View source for Payot

{{Short description|Hebrew term for sidelocks or sideburns}}
{{Distinguish|Piyyut}}
{{protection padlock|small=yes}}
{{Infobox Halacha
| name   = {{Transliteration|he|Peot}}<br />{{nobold|{{Script/Hebrew|פֵּאוֹת}} ({{Transliteration|he|pe’ot}})<br />{{Script/Hebrew|סִימָנִים}} ({{Transliteration|he|simanim}})}}
| image  = Young hasid.jpg
| caption= A young [[Hasid]]
| verse  = {{bibleverse||Leviticus|19:27|}}
| talmud = [[Makkot]] 20a
| rambam = Avodath Kokhavim 12:6
| sa     = [[Yoreh De'ah|Yoreh Deah]] 181
}}
'''Sidelocks''' in English, or '''''pe'ot''''' in Hebrew, [[English language|anglicized]] as '''payot'''{{efn|Also spelled ''Peot, peyot, peyes, payes, payos, peyos, peyois, payois''.}} ({{langx|he|פֵּאוֹת|pēʾōt}}, "corners") or '''payes''' ({{IPA|yi|pejəs}}), is the Hebrew term for sidelocks or [[sideburns]]. Payot are worn by some men and boys in the [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jewish]] community based on an interpretation of the [[Tanakh]]'s injunction against shaving the "sides" of one's head. Literally, ''pe'a'' means "corner, side, edge". There are different styles of payot among [[Haredi Judaism|Haredi]] or [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidic]], [[Yemenite Jews|Yemenite]], and [[Chardal]] Jews. Yemenite Jews call their sidelocks '''''simanim''''' ({{Script/Hebrew|סִימָנִים}}), literally, "signs", because their long-curled sidelocks served as a distinguishing feature in Yemenite society (differentiating them from their Gentile neighbors).

==Rabbinic interpretation==
===Reason===
According to [[Maimonides]], shaving the sidelocks was a heathen practice.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mishneh Torah, Foreign Worship and Customs of the Nations 12:1 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Mishneh_Torah,_Foreign_Worship_and_Customs_of_the_Nations.12.1?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en |access-date=2024-08-07 |website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref>

===Specifics===
The [[Torah]] says, "you shall not round off the ''pe'a'' of your head ({{Script/Hebrew|פְּאַת רֹאשְׁכֶם}})".<ref>{{Bibleverse|Leviticus|19:27|HE}}</ref> The word ''pe'a'' was taken to mean the hair in front of the ears extending to beneath the cheekbone, on a level with the nose ([[Talmud]] – [[Makkot]] 20a).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://judaism.about.com/od/glossary/fl/Shaving-in-Judaism.htm |title=Shaving in Judaism |publisher=Judaism.about.com |date=2009-06-11 |access-date=2013-11-10 |archive-date=2015-01-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150105150941/http://judaism.about.com/od/glossary/fl/Shaving-in-Judaism.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[Mishnah]] interpreted the regulation as applying only to men. Thus it became the custom in certain circles to allow the hair over the ears to grow, and hang down in curls or ringlets.<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia">''Jewish Encyclopedia''</ref> There is considerable discussion in the [[Halakha|halachic literature]] as to the precise location of the payot and of the ways in which their removal is prohibited.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/735346/Rabbi_Aryeh_Lebowitz/Halachos_of_Peyos_Harosh |title=''Halachos Of Payos Harosh'' |publisher=Yutorah.org |access-date=2013-11-10}}</ref>
[[File:Jewish haircut.png|thumb|Jewish haircut (1657)]]

==Specifics by communities==
As [[kabbalistic]] teachings spread into [[Slav]]onic lands, the custom of ''pe'ot'' became accepted there. In 1845, the practice was banned in the [[Russian Empire]].<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia" />

[[Crimean Karaites]] did not wear ''payot'', and the [[Crimean Tatars]] consequently referred to them as ''zulufsız çufutlar'' ("Jews without payot"), to distinguish them from the [[Krymchaks]], referred to as ''zuluflı çufutlar'' ("Jews with payot").<ref name=Chabad>[https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2963669/jewish/Why-Do-Some-Chassidic-Jews-Have-Long-Sidelocks-Peyot.htm Why do some Chassidic Jews have long sidelocks]</ref>

Many [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidic]] and [[Yemenite Jews|Yemenite ("Teimani") Jews]] let their sidelocks grow particularly long. Some [[Haredi Judaism|Haredi]] men grow sidelocks, but trim them or tuck them behind the ears.<ref name=Chabad/>

Even in some communities where ''peot'' are not customary among the men, young boys may grow them until the age of [[bar mitzvah]].{{clarify |reason=B.m., so age 13? And then what? Or confusion with age 3, see "upsherin", when boys get 1st haircut and sidelocks are left to grow? |date= April 2023}}{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

==Styles==
{{More citations needed section|date=October 2023}}
The lengths and maintenance of the ''pe'ot'' vary noticeably among Jewish groups.

===Yemenite Jews===
* Some traditional [[Yemenite Jews]] still wear distinctive long and thin twisted locks, often reaching to the upper arm. The actual area where the hair grows and where the ringlet begins is neat and tidy.

===Hasidic groups===
* [[Satmar]] Jews have notably thicker sidelocks. They also tend to tuck their sidelocks behind their ears.
* [[Belz (Hasidic dynasty)|Belz]] Hasidim wrap their sidelocks around their ears as many times as necessary without trimming.
* Many [[Breslov (Hasidic dynasty)|Breslov]] Hasidim wear long twisted locks as did their Rabbi, [[Nachman of Breslov]]. However, others wear different styles in line with the teaching of Rabbi Nachman that his followers do not have to have a uniform garb.<ref>(Sichot Haran?); The Master of Prayer (from Tales of Rabbi Nachman), where the Master is "not particular about garb at all; see [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDFObUtcrME] for a video showing a variety of styles among Breslevers.</ref>
* The [[Chabad|Chabad-Lubavitch]] Hasidim's ''payot'' are not evident, but they exist. So long as there is hair around the ear and behind it that can be plucked out, that is considered ''payot''.
* Some [[Ger (Hasidic dynasty)|Ger]]er Hasidim raise their sidelocks from the temples and tuck them under their [[yarmulke]]. Others, especially in [[Israel]], let them hang down.
* The [[Skver]] Hasidim twist their sidelocks into a tight coil, and leave them protruding in front of the ear.
Most other Hasidic groups wear their payot down and curled.

===Lithuanian groups===
The [[Lithuanian Jews]] are less influenced by Kabbalistic practises, but still retain sidelocks to a degree, in a small number of variant styles:
* Lithuanian Jews often cut their sidelocks, but leave a bunch of strands uncut, and place them behind the ear; this style is most commonly found among [[yeshiva]] students, who sometimes remove the uncut strands when they have grown sideburns.
* The [[Brisk yeshivas and methods|Brisk]] movement's members brush their hair straight down, usually so that it reaches to the ear lobe; sometimes, some of the sidelock is not cut, and is curled back behind the ear.

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="150" heights="150" perrow="5">
File:Boy wearing kippah.jpg|Pre-bar mitzvah age boy with payot
File:Rabbi with beard and payot.jpg|Religious Jew with beard and payot tucked behind ear
File:Yemen1.jpg|A [[Yemenite Jews|Teimani (Yemenite) Jew]] with payot
File:Black jew of cochin with peyots.jpg|A  Jew with payot from [[Kochi]], India, 1900
File:Kotel payot1.jpg|A religious Jew with payot, [[Jerusalem]], Israel
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Commons category|Payots}}
* [[613 mitzvot]]
* [[Shaving in Judaism]]
* [[Upsherin]]
* [[List of hairstyles]]

==References and notes==
;Notes
{{Notelist}}
;References
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{commons category-inline}}
* {{Wiktionary-inline}}

{{Human hair}}
{{Italic title}}

[[Category:Orthodox Judaism]]
[[Category:Jewish law and rituals]]
[[Category:Hasidic Judaism]]
[[Category:Hairstyles]]
[[Category:Negative Mitzvoth]]