Trust the Beard?

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 Happy Hannuka, the sequel.

This week's first questions for your table: Are you a bearder or anti-bearder? Bonus question: can you name four US presidents who sported one? 

For some, such as the FORBS, the IORBS, and the AORBS, a beard is of course a matter of great pride.

For my father, zichrono livracha, a beard was a convenience - think of all that saved time for not shaving.

I'm not sure of Joseph Palmer's motive, but his story is worth telling.

Palmer, a veteran of the War of 1812, was a farmer near Johnny Appleseed's hometown. He sported what today would probably be considered a very manly beard.

But in 1830 rural Massachusetts, some of his neighbors apparently considered his beard deviant and threatening the delicate fabric of society. 

After mocking him proved ineffective, a gang of men decided to help him toe the facial line, accosting him one day with scissors.

Palmer successfully defended himself, but two of his assailants were wounded in the scuffle and they managed to get him arrested, tried and convicted for "unprovoked assault."

Unwilling to pay the fine, he spent 15 harrowing, abusive months in jail, including three months of solitary confinement.

He lived a long life, until 1873, by which time the White House had already had a couple residents with beards.

The question remains: What did they found so offensive in Palmer's beard in 1830?

According to one new study, a beard conveys expertise.

So this gives us a double question for your table:

Does a beard convey expertise?
What could they have found so offensive about Palmer's beard?


Happy Channuka and

Shabbat Shalom
 

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