“When you talk about people “who wouldn’t touch their beards” i.e. not even to shorten with a scissors, that is not a Halachic issue, but one based on Minhag and Kabballah.”
this is far from the truth. (and this is coming from someone who trims his beard and used to shave clean). i do not have the wherewithal to have a scholarly discourse about this, i am simply lacking in knowledge. however, there are QUITE a few major poskim who take issue with jews who do not grow beards.
of special interest in the minchas eluzar, the munkatch rebbe in pre-world war 1 europe, who wrote a lengthy teshuva on the subject, quoting and rebuffing many other poskim who in his time had come out with the “revolutionary” psak that maybe it was ok to not have a beard. he writes in an addendum that he later recieved letters from several of those poskim who surrendered to his superior reasoning, and one who explicitly stated that he (the writer of the letter) wished he had never published his original learning, as he now realized the topic was of far greater importance than that which he orginally ascribed it. i dont know which teshuva it is, i read it (quoted in its entirety) in a sefer about the subject of whether it was ok to cut off one’s beard.
there are also writings from the chofetz chaim on this subject, in which he discusses the matter in far stronger terms than “minhag” or “kabbala”, indeed he writes about the “detestable habit” of those who do not keep their beard.
it is interesting to note that in the opening lines of the minchas elazars teshuva, he remarks how upsetting it is that there are those in society who try to talk about the growing of beards as though it is just a matter of minhag or kabbalah……..
well i do in fact shave my beard. but you should be careful how you talk about it, it DEFINITELY IS a matter of halacha.