There should be a book about the history of Jewish beards. Better yet: a Jewish Facial Hair Hall of Fame.
Sure, the practice of beard-growing stems from the Torah’s prohibition against shaving the “corners” of the head and beard, but the variety of styles by which this mitzvah can be observed is simply dizzying.
From the goatees of pre-war German rabbis and post-war American rabbis, to the never-groomed beards of Chabadniks, to the thick mustaches of religious Zionists in the 1970s and 1980s, facial hair can signal group identity and ideological affiliation. For better or worse, the beard can convey instant credibility – they give “frum points.” Alas, I know of rabbis in the kashrus industry whose glorious beards mask dubious standards.
My favorite style, which I haven’t yet gotten the guts to attempt, is from Central Europe in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Several leading rabbonim, including Rav Nesanel Weil (the Korban Nesanel) and Rav Dovid Sinzheim (the Yad Dovid) grew mustacheless beards. (Google them!) Now that’s style!
