אידישע וועלט פארומס

In a recent artucle on Harav Yehuda Davis ZT"L R' Gur Aryeh Herzig mentioned
the boorish materialistic America of the '30s

A reader took him to task
this was during the Depression when people were starving

R Gur Aryeh replied
Correct me if I am wrong, but I do not know a of a single poverty-driven suicide among the Yidden of Mir, Slabodka, Kletzk, Lublin, or, for that matter, anywhere in Eastern Europe. — even among the non-religious. Their impoverishment was far more severe, but they did not allow material acquisitions to become their only meaning of life.

Times have changed. Once upon a time, when someone became engaged, or had a baby, you went to them and wished “Mabrouk! ” If you knew them well, and felt particularly happy at their good fortune, you shook the hand with extra vigor and wished them, “A very big Mabrouk!” They got the message, and were happy enough. That was in the old days .

Then, some enterprising individual discovered helium, and, as part of the inflationary process, began filling balloons with this gas. On the balloons were written such inspiring words as, “It’s a boy!” (in case the parents were unaware…). Now, no simhais complete without a spectrum of balloons firmly fastened to the carriage handle or the back ofthe kallah’s chair .

That much is now history. The big question is: How do you attach a piece of string to an inflated balloon? How about threading the string through a large needle, and inserting the needle into the balloon in order to pull it through tothe other side? Would it work? Let us say that you had a much larger balloon, a hot-air balloon, for example, and while you were attempting a round-the-world voyage, floating at 20,000 feet, you wished to erect a radio antenna at the apex of your beautiful balloon in order to receive congratulatory messages. Could you push the metal aerial, with its sharp metallic point, through the fabric of the balloon? In either case, please don’t try it
. It could be disastrous.

Why is it, then, that your very own body (particularly the skin) can remain waterproof and airtight even though it is pierced many thousands of times over by individual hairs? How does it work? Another question - why is it that the hair on a person’s head grows continually at the rate of approximately five inches a year, whereas the hair on your eyelashes and eyebrows grows to a very specific length, and then stops growing? Why is it that the eyelashes curl outwards and not inwards? Why is it that no matterhow full a man’s beard, hair will never grow on his forehead or on his lips? The answer to these and many similar questions provide an amazing insight into the wisdom that lies inherent in the very things that we most likely take for granted and consider simple.

Your Three Million Factories

There is nothing simple in the created world. Come, little hair, and tell your story.

Imagine a factory. Like all factories, it has a production line, supply routes which bring in the raw materials, and of course, communication with other factories. Every single factory has to be maintained, serviced, and well-planned if it is to function efficiently. There is no doubt that a single factory provides ample evidence of intelligent planning. What would you say about anindustrial area which contains no fewer than three million factories?

The trading estate is you, and the three million factories are the follicles – the tiny factories which produce and maintain individual hairs. A follicle is simply a minute hair factory, an amazing and complex operation that operates 24 hours a day for up to seven years, and then shuts down for rest and repairs. After a rest period, the follicle will crank up and begin producing again.

Already three months before birth, you possessed all the hair follicles you will ever have. No new follicles appear after birth, so whether a person has a thick or thin growth of hair on his head is largely determined by hereditary factors.

Scientists are amazed (to use their words) that anything as tiny as a follicle could produce something as intricate as a hair, and indeed a single hair is anything but simple. Each individual hair is made up almost entirely of protein and consists of several layers. The outer layer has overlapping cells that resemblethe shingles on a roof, providing strength and protection. The middle layer contains fatter, elongated cells which give bulk. Most hairs have a hollow core (“Blessed are You, Hashem, Who fashioned man with wisdom, and created within him many openings and many cavities...”). The base, or bulb, of each follicle is connected to blood vessels that supply nutrients to the hair. Each hair requires nutrition, and its vital sustenance is delivered to the doorstep. Sending out three million specialized food packages each day is no simple matter – just ask any caterer! In addition, each follicle is connected to the nervous system, though the hair itself contains no living matter. This is why when a hair is pulled out, pain is felt at the root, but cutting hair, even close to the skin, is painless. Just imagine if your hair did contain nerves –
how could you ever brush your hair, or worse, how could you ever cut it! In an intelligently-planned system, nothing is without reason.

Fuel Tanks and Muscles

How strong is hair? Very strong. It has elasticity (under certain conditions it can be stretched to double its length), and an individual hair can support a three-ounce weight. Every hair follicle is serviced by one or more oil glands. This gland (called the sebaceous gland) gives the hair its flexibility and waterproof quality. Interestingly enough, the oily substance, called sebum, mingles with sweat and spreads over the skin, helping it to remain supple and water repellent. Place a drop of water on the palm of your hand, and it will remain intact. For that you can thank your “natural” oil reserves. (In fact, human skin is “shower-proof’ rather than fully waterproof. After a long soak in the bathtub, the sebumis washed away. Water can then enter the skin,making it appear soggy and wrinkled.)

Apart from the oil gland, every individual hair is attached to a tiny muscle, called an erector muscle. In furry animals, this tiny muscle is attached to the base of each hair, so that the animal can pull the hair base to make the hair stand on end. This happens when the animal wants to appear huge and fierce, such as when your friendly pussycat is not so friendly. It also happens when it is cold. Air becomes trapped between the erect hair, creating an air blanket to keep in body heat. Our hair is much smaller than that of animals, but it stands on end exactly the same way when we are frightened or when we are cold (“goose bumps”).

If you have ever been to a busy airport, you will have seen how each terminal has many gates where the individual airplanes are serviced by a fuel tanker, catering van, cleaning staff, and the tough little truck that pushes it out to the runway. An airport is a vastly complex and coordinated operation, indicative of much thought and planning. Are your three million follicles, serviced and maintained by fuel tanks and muscles (all interconnected and joined to the central computer), any different? What about the catering? At the base of each follicle sits a hair bulb drawing nutrients from the lower layer of skin, the dermis. In this bulb, a cone of tissue – the papillaand matrix– assembles the chemicals that will send up a hair.

Why Does Hair
Become Gray?

All hair has color. What determines its particular shade? When a hair is still forming, it is impregnated with thousands of tiny packets of melanin pigments. Cells called melanocytes produce and blend only two basic “paints” to produce the exotic palette of different colors we see in human hair. One pigment tints our flowing locks deep black to the lightest brown. The other pigment turns the hair blond to golden brown or red. By varying the size, shape, illumination, and density of the pigments, human hair becomes an assortment of colors. Many people are born with blond hair, but it slowly grows darker as the dark pigmentation becomes more active. As we pass our 20s, melanocyteproduction slows down. Emerging hairs, possessing only a tiny amount of their former pigment, begin to appear grey. When the melanocytes go completely dormant, hair grows out with no pigment at all, and is the natural color of hair protein – white.

In centuries past, grey was a mark of sagacity. Everyone wanted to look old, for that was to appear wise. It is a telling indication of this generation’s youth-loving culture that in the non-Jewish world,
40 percent of women and eight percent of men dye their hair to conceal the grey. Great hope has been given to these people by recent research that shows that dormant melanocytes can be triggered to paint the hair once again with natural hues, in some cases restoring its original color. What a relief!

Iyov said it all: “From my flesh I perceive Hashem” (Iyov 9:26).
He could well have been looking at a single hair. It’s all there. Different function, different hair. It’s allpart of the plan. Eyelashes are curved and spiky – their duty is defense. Hair on the lips, the soles of the feet or on the palms of our hands would be a considerable source of irritation; thus, of the total surface of the body, these are the only areas to have no hair.

And the balloon question? How can hair grow through the skin without puncturing it? Why, it’s just one of the marvels of a machine whose wonder and complexity almost defies comprehension. When you have an instrument manufactured by a Creator of unlimited wisdom, the wonders are limitless. Just take a look and see!

Tuvia Cohen is a humorist, scientist, and an accomplished author. This article was adapted from his piece that appeared in ‘The Jewish World of Wonders’.