Parshat Tazria: Bald, pure and loving it

By Rabbi Avi Billet

Issue of April 24, 2009 / 30 Nissan 5769

In Vayikra 13:33 and 14:8-9 we see instances of how people on the road to reassuming a status of “taharah” –– readiness to participate in holy activities –– are required to shave hair off their body, including, in the latter case, all of one’s hair (even eyebrows).

This is fascinating because the Torah elsewhere dictates that a kohen may not make a mark of baldness as a sign of mourning (Vayikra 21:5), and Rashi there makes a comparison to a similar commandment given to all Israelites in Devarim 14:1 saying no one may make any mark of baldness on any part of the head for the deceased.

How is baldness viewed in Jewish law?

In the context of speaking of how those with tzaraat may have certain kinds of hair loss, Vayikra 13:40-1 says when one is bald, whether it be on the back of the head or a receding hairline, one is “tahor,” i.e. not considered to be afflicted with tzaraat.

On the other hand, the Talmud Kiddushin 36a learns from the verses cited above (Vayikra 21 and Devarim 14) that a Jewish male may not completely shave his head!

For those who sport the Kojak look, do not fret yet, for the Talmud here and in Makot 20a says the prohibition is when one shaves in this manner as a sign of mourning.

Perhaps one can suggest there is a difference between shaving when one needs to follow a prescribed ritual for ridding oneself of tzaraat, which is done under the guidance of a kohen (Jewish priest), and shaving for other purposes. After all, the Torah is also clear that a man may not shave specific parts of the head –– the “payot” (Vayikra 19:27), and yet the Torah allows the shaving of the head to monitor tzaraat.

The mishnah in Bechorot (7:2 or 43a) says that a bald kohen who has a line of hair going from ear to ear on the back of his head is permitted to serve in the Temple. A completely bald kohen, on the other hand, is considered to have a blemish which disqualifies him from service. Both of these refer to a natural baldness.

Commenting on this mishnah, Rabbi Ovadiah of Bartenura says, “It is more beautiful when a person has hair in the back and not in the front than if a person has hair around all of the head with a bald spot in the middle. Certainly one who has hair only in the front and not in the back is disqualified from service.” In other words, receding hairlines are a mark of distinction and elegance.

This is not the space to discuss the rules of disqualifying kohanim from service or for addressing the positive or negative qualities of baldness. However, Jewish texts certainly encourage one to embrace natural hair loss. While some balding Orthodox men thank G-d every day for the custom of wearing a kippah, others turn to society for methods of coping with hair loss.

I can’t speak from experience, or from personal tzaraat treatment (thankfully none of us can), but while natural baldness is in a sense glorified by the sources shared until now, the full-headed shave raises halakhic questions in the laws of shaving and removing the “payot” from the “corners” of one’s face and head.

Instead of trying to sympathize or empathize or criticize, I will end with a story.

For 27 years Patrick Stewart was a known Shakespearean actor in England, “bald as an eagle” who performed with a sizable and noteworthy toupee. At age 47, he came to the United States having been cast for a role on a new television series. When he arrived, he apparently left his acting toupee somewhere and came to the first rehearsal without it. When his toupee arrived later and he started wearing it, he was told not to by the directors because his natural look was more authoritative and commanded more of a presence. This launched a new phase in his acting career as Captain Jean Luc Picard of the starship Enterprise in “Star Trek: The Next Generation” which included 176 television episodes and at least seven films. The internet movie database considers his “bald head” one of his trademarks.

“L’havdil,” bald or not, Jewish men have a mitzvah of “payot,” to let the hair on the sideburns grow at least as low as the cheekbone. Whether one embraces baldness or tries to hide a receding hairline with a full-headed shave (even though the Torah says in our parsha that balding is natural and not a mark of tzaraat), we must still remember and observe the other mitzvot related to care of the hair.

Avi Billet welcomes your comments and thoughts at avbillet [at] gmail.com.