Journey to Italy 5784: Mantova - Did the Rama MiPano Have a Beard?

this Torah class is brought to you by Torah anytime.com uh this is a very important presentation because without this you're going to have a hard time understanding the Italian gum I'm going to hang out I'm going to hand out a picture now you're going to have a very hard time with this you're not allowed to look at it okay so you get it and you take it face down no I don't want to catch anyone looking at it if anyone looks at it we're going to take away your four sandwich you know in the bag their fourth we're going to take away the fourth one okay so here's the picture you're not allowed to look at it thank you I'll tell you when okay face down that in the it's okay in the video you can look at it and we're going to speak about the very controversial and sensitive topic of how should a Jew look what does that mean how should a Jew look we're going to talk about beards beards should a Jew have a beard is it a Jewish look to have a beard is there something lacking if a Jew doesn't have a beard is it better to have a beard this question was brought to none other than the somebody mentioned here that they're from Hungary they this question is brought to the and the question was raised based on what it says in don't touch your beard don't touch your beard doesn't mean don't use a lift and cut shaver it doesn't mean don't use a Braun foil it doesn't mean don't use a Norelco it means don't even touch it with the scissors this was the question asked is there anything wrong with shaving cutting the beard so responds number one I don't get involved in Caba I don't know what that means it doesn't say that in says let me tell you something in CL is it's already been accepted not to have a beard what is it based on in the entire country of Italy all the rabbis shaved now all doesn't mean some all doesn't mean most all means all all the rabbis that we're going to visit and Dav at says they did not have beards now if you're going to have a hard time daving pal get over it okay that's the reality they did not have beards where did they get this from all the rabbis that I know in benra they all have beards in Brooklyn they all have beards says the they Hing it on the great tree the father ofo says he did not have a beard really did he have like a nice trimmed beard you know in some yeshivas they have a long beard the mustache covers the mouth some yeshivas they have a more trimmed beard some they have a very you know they have a perfect line on the face and by the neck says the Rano did not even have one hair on his face not like the guy you know some guys they shave pretty good and they leave like three hairs like under the neck nah you know they forgot they they they were in a rush the doorbell rang and they left the ha says I'm going to read to you his words sah thei Pano would shave he wouldn't leave one here says don't take my word for it the Y we mentioned him before testifies in his and he would say and he would say further I'll in you shouldn't have a beard now theer by the way was an orthodox Rabbi yeah brings from the Yash of Kaya that in it's not right to have a beard so says what more should I say now if you want to know where this came from why in Italy they didn't have beards all good Customs start in Poland the Polish rulers always had beards until there was one guy he was a sis he was impotent he couldn't grow a beard and once he couldn't grow a beard all the other Gentile Iles did not grow a beard in deference to this polish ruler who couldn't grow a beard now Jews were being persecuted they were running from country to Country if you're going to you know it's like you know the Jew they go to Great Adventures and they think they put on a Yankee cap and nobody knows who they are they have a beer down to the floor they have payis down to the floor what do you want from me I'm not I'm not Jewish how how did you know I'm Jewish you know so says that in order to hide Jews in Europe did not have beards in Poland in Hungary anywhere why anybody who says that there's any or for not having a beard anyone who says there's something not Jewish about not having a beardid lead to will be held accountable for that says based on based on Jewish practice there is no requirement to have a beard anyone who says that there's some in a Jew who doesn't have a beard okay now where does this come from they blame it on The Rao who the says did not leave leave even one hair on his face now there's a RV who lived in anona I think in the summer we're going to be visiting anona and the name of this R was Ramin morogo and rsham MGO uh deals with the following Shila in salonica the Jews started cutting their beards so the Rabon were not happy with that after all ancient Jewish custom is a a yid has a bird so they wanted to scare the salana kins and to saying that if you cut your beard we're going to put you in and you're not and was asked is that permitted to do to instill fear in Jews to revert back to the old practice of growing a beard he writes it's user to do that hierarchically there is no requirement to have a beard you can't instill fear into people for having a beard okay comes sh was published in Venice he was AO son-in-law the Rano his name was Ru sh he writes that Al cabala there is a concept that the beard is connected to the number 13 and the beard brings influence from the Y giml it brings influence of the however he writes it is not proper to have a beard in the vibe in I guess that's a good uh contemporary word to you the vibe in does not omate growing beards beards and the diaspora are not compatible he says I personally witnessed the personal hygiene of the Rami Pano I'm going to read to you his words I know for sure shab have a every a of shabas he would shampoo his head and you want to know why is he shampooing his head why isn't he shampooing his hair very simple he didn't have any hair on his head so therefore he shampooed his head not his hair so you could you obviously the bar ASAC had very close knowledge of the personal hygiene of the ramano who shampooed his head and he shaved his beard every Friday so here you have it you have the eyewitness account of the be ASAC that the remano would shave his beard every Friday now if I I want to ask you a question if somebody came to you and told you that he witnessed that a certain sadic does x y and z what should your attitude be say I don't believe you I don't believe you of what relevance is it that you claim that so and so did such and such and I would like to share with you what is one of the most important Shu ever written okay you're still with me everyone you didn't turn over the picture yet right no no okay good I want to bring to your attention [Music] sh sh was written by Raz Raz lived from 1685 to rabf was one of the great all time he wrote theer which is an introduction to cabala Raz we're going to go to his Kev in learno okay okay it's an amazing experience Raz one of the great masters of cabala he quotes shis D ASAC and he says with all due respect to the D ASAC this is the problem when a novice learns cabala because if you have no understanding of why a beard is important then what right do you have to say that you should only have a beard in is and not in unless you have a profound understanding of what a beard accomplishes you have no right to make any distinction between and and he says furthermore we have to set the record straight anybody who says that there's AA to shave a beard is a and if they pick up a bottle of wine it becomes imagine such a thing you would think if somebody says oh somebody doesn't have a beard he's not he's a he's not a good one might think that you could cast aspersions on someone who doesn't have a beard says anyone who says that a Jew who doesn't have a beard is over he's a he's not now say guys I'm going to address the ASAC number one says the be the r the be asek says he personally witnessed the Rami Pano that the Rami Pano would shave his beard Not only was his eyewitness account not accurate it contradicts his whole story because he says the Rami Pano was Gak he shaved in his beard which means Rami Pano had a beard and he just trimmed it he didn't write that the Rami Pano was golak that he shaved his beard he was golak so the first thing is he claims the Rami Pano shaved his beard no not true the raami Pano trimmed his beard number two I asked my Rabbi the rabach this is a very important name you need to be aware of the rabach was the father-in-law of rabay bason rabay bason is the rebi of RA the RAB was the senior m in Italy and the rabak told me don't rely on the it's not a credible saer so the fact that he said Rami Pano shaved his beard don't believe him number three the rabach says I saw a picture of the ra M Pano and now is the time that you've all been waiting for okay brace yourselves to be able to turn around your picture and look at the picture of the Rami Pano that is in mana and there the Rao's beard was flowing on all edges and this is yeah here you see the Rami Pano we're going to speak about him at his Mak Theo was one of the great old time and in this picture of the Rano there is no question that he had a beard but more importantly Mr Beek Rabbi Beek you say that the ramam Pano shaved his beard let me tell you something if you would have told me that the ramano said that in Arts you should shave your beard you know what I would tell you I don't believe you why do I have to believe you because you told me you saw it maybe you weren't feeling well maybe you're hallucinating maybe you mistook The Rao for a different Rabbi a main principle in Hal is you cannot learn out Hal from stories stories are irrelevant when it comes to they are not relevant when it com now story books are very good it's better than reading the New York Times actually anything is better than reading the New York Times especially story books but did they happen no we have no evidence that they happened but the person says that he saw it okay that's very nice many people make many claims about many things in this world they have no bearing Ona and even if the story is true maybe the Rami Pano's doctors told him he needs to shave for health reasons maybe he didn't feel well maybe his wife wanted him to shave you cannot prove from what the Rami Pano did what anybody should do if he would have said it maybe then you could clap it has bearing in but he never said it you just claim you saw it it's irrelevant this is the great Chua of sh the by the way was the rebi of the Yad Mal y Mal is H the author of the great work on sh of Cl has we're going to be at his K he's also buried next to rabas now understandably the is not happy with this now ordinarily the would never challenge the but now now it's now it's about a beard and the is not going to take this so how's the going to argue on the that's very difficult to do but the raises a very interesting and good point that the quoted the yasher of kandaya that the Rami Pano did not have a beard and that the Yash of kandaya said that in it's better not to have a beard it does not seem to be an accurate quote of Thea because the Yos kandaya never mentions the Rami Pano in any of his writings there's an introduction in the writing of the Yos Kaya that the publisher said that there Amo did not have a beard so says the it is well known that in all the paintings of the Rami Pano the Rami Pano did have a beard and if the would have seen the that the had a beard he says would not have written this and therefore the Salazar valant attempts to uphold the more traditional view that having a beard is considered uh worthy for as a Jewish symbol nevertheless it is clear the concludes and the concludes that Hally it is certainly not required and we can't do much to budge what the writes in his closing lines he says that if a person says says that there is if somebody's so this is just by way of introduction to get an idea and to have a feel what the Italian M and G looked like did the Rami Pano himself have a beard yeah he probably did did any of the other Italia have a beard highly unlikely and in fact the says none of them had a beard but in no way did this diminish their greatness in no way did this undermine their towering spirit in the secrets of the Toyah in the cabala in shim as rabud ofina says that his greatest Milo was he wasn't the hypocrite so in the for the Italia what they were Basa far exceeded what they were in their so this is an important as we head to Mana will be able to DAV at the F of the you've just experienced another Torah class brought to you by Torah anytime.com