This is the trip I'm under now:
The place where I picked this load up is run by an very nice older Jewish man. I wouldn't have know he was Jewish except for the contrast between him and his nice young warehouse manager, an Orthodox Jew. The following picture isn't either of these men; it's simply the closest one I could find that depicts the young man's head covering and sideburns:
I've seen Orthodox Jews walking on the streets in NYCity and other cities in the upper northest, but I've never been close enough to ask about the long sideburns until this trip.
The older man was walking into the building at the same time I was, and he inquired about who I was picking up for (what brokerage) and where the load was going. He had an air about him .... It's hard to explain, but I just knew he was the owner of the place. He was sort-of mild mannered and domineering at the same time. Very polite and dignified; and he knew about his customers and the loads he was sending out to them. I guess that's the thing that struck me the most about him.
Anyway, he stood in the doorway of the little office (inside the warehouse) with me while his young manager gathered my paperwork. When business was taken care of, I asked the young man about his sideburns, and emphasized that I meant no offense. Before he could answer, the older man said, "He didn't take offense. He is Jewish, and I am Jewish. The difference is that he is Orthodox." I said, "Yes sir, I understand that, but...." The older one cut me off, "Do you really?" I said, "Well, yes sir. It's like the differences in Christianity." He said, "Ahh - you do understand then." (There was more to the conversation, but these are the highlights.) The young man spoke up then, saying "We are not allowed to shave the corners of our heads."
As I signed my paperwork and was walking away the older man said, "Thank you for being so observant. He's really a nice guy." I grinned and said, "He's cute too." the old man said, "Why don't you take him home with you?" and we laughed as I walked out the door.
I did a little research on the sideburns - called peyos - just now. From this reference:
Question 11.1.5: Dress: Why do many Jewish men sport beards and/or long sideburns?
Answer: The Torah, the Five Books of Moses, has a commandment not to shave the corners of the head. [Specifically, Leviticus 19:27 says, "Do not round the corner of your head."] The Torah also forbids a male Jew from removing hair from one's sideburns and temple are (known as pei'ot ha-rosh). Actually, the sideburns merely have to be long enough that one can pull on the hair, and the beard area can be shaved with something other than a sharp blade (many people accept the use of electric shavers). But specifically within the Chassidic community, there is a custom not to shave (and frequently not even to trim) the beard, and to permit the sideburn area (all the way up to the top of the ear) to grow long as well (the long sideburns are called peyot). Some tuck the hair up under their kipot/skullcaps, while others curl the hair. Many Orthodox say the payes (a.k.a. earlocks/sidelocks) begin right at the temple, to just behind the ear, and must grow no shorter than the top of the cheekbone. Then they are to be worn pushedforward of the ear so as to be visible. Many, following Rabbi Nachman, grow them long because he said he could "pull them by their payess out of hell" once he was in Paradise!
