Upsherin
Continued from Page 7
honor reserved for a rabbi or a Kohen on
hand. Whether the hair is saved as some
sort of testimonial changes from family to
family, too.

Th ere’s also the question of when
exactly the ceremony should take place.

For some families, according to Cohen,
having the upsherin on the exact date of
the third birthday (on the Hebrew calen-
dar, of course) is an important factor; for
others, it just needs to be in the general
vicinity of the date itself.

If you’re a close reader of the Jewish
holiday calendar, you already know where
that leads. What if a boy’s third birthday
falls during the counting of the Omer,
when haircuts are forbidden?
Like any Jewish person, they have to
wait until Lag B’Omer to get their haircut.

For Jewish boys celebrating their upsherin
in Israel, however, families will endeavor
to perform the ceremony at the graveside
of a tzaddik, a holy person; in particular,
the grave of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, also
Elya Cohen, son of Rabbi Mendy Cohen and Temma Cohen, just before his upsherin
Photo by Sarah R. Bloom
8 MARCH 26, 2020
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known as Rashbi, is a popular site.

Th e reason for such a specifi c site goes
back to the oldest known example of the
upsherin, a practice that has no real basis
in the Torah. A student of Rabbi Isaac
Luria, the 16th century mystic who is oft en
considered the father of contemporary
Kabbalah, wrote that he witnessed his
teacher perform his son’s fi rst haircut at
the age of 3 at the gravesite. Even then, the
student referred to what he saw, and what
would come to be known as the upsherin,
as a well-known tradition. Th e true source
of the practice remains lost to history.

Th e Jewish Exponent does not have
any breaking news about the origins of
the upsherin, unfortunately (send tips
to jbernstein@jewishexponent.com). But
the joy of the ceremony (and the ever-
increasing scale of the accompanying
party, according to the rabbis interviewed)
isn’t to be missed. Bingo! ❤
“ It ’s a great custom,
it ’s very exciting
for th e kids,
for th e family.”
RABBI HIRSHI SPUTZ
jbernstein@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0740
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