Beard Hairs in Sefarim

Why do people put beard hairs in sefarim?

Shalom!

Thank you for your question.

Indeed, there are people who have the practice to place fallen beard hairs into a sefer. Some only do so if the beard hair comes out while learning. It is not completely clear how this practice, likely with kabbalistic influence, began. 

It is noted that Rabbeinu Tam sent a letter to someone that contained his beard hairs. There is reason to believe, however, that the reason he placed his beard hairs in the letter was in order to convey his strong feelings about the topic he was writing about and not in compliance with any custom or act of piety. It is reported, however, that the Baal Shem Tov would place his beard hairs into his Zohar. Other great rabbis were known to put their beard hairs in sefarim, as well.

Nevertheless, a number of authorities explicitly rule against placing beard hairs in a sefer, as it is forbidden to place almost anything in a sefer! This is also the ruling of Rav Chaim Kanievsky. Furthermore, those who open a sefer only to find it full of someone else’s hairs will be disgusted, and it is forbidden to do something that others find disgusting. Indeed, for this reason, some rule that those who choose to follow this custom should only place their beard hairs in their own private sefarim, and not in those that are used by the public. 

Others, while opposing the practice in principle, justify the practice for those who follow the Arizal and never intentionally pull hairs out from their beard. So too, there are those who justify the practice for beard hairs that are pulled out while learning, as playing with one’s beard while learning is said to help one understand difficult passages.

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