For that reason, the Mechaber (O.C. 158:13) rules that a person who immerses his hands in a mikveh may eat without first wiping them. The same is true if a revi’it of water is poured over both a person’s hands (at the same time or individually).
We see from the Beit Yosef and Tur that the reason that wiping is ordinarily required is because of tum’ah, in accordance with the Maharsha (to Sotah 4b). This is not in accord with Rashi, as we noted earlier, who writes that wiping is necessary because eating without wiping is loathsome (mi’us). Therefore, we must say that if the Maharsha requires a person to wipe his hands it is because he used less than a rev’it. If he used a full revi’it (on both hands at the same time, or a revi’it on each hand separately), the Maharsha would not require any wiping at all.
Rabbi Goldstein points out a difficulty: “Rashi says that the reason [to wipe one’s hands] is because of mi’us and not because the hands are rendered defiled. If so, even when someone immersed his hands or poured more than one revi’it on his hands, he should nevertheless be required to wipe them. Yet we see in the Tosefta (Yadayim) that he need not wipe his hands.” Why not?
(To be continued)
