Upsherenish: A Defining Moment in a Boy’s Life
This essay is dedicated to the Upsherenish of our dear grandson, Tzemach Asher Noam, Sheyiḥiyeh, which took place today in Houston. May he grow to Torah, Chupah, and Ma’asim Tovim (good deeds)! Introduction Upsherenish is the ancient Jewish custom of giving a boy his first haircut on his third birthday, celebrating his transition from being a toddler to childhood and the beginning of active Jewish education. The Yiddish word “upsherenish” literally means a “haircut.”[1] After the third birthday, a boy is taught alef-bet, trained to wear a kipa, a tallit katan (tzitzit), to recite morning blessings and the bedtime prayer of kri’at sh’ma al ha-mita (Hear O’ Israel...). Albeit not codified in the Talmud or the standard halachic works, upsherenish is preserved through a minhag (“custom”) in various communities—predominantly Ḥassidic and Sephardic communities—and [...]
