Remington Shaver, Kosher?

As always, all halacha li’maseh shailos should be asked to your LOR, not to anonymous CR members who may or may not know what they’re talking about.

Rebdoniel writes:

“According to R’ Dovid Feinstein, the only shavers ok to use without any adjustemtns are the Norelco Rotary Lift and Cut, after the adjustments have been made. “

Am I missing something, because this is a setira minei ubei. First you say there is a shaver which is OK to use without any adjustments, and then you say it is OK after the adjustments have been made.

Please explain. Also why is it that Remington shavers which used to have a long list that were OK, are now no good. I don’t think they have changed much.

RebDoniel, I bought a Remington 4130 a while back because I lost my Remington 850. The newer one is shlocky plastic and doesn’t do nearly as good a job. I can’t imagine how the 4130 could be worse halachically. Now every time I shave, it takes me so long that my skin is completely irritated and red. I would give anything to get back the 850. I tried a 950 for a while, and that was even worse. The motor was so slow, you could barely hear it and it barely cut. I think they realized you can’t cut costs and quality so much and still have a working product.

I’m at work and I don’t know off hand what kind of shaver I have but my brother bought it for me and sent it to the Star-K to have it checked. One of the Rabbonim who works there checks them for free. According to this Rov (who works under Rabbi Heineman), even within the same model some shavers are kosher and some are not, it all depends on the blades that are put in at the factory.

As a piece of advice- the way lift and cut works is that there are two parts to each blade- one to lift the hair and one to cut it. If one attempts to remove part of the blade without a special tool the blade may get bent and won’t turn properly. Of the previous shaver which wasn’t kosher I had a jeweler cut off the extra pieces.

You can “kasher” a shaver – take each blade, and rub each individual blade (the little ones) on a key several times, not missing any blades – hence blunting, and not letting the blades cut without help from the screen.

Of course, it will not shave as well, which is the point. Don’t miss any blades!!!

If you can get someone’s beard hair, see if the blade cuts the hair when the hair is held taunt. and viola.

MW13 wrote “As always, all halacha li’maseh shailos should be asked to your LOR” I strongly belive that the phrase “Local Orthodox Rabbi & its abreviation LOR” should be replaced by something like “Your Personal Halachic advisor” LOR is so vague

How Orthodox is the LOR? How knowlegable is he in areas other the run of the mill Issur V’Heter? An example I do not ask my Dayan any shailos regarding technology, great Talmid Chachom,Yorei Shamyim and More Hoaroah that he is. He just not have the knack for technology.

Rebdonel phrased it so well ” You may want to contact a posek who is skilled in these areas on the specifics of your shaver”

When it comes to psak halacha, my deeling is that due to the complexity of metziut, especially today, in terms of the amount of knowledge needed on areas like economics/banking policies, technology, medicine, food chemistry, animal husbandry, vegetation, chilazon species, etc. it is important to ask very specific sheilos of rabbonim who have takent he time to learn the relevant and necessary metziut. I am learning Issur ve Heter for semicha right now, learn from many halacha seforim, and know iyun in Nashim and Nezikin, Tanach, mefarshim, mussar, chassidus, etc., but this does not make me an expert in the mechanics of Remington shavers, the implications of FDIC policies on Ribbis, gastric juices in cows (treifos), or bug infestation patterns in North American spinach fields. Therefore, once I get semicha, I would defer to the authority and knowledge of a posek who is an expert in the requisite areas should someone ask me a sheila. In the case of the shavers, I can parrot what gedolim and men much greater than I have said on the issue, but would urge anyone who has a shaver that might not be “on the list” to visit a posek who knows enough about the shavers to issue a psak. Individual circumstances also matter- someone with the proper skill may allow a shaver for hefsed merubeh, etc.