millions of pictures!!

new camera!

I finally broke down. all those extra hours of freelance finally payed off. millions of pictures to come (still not giving up on my slr thought).

today made for the most interesting camera buying experience...b&h photo is run entirely by an hasidic jewish team. I mean payos, yarmulkes, beards, the whole nine yards! right smack dab in the center of manhattan. it was like a wierd movie.

They live closely in the same communites. one community is in Brooklyn, so i often share a train with a handful of them on my way to work. it's those payos that get me though...so here's to interesting but useless information (at least for us Christians anyway...)


The haircut are authentically Jewish and based on the Torah. The payos (sidecurls) and beard are worn in obedience to this commandment in the Torah (Bible): You shall not round the corners of your heads, nor mar the edges of your beards. (Leviticus 19:27) The "corners of the head" are the area above the ears. "Not rounding" them means not shaving the hair there, or cutting it very short. Together, both the curls and the untrimmed beard are a symbol of obedience to the laws of God. Many Hasidic men also cut the rest of the hair very short. This is not really required, but is more comfortable under a hat. Also, some Hasidim see the entire haircut -- very short hair with beard and payos -- as part of the "uniform" of their group.

The minimum length for payos (pronounced PAY-us) is long enough that you can grab a hair and bend it towards its own root -- which comes out to be just about to the middle of the ear. But there are other opinions also, and many Hasidim wear them longer. Some men curl them carefully and let them hang conspicuously in front of the ears, while others tuck them behind the ears or up under their yarmulke (skullcap.) Again, this is a matter of style and, in some cases, personal preference.

A Hasidic boy begins wearing payos at age three. Before that, his hair is not cut at all, and is allowed to grow long. On his third birthday, there is a special ceremony where the hair is cut short except for the sidecurls. At this time, he also receives his first set of tzitzit (a four-cornered garment with special tassels, see next Q below). He is now no longer a baby, but a child, which is a different category with more responsibility. The hair-cutting ceremony is usually followed by a happy celebration for his family and friends.

just thought you might want to know :)