We again return to the Gemara (Sota 4b) and the statement of R. Abahu: “Eating bread without first wiping one’s hands is like eating defiled bread, as Ezekiel 4:13 states, ‘Vayomer Hashem, kocha yochlu Bnei Yisrael et lachmam tamei bagoyim asher adichem shomoh – G-d said: Thus will the children of Israel eat their food [bread], unclean, among the nations where I will banish them.’” Rashi (s.v. “kol ha’ochel bli…”) explains: “Eating without wiping one’s hands is considered ma’os – loathsome – and like tum’ah – being ritually defiled – as Scripture states, ‘…kocha yochlu Bnei Yisrael et lachmam tamei – …thus will the children of Israel eat their food, unclean.’ Thus, we see that something loathsome is considered to be ritually defiled.”
Rabbi Goldstein continues: “It would seem that Rashi means to say that R. Abahu is of the view that if one washed his hands to eat and did not wipe them, and he eats in that state with hands that are wet, this is a loathsome act, and when one eats a loathsome thing it is considered as if he is eating a defiled bread. The preceding verse (Ezekiel 4:12) states, ‘V’ugot se’orim tochlenah v’hi b’gelelei ha’adam t’egenah l’eineihem – You shall eat it as a barley cake, and you shall bake it with pieces of human excrement, before your eyes.’ This means that they would dry the waste and fire them until they were like coals and it was upon these coals that they would bake their breads.”
He notes that the Metzudat David explains the prophet’s words in much the same manner. Thus, the verse’s meaning is that Bnei Yisrael (in their exile) eat their bread defiled. In other words, a loathsome substance is referred to as a defiled substance.
The Maharsha (to Sotah 4b) refers to Rashi’s explanation and dismisses it. “Rather,” he argues, “we must say that the explanation is to be based on the end of the verse, ‘asher adichem shomoh – where I will banish them.’ Expound the word ‘adichem’ [in addition to its simple translation, banish] from the expression ‘hadachat mayyim’ – rinsing with water. Thus, we can explain that their bread was defiled simply because the water with which they rinsed their hands was still there. This means that they did not wipe their hands from that water.”
Apparently, as the Maharsha explains, R. Abahu believes that the reason to wipe one’s hands is not because it is a matter of mi’us, but rather because the water remaining on one’s hands is defiled. Consequently, the bread one touches will become defiled too.
We see the Maharsha’s explanation in the words of Beit Yosef, who cites the Semag (at the end of the positive precept #27): “One who washes his hands must first wipe them before he eats. The Tur (O.C. 158) states, ‘He must wipe them well before he says the blessing and eats bread, as R. Abahu states: “Eating bread without first wiping one’s hands is like eating defiled bread.”’ The words lachmam tamei – ‘their bread is defiled’ – in Ezekiel 4:13 has as their gematria ‘b’lo niguv yadayim – without having wiped one’s hands.’ Thus, we see that not wiping them causes the hands to actually be defiled according to this view. It’s not merely a matter of loathsomeness or disgust.”
(To be continued)