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| Pâ•qidꞋ Yi•rᵊmᵊyâhꞋu |
From: Y.M., Brunswick, N.J., USA
Shalom Yirmeyahu,
…do all Teimanim have peyot? Will you be accepted into the Teimani community without Peyot? Thank you very much. I am looking forward to your reply.
Not all Tei•mân•imꞋ in Israel wear pei•yotꞋ. In fact, most don’t. In appearance, aside from their kip•âhꞋ, most Tei•mân•imꞋ in Israel today would be indistinguishable from an American businessman.
All of the photos I've seen of Tei•mân•imꞋ in Tei•mânꞋ had pei•yotꞋ. When they made a•liy•âhꞋ to Israel, secular Ash•kᵊnazꞋim Jews forcibly cut off their pei•yotꞋ and settled them in secular communities, trying to forcibly secularize those they regarded as "superstitious darkies" – even to the point of kidnapping their babies and giving them to Ash•kᵊnazꞋim parents to raise. That is, perhaps, the most shameful chapter in all of Jewish history.
I was accepted in the Tei•mân•imꞋ community before I grew pei•yotꞋ.
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 Israelis-Hebrews: B.C.E. 701 Assyrian Sennacherib Lakhish Relief; note haircut, beard length, dress details |
The historical perspective, however, doesn't end with the practice in Tei•mânꞋ. There are a number of post-135 C.E. changes from ancient Judaism of Har Sin•aiꞋ that found their way even to the Jews of Tei•mânꞋ, despite their isolation from non-Jewish influences. The most notable external connection was with Ram•ba"mꞋ, in which the Tei•mân•imꞋ and the Sᵊphâ•râd•iꞋ Ram•ba"mꞋ found themselves in agreement on various points of Ha•lâkh•âhꞋ vis-à-vis the Ash•kᵊnazꞋim. (I've stated this in an over-simplified form to avoid extensive details.)
In any case, I've found no post-135 C.E. pre-Ram•ba"mꞋ era history of the Jews in Tei•mânꞋ. So I don't know what changes may have been introduced during that period, nor what changes may have resulted from the interchange with Ram•ba"mꞋ.
What is known is that drawings of (supposedly) Jews in more ancient (B.C.E.) times, found by archeologists, depicts the ancient Jews without pei•yotꞋ (and also without kip•otꞋ), but with a headband which may have been an early form of tᵊphil•inꞋ and with a sash-belt which may have been an early form of tzitz•itꞋ.
So the question of whether the Tei•mân•imꞋ may picked up the tradition of pei•yotꞋ from Ram•ba"mꞋ or some other influence from other Jewish communities is, at present, unanswerable. It is clear, however, that the Jews in Tei•mânꞋ wore pei•yotꞋ in the earliest photographs (early 20th century).
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