I’ve noticed different ways Jewish cultures style their hair, and for different reasons. Teimoni call them Sinomim; and from their literature it seems it was a forced custom by the Muslim Arabs; and they shave bald on all corners by the sides. Places like Ethiopia, they don’t exhibit any kind of side burns. I even saw a Rabbi in Israel with no hair but on the BACK of his head (?) I was wondering what is going on?
These are all traditions that demarcated Jews as different. Some of the longer hair is based on a more stringent understanding of the prohibition of cutting one’s hair clear around in a circle; whether the side burn itself eliminates that prohibition, or whether there should be hair from the head extending down as well. Haircuts are completely a matter of custom. Kabbalistically, since the hairs of the head represent the attribute of judgment, they should be kept short (except in the case of the nazir, see below).
I know some Orthodox shave their faces bald. And there’s some who WONT let their beards grow long. Why is it that? And I haven’t seen any “nazarites” in the communties, except maybe one Rabbi on Television; he wore a “bonnet” like thing, where probably all his hair was extremely longer than usual. I’m not sure he was under a vow though either.
The baseline in Jewish Law is that one may not shave with a razor. However, it seems many Jews through the ages have specifically cultivated beards. Here too, Kabbalistically, the hair of the face represent an attribute – that of mercy – and therefore they should be kept long.
A nazir grows his hair long in order to cut it at the end of his Nazirite period. Since a Nazirite period, in the absence of a Temple and sacrificial offerings, cannot be ended in our day and age, this important aspect is missing, and hence the rareity of Nazarites.