Figure 1.--> Upsherin is the Jewish practice of giving a boy his first haircut on a special day following his 3rd birthday. The practice is based on a Bible passage that says when you plant a tree you should let it grow for 3 years before haresting the fruit. Somehow this applies to a boys hair. |
Upsherin is the Jewish practice of giving a boy his first haircut on a special day following his 3rd birthday. The practice is based on a Bible passage that says when you plant a tree you should let it grow for 3 years before haresting the fruit. Somehow this applies to a boys hair. Sometimes the boys involved are not all that happy about having their hair cut. These are not ultra orthodox jews who wear side curls. I don't how common the practice is.
Upsherin is the Jewish practice of giving a boy his first haircut on a special day following his 3rd birthday. The ritual is called upsherin, literally the shearing off of hair. It marks a child’s passage into boyhood from early childhood, similar to how a bar mitzvah indicates a transition from boyhood to early adulthood.
The practice is based on a Bible passage that says when you plant a tree you should let it grow for 3 years before haresting the fruit. Somehow this applies to a boys hair. br>
There is a custom among many Jews to not cut a boys hair until he is 3 years old.
The boys involved are very young and do not understand exactly what is happening. Reactions vary considerably. Sometimes the boys involved are not all that happy about having their hair cut.
These are not ultra orthodox jews who wear side curls. The practice is most common among Hassidic Jews in central Europe, but also exists in many other countries.
I don't how common the practice is.
The first haircut is accompanied by a special ceremony called an upsherin which also marks the beginning of the child's Jewish education. There are a variety of ways to celebrate this occassion. There is an accompanying party and celebration to which friends and relatives are invited and the ritual is usually presided over by a rabbi. Family members, then friends, all take turns a cutting a
snippet of hair. Some families save the hair in a special upsherin case as a reminder of the ritual.
A reader writes, "It is also somewhat reminiscent of the breeching practice among many 19th century Christian parents." There do seem to be some similarities. Both were clearly rites of passage. There appears, however to be much more of a ritual and family celebrarion associated with Upsherin that was the case for breeching. Here our unformation is still very limited. As far as we can tell, however, often there was no ritual or even celerarion associated with breeching.
Some families have their own traditions. One Jewish family describes their observation in a "Jewish Renewal-ish" way. "Our elder son, Eli's, upsherin was held in May, on the holiday of Lag BaOmer alongside a grapefruit tree that we planted when I was pregnant with him. Our younger son, Gavri's, upsherin was held a few days after his Hebrew birthday, which is the holiday of Tu B'Shevat. Although we wanted to do it either by the plum trees which blossomed the day he was born or by his loquat tree, we wound up staying indoors due to rain." The boy, however, balked at his upsherin and refused to get his hair cut. So we did a symbolic cut and continued with the ceremony.
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