Question: Should we wash our hands in the bathroom with soap and water, or by pouring water from a vessel with handles three times, alternating hands? I have heard it said that a vessel is used only in the morning upon awakening. What are the rules pertaining to young children? What is the protocol if no vessel is available? Additionally, may we dry our hands via an electric dryer?
Harry Koenigsberg
(Via E-Mail)
Summary of our response up to this point: Last week, we mentioned that the Mechaber (Orach Chayyim 4:1) rules that upon arising in the morning, a person must wash his hands and recite the blessing “Al Netilat Yadayim.” One should take care to pour water over one’s hands three times in order to remove the evil spirit that rests upon them at night.
The Rashba explains that in the morning, our souls return to our bodies and we are created anew. That is why our Sages instituted the morning blessings – as a means of thanking G-d. The Zohar elaborates that at night, when we sleep, our holy souls ascend to heaven and an evil spirit descends on our bodies in their absence. When the souls return in the morning, the evil spirit leaves but lingers on our hands. The Zohar specifies that water must be poured on our hands from a vessel.
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The Rishon LeTzion, the Chief Sephardic Rabbi of Israel, HaRav Yitzhak Yosef, writes in Yalkut Yosef (Hashkamat Haboker U’netilat Yadayim Shacharit 13) that even according to the Zohar, one who sleeps with gloves is allowed – from a strict halachic point – min ha’din – to say blessings and study Torah without netilat yadayim since the evil spirit does not rest on gloved hands that much. In fact, this is what Rabbi Zalman of Vilna (the brother of the Vilna Gaon) used to do. Rabbi Yosef adds that one should wear gloves before one goes to sleep if water is not readily available.
What does Rav Yosef mean by saying that the evil spirit does not rest on gloved hands “that much”? As he writes in his notes, the question of wearing gloves at night was asked of Rabbi Nissim Katzuri, who answered (Ma’aseh Nissim p. 55) as follows: The Beit Yosef (in his longer commentary to the Tur [Yoreh De’ah 116 sv “v’tzorich li’zaher…”]) quotes the Gemara (Pesachim 112a) which states that food left under a bed, even in a sealed iron container, is vulnerable to contamination by evil spirits. If so, of what value are gloves?
The Mishnah Berurah (Orach Chayim 4:10) notes that pouring a large quantity of water at once on each hand (for netilat yadayim for Shacharit) is not sufficient. One must alternate between right hand and left hand. He quotes the Ma’aseh Rav who suggests washing each hand a total of four times: three times in order to eliminate the evil spirit, and a fourth time to rinse away the water that has become defiled. It seems, however, that the Mishnah Berurah does not subscribe to this opinion since he continues: It is important to caution women to also wash their hands three times, alternating between right hand and left hand, just as men do, since they prepare food.
Commenting on the ruling of the Mechaber (op. cit. 4:6) that there is no need for a revi’it for washing one’s hands before prayer, the Mishnah Berurah (infra 4:15) argues that this ruling is applicable only when there is a small quantity of water available. However, a priori, a person should make sure to use a revi’it.