Pt1 From Kohl to Lime: A Talmudic Discussion of Cosmetics and Hair Removal (Moed Katan 9b)

This is the first part of a two-part series.¹ The outline is below.

Outline

1. Permissible Cosmetic Treatments on Festivals: Kohl, Rouge, Depilatory

2. A Debate on the Usage of Cosmetics by Older Women

3. R' Yehuda’s Restriction on Lime as a Depilatory

4. Depilatory Treatments for Young Jewish Girls

5. Rav Beivai’s Application of Depilatory Lime on His Daughter, the Danger of It, and the effect of regularly drinking beer on body hair growth

The Passage

Moed_Katan.9b.10-21

Permissible Cosmetic Treatments on Festivals: Kohl, Rouge, Depilatory

The mishna permits women to engage in regular cosmetic practices (תכשיטי) during the intermediate days of a Festival. The cosmetic practices listed are the following:

1. Painting the eye with kohl²

2. Paint the face with rouge³

3. Applying paint (סרק) to the face

4. Some also allow applying paint⁴ to “the lower face”⁵

ועושה אשה תכשיטיה. 

תנו רבנן, 

אלו הן תכשיטי נשים: 

1. כוחלת 

2. ופוקסת 

3. ומעבירה סרק על פניה. 

4. ואיכא דאמרי: מעברת סרק על פניה של מטה.

It was taught in the mishna: And a woman may engage in all of her usual cosmetic treatments on the intermediate days of a Festival. 

The Sages taught in a baraita: 

These are the cosmetic treatments of women that are permitted: 

1. She may paint her eyelids, 

2. she may remove unwanted hair [pokeset], 

3. and she may put rouge on her face. 

4. And some say: She may pass a comb over her lower face, i.e., she may remove the hair from her pubic area.

A Debate on the Usage of Cosmetics by Older Women

Rav Ḥisda’s wife adorned⁶ herself on the Festival in front of her daughter-in-law (כלתה).

Rav Huna bar Ḥinnana (רב הונא בר חיננא) observed and remarked that such treatments are allowd only by younger women (ילדה), not for older women (זקנה).

Rav Ḥisda disagreed vehemently: “By God!⁷ Even your mother, and even your mother’s mother, and even a woman so old that she is standing at the edge of her grave”; asserting that women of all ages are young in spirit, as noted in the saying: "A woman of sixty years, like one of six, runs (רהטא) at the sound of the drum."⁸

דביתהו דרב חסדא מקשטא באנפי כלתה. 

יתיב רב הונא בר חיננא קמיה דרב חסדא, 

ויתיב וקאמר:

לא שנו אלא ילדה,

אבל זקנה — לא.

אמר ליה: 

האלהים! אפילו אמך, ואפילו אימא דאימך, ואפילו עומדת על קברה. 

דאמרי אינשי: בת שיתין כבת שית, לקל טבלא רהטא.

The Gemara relates that Rav Ḥisda’s wife would adorn herself on the intermediate days of a Festival in the presence of her daughter-in-law, i.e., when she already had a married son.

Rav Huna bar Ḥinnana sat before Rav Ḥisda,

and he sat and said:

They taught only that a woman is permitted to engage in cosmetic treatments on the intermediate days of a Festival only with regard to a young woman, as such treatments bring her joy,

but in the case of an old woman, no, the treatments are not permitted, as she does not need them.

Rav Ḥisda said to him: 

By God! Even your mother, and even your mother’s mother, and even a woman so old that she is standing at the edge of her grave are all permitted to adorn themselves. 

As people say in the popular adage: A woman of sixty years, like one of six, runs at the sound of the timbrel [tavla], implying that women of all ages are young in spirit; since they all take pleasure in their adornments, they are allowed to adorn themselves, regardless of age.

1. Compare the Wikipedia entry on “Cosmetics in ancient Rome”.

2. כוחלת - see “Cosmetics in ancient Rome”, cited in previous note:

Kohl was the main ingredient in eye makeup, and was composed of ashes or soot and antimony, with saffron usually added to improve the smell.

3. פוקסת.

Compare Jastrow:

  1) to paint the face with rouge ([compare] φυκόω.”

See Wiktionary, “phûkos”:

“Borrowed from a Semitic language, such as Hebrew פּוּךְ (pūk, “eye-rouge, antimony”).”

And ibid., sense #2:

“orchil made of φῦκος (phûkos) and used as rouge by Greek women”.

See “Cosmetics in ancient Rome”, cited previously:

Although Romans esteemed pale faces, a light pink on the cheeks was considered to be attractive, signifying good health.

Steinsaltz translates “remove hair”, though it’s likely that that’s what the next item is.

4. סרק; Steinsaltz incorrectly translates “a comb”.

5. A euphemism for the genital area; meaning she can apply depilatory material to remove her pubic hair. 

See Wikipedia, “Cosmetics in ancient Rome”, cited earlier:

With the exception of hair on her head, hair was considered to be unattractive on a Roman woman. Consequently, women removed hair by either shaving, plucking, stripping using a resin paste, or scraping with a pumice stone.

See also Sanhedrin.21a.23:

דרש רבא: 

מאי דכתיב (יחזקאל טז, יד): "ויצא לך שם בגוים ביפיך"?

שאין להן לבנות ישראל 

לא שער בית השחי, 

ולא בית הערוה 

Rava interpret[ed] a verse homiletically: 

What is the meaning of that which is written: “And your renown went forth among the nations about your beauty” (Ezekiel 16:14)? 

This teaches that Jewish women do not have 

1. armpit hair 

2. or pubic hair.

And see more discussion in the ensuing sections on hair removal.

6. מקשטא - it’s unclear exactly what, it may have been hair removal.

7. האלהים - an expletive oath.

8. טבלא - from Greek/Persian tabála.

Compare Wikipedia, “Cosmetics in ancient Rome”, cited earlier:

Older women faced ridicule for their depilation because it was viewed primarily as preparation for sex.

In general, see there section “Men's attitudes”, for male critiques of women’s usage of cosmetics; see also the next section in the Talmud on R' Yehuda’s Restriction on Lime as a Depilatory, due to it making her “ugly”.