Peyess

Peyess

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Vayikra 19:27
²⁷You shall not round off the edge of your scalp and you shall not destroy the edge of your beard.
Yirme’yahu 9:24-25(25-26)
²⁴⁽²⁵⁾Behold, days are coming — the word of HASHEM — when I shall deal with everyone who is circumcised for [his] circumcision: ²⁵⁽²⁶⁾with Egypt, with Judah, with Edom, with the Children of Ammon and with Moab, and with all those who dwell in the remotest corners of the wilderness; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and the House of Israel is uncircumcised of heart.”

Yirme’yahu 49:32
³²Their camels will become spoils and the multitude of their livestock will become booty. I will scatter them in all directions, the remotest corners; from all sides I will bring their calamity — the word of HASHEM .

D’varim 14:1
¹You are children to HASHEM , your God; you shall not cut yourselves and you shall not make a bald spot between your eyes for a dead person.

Peyess are one of those things that are hard for a lot of people to accept.

The Qanna'im (Canaanites) used to shave their temples, and the peyess are a direct result of that. However, it's kind of like the French and the Basque — children in that region often get their ears pierced quite young, in order to show to everyone that they have earlobes. It's the same thing with peyess (except not motivated by bigotry in this case).

By letting the locks grow longer on your temples, that permits you to show publicly you have not broken that commandment. There's a famous Rabbinic saying that the beard has seven corners— the peyess (two), the edge of the jaw (two), the angle of your jaw as it turns towards the chin (two) and the chin (one). The peyess may possibly come under the ban not to shave your beard, if it is part of your beard.

HASHEM gives us so much, that it's really petty that for the sake of vanity, we turn our heads and will not do what is written. So, consider this, and pray about growing your peyess. What can it hurt you? Certainly when the day spoken of in Yirme’yahu comes, you'll want your peyess a little longer than the Egyptians!

Barukh HASHEM !

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