- The laws
of N’tilas Yadayim ( Washing of the hands ) 23 Paragraphs
Note: Rama is in brackets []
- One
should wash his hands in the morning and make the blessing אל
נטילת ידים. [ And some say one should also recite אשר
יצר even if one didn’t use the facilities and
such is our custom. ] Water that is invalid (פסול) to wash N’tilas
Yadayim for a meal is valid for N’tilas Yadayim for prayer. However, there are those say one should
not make a blessing on this.
- One should be careful to pour water on his
hands three separate times on each hand in order to remove the bad spirit
which remains on them.
- One should not touch his mouth, nose, ears or
eyes with his hands before N’tilas Y’dayim.
- Even if one already washed his hands, he
should not continually touch the anus because it causes piles. Also, one should not touch the place of
bloodletting because it damages the wound.
- One should not touch a vat of beer (before
N’tilas Yadayim)), because handling it impairs the beer.
- One is not required to use a רביות for N’tilas Yadayim of the morning.
- It is a good idea to be stringent with
N’tilas Yadayim for the morning to follow all of the stringencies that
apply to N’tilas Yadayim for a meal. [However, the it is not disqualified
if one does not use a vessel or if one does not use man power and other
things that would disqualify N’tilas Yadayim for a meal.]
- One should not put the used water of the
morning N’tilas Yadayim on the ground, but place it in a vessel.
- It is forbidden to benefit from the water of
the morning N’tilas Yadayim. One
should not pour out the water in his home or in a place where people
frequent.
- One
should take the vessel of water in his right hand and transfer it to his
left hand in order that he should pour water on his right hand first.
- One should not touch someone who has not
washed N’tilas Yadayim in the morning.
- If one dipped his hands into a vessel of
water, he can pray and say the morning She’ma. However, this is not sufficient to remove the bad spirit on
ones hands. If one dips his hand
in three vessels of water (or one vessel and with three changes of water)
it is uncertain if this is sufficient to remove the bad spirit.
- If one was awake all night, it is uncertain
whether he needs to do N’tilas Yadayim to pray and to remove the bad
spirit from his hands. [He should
wash them without the blessing.]
- If one gets up before the morning light ( עמוד
השׁחר ) and he does N’tilas
Yadayim, it is questionable if he needs to wash another time when daybreak
arrives. [ He should wash them without the blessing. ]
- If one sleeps during the day, it is
questionable if he needs to pour water three times on each hand. [ He
should wash them without the blessing. ]
- David (the King) was careful to not sleep
sixty breaths in order to not feel the taste of death. [And the Gemara
states in the chapter ofהישׁן that David was only careful to do this during the
day.
- There are those who have the custom to wash
their mouth in the morning, because of mucous in the mouth.
- The instances when one must do N’tilas
Yadayim are the following: One who
gets up from his bed, one who goes out of the bathroom and from the
bathhouse, one who cuts his nails, one who removes his shoes, touches his
feet, one who scratches his head.
There are those who add one who walks between the dead, touches a
dead body, examines his garments for lice, has sex, touched a louse, and
touched his body with his hand. If
one did one of these things and did not wash his hands, if he is a torah
scholar, his learning will be forgotten.
And if he is not a torah scholar, he goes crazy.
- One who does bloodletting from his shoulders
and did not wash N’tilas Yadayim, he should be afraid for seven days. One who shaves and did not wash, he
should be afraid for 3 days. One
who cut his nails and did not wash, should be afraid for one day. And he does not know from what to be afraid
of.
- One who washed his face and did not was it
thoroughly; his face can become split or infested by boils. And the cure is to wash it with a lot
of סילקא
water.
- One should be careful while praying or when
eating to not touch his leg or thigh or in any place that people cover
since there are particles of sweat.
Also, one should not rub his head unless it is in a place that is
normally revealed like his face.
There is no reason to be careful with ones arms.
- If
one has no water, he should rub his hands with a rock, dirt or with
anything that can clean. He should
say the blessing with the substitution ידים נקיות על
and then get up for prayer. However, this does not remove the bad
spirit on them.
- The rabbis only instituted N’tilas Yadayim
for Kria Shima and for prayer. But
for the shacharis blessings, one can say them before doing N’tilas
Yadayim. This is unless one is
lying on his bed naked. Then, it
is forbidden him to mention G-d’s name until he cleans his hands.
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Translated by Jay Dinovitser. Although I have an extensive Yeshiva
background, I am neither a Rabbi nor the son of a Rabbi. If any question should arise with the
accuracy of this translation, consult a rabbinical authority. Please notify me of any errors that might
have been made in this free translation.
This material is free to distribute as long as no profit is being made off
of it and is not edited. I forbid
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