One who cuts his hair, or has somebody else cut his hair,
must wash his hands afterward, even if only a small amount of hair was removed,
and even if just several pieces of hair were trimmed. It makes no difference whether the hair was
cut with scissors or with an electric haircutter. This Halacha applies to both men and women.
It suffices for satisfying this requirement to wash just
once by passing one's hands under running water. The Ben Ish Hai (Rav Yosef Haim of Baghdad,
1833-1909) recommended being stringent after cutting one's nails, and to wash
three times, but Rav Yisrael Bitan writes that the Ben Ish Hai would likely
concede that this is not necessary after haircutting.
A barber who cuts somebody else's hair must wash his hands,
as in all likelihood he touched the customer's scalp in a place that is
normally covered. As we learned in a
previous installment, one must wash his hands after touching the scalp in a
place that is normally covered, and this would likely apply to barbers. Indeed, religious barber shops generally have
a sink for hand-washing.
However, we have seen previously that touching only hair,
and not the scalp, does not necessitate hand-washing. Therefore, Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach
(Jerusalem, 1910-1995) ruled that at a "Chalakeh" ceremony, where a child gets
his first haircut upon reaching the age of three, the Rabbi given the honor of
cutting the first locks of hair does not need to wash his hands. The Rabbi touches only the hair, and not the
scalp, and so there is no need for him to wash afterward. The child, however, must have his hands
washed, because, as we have seen, one must wash his hands after a haircut even
though he did not touch his head, because there is a mild form of impurity that
descends upon the hands as a result of haircutting.
The Shulhan Aruch warns that failing to wash one's hands
after haircutting can result in irrational feelings of fear that last for three
days.
Summary: One who cuts his own hair, or takes a haircut, must
wash his hands once under a faucet. This
applies even if only a small amount of hair was removed, and even if just
several pieces of hair were trimmed. One
who cuts somebody else's hair does not need to wash his hands unless he touched
the scalp, in an area of the head that is normally covered.
