Question
Is shaving with an electric shaver forbidden?
Answer
In an electric shaver, the hairs of the beard go through narrow openings. The small blades rotate (or oscillate) in back of those openings. Hairs are cut off because they are caught between the blades and the edges of the openings. This is similar to the action of scissors, which cut things because they are caught between the blades. Many Rabbis have therefore ruled that shaving with an electric shaver is equivalent to trimming the beard with scissors, even though the electric shaver gives a much closer shave than can be gotten with scissors.