[Sca-cooks] Full beards, no moustache, for Philp

[Randy Goldberg MD]

> Phlip said:
> ----------------
> The other is the
> same law which Orthodox Jewish men obey, in so far as
> not cutting their facial hair.
> ----------------
>
> So, which law is this?

Essentially, "Thou shalt not cut the corners of thy beard." The Chasidic
types interpret "the corners of thy beard" to mean the sideburns, which
is why they have those long curly locks in front of their ears (called
"payess").

> I think a lot of religious rules/laws/traditions
> probably came about for similar reasons, although
> some like the Jewish restrictions on pork probably
> had practical health reasons, as well.

Probably, although the official Orthodox answer to "Why are pigs treif?"
is "Because G-d said so". The sociologic answer is that pigs were the
major meat sacrifice for the surrounding tribes, so pork was forbidden
to the Jews as a way of maintaining a separate identity - "We don't do
what THEY do, see?"

Avraham