would otherwise been unaware of its contribution.

  • max

    very Much to the point. The good news is that he is Shomer Shabbos.
    However, I know what he is going through.
    Its not easy.
    Ahavas Yisroel is a major Mitzvah.
    we should love each and every Jew, no matter the beard.

  • mattisyahu chashmanoye

    Tho original mattisyahu was a champion of jewish pride, and probably would have fought for his beard with his life.

  • no one special

    Can one take seriously the “religious” opinions of one who allows his children “were reading all over the internet”?

  • couldnt read through this article

    way too long
    he USED his “hassid” look to get fame not only becasue he was so proud to be Jewish
    I am shocked that you fail to make a big thing about the horrendous comment of Matis, that needing a beard to increase 13 Middot haRachamim is LUDICROUS-(chas veshalom!) and addressing how it is very very far from being ludicrous…

  • Yawn once again

    Soul Sista has alot of good points – well taken.

    Overall Shmuly’s read is on target – totally tired of the beard issue – yawn – it became kind of irrelvant in last many years.

    While there are merits with what it stands for and all – the situation and all today is rampant with overall sleaze making this issue a non-issue.

    When the Chabad rabbonnim and dayonim and sphtzim get their act together in the more important issues at hand some of us at least will be more open to understand the beard issue.

  • DS770

    maybe Matisyahu can join the Macabeats in a video. He looks like one of them! Happy Chanukah

  • Eli

    What a terribly written article. Shmuley, this is worse than your usual drivel. A coherent point or two would be wonderful.

  • Chopped Him Down

    http://www.crownheights.inf…

    This says it all.

    He’s washed up and finished. His one-trick pony act is over, and we knew it long ago. Those of us who understand business saw how he used Jdub and spit them out. We weren’t surprised when he did the same with Chabad either.

    And it all boils down to:

    What begins with the same sound as dreck and rhymes with hugs?

    Whoever brought him to CH forgot to tell him to see an addiction counselor before he took on anything but the basics of observance.

  • Nerona

    This may be late, but then again – maybe not: if you are his “friend” (as you keep repeating), he doesn’t need enemies. You are a hypocrite. And, FYI, you are not G-d. All the rules you follow are not G-d’s riles – they were man-made and therefore they are CONTRIVED and IMPERFECT. If it were up to G-d that you supposedly believe in, there would be no state of Israel. Try to follow up on THAT! ..But that’s an entirely different subject.