Brushing Hair on Shabbat
Brushing hair usually (but not always) uproots a few hairs. Join Rabbi Dovid Fink as he explores if this is permissible on Shabbat. The answer to this question will clarify many other situations in which your actions may or may not result in a violation of Shabbat.
Brushing Hair on Shabbat: Brushing Hair on Shabbat
The principles underlying the rules for brushing and combing hair on Shabbat have enormous impact on a wide range of other halachic issues.
Brushing hair is prohibited on Shabbat if hair is inevitably uprooted. This is the rule of pesik reisha.
But how do we determine whether something is inevitable? For example, switching on an electric kettle to boil water is prohibited on Shabbat because the action (switching the kettle on) is said to have the inevitable result of boiling water.
Without the power of prophecy, how are we to know whether the water will inevitably boil? There could be a power failure; the kettle could be broken; defining inevitability is therefore of fundamental importance in brushing hair and many other issues.
Primary sources are available through the links below in both WORD format and pdf. In class we will translate and explain these sources.
In addition to being one of Rabbi Brovender's first students, Rabbi Dovid Fink is an outstanding expertﾠand teacher of Halacha. Rabbi Fink received his Rabbinic ordination from ITRI and the Mir and was awarded his Ph.D in Semitic Languages and Linguistics from Yale University. Rav Fink has taught thousands of students from all over the world for over 35 years.