Using a washing cup which has a hole in it

Hi,

One may use a washing cup which has a hole in it, if the hole is so small or narrow that were the cup placed in water, water would not enter.

One who is stuck may also use a pierced cup that can hold at least a reviit (a little less than four ounces) below the hole, if one washes by pouring water through the hole itself. This is not ideal, though, for some view the entire cup as a broken entity in such a case.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 159:1-2; Mishneh Berurah 159:8, 10-11)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The Netilat Yadayim Cup

Hi,

We have been discussing the laws of washing one's hands before eating bread.

For numerous laws of purification, such as washing before entering the beit hamikdash, one must wash using a kli - a durable receptacle made of certain materials (metal, stone and pottery, for example) that can hold a minimum of a reviit-volume (a little less than four ounces). Therefore, the sages used the same standard for hand-washing for bread.

Two important ramifications:

1. The materials requirement means that use of a disposable plastic receptacle is questionable, because that may not qualify as a kli. The same question may be asked even regarding a durable plastic receptacle. (For specifics on this, please ask your rabbi.)

2. The reviit-holding-receptacle requirement means that one who is washing for bread may not simply open and close a faucet. (There is room to discuss a faucet which has a long vertical segment directly above the faucet, such that there might be a reviit of water held in that segment before one opens the tap.)

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 159:1; Mishneh Berurah 159:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Drying one's hands after netilat yadayim

Hi,

One should dry his hands completely after washing, before touching the bread for his meal. This is for reasons of impurity as well as cleanliness.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 158:12; Mishneh Berurah 158:45)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The berachah of Al Netilat Yaddayim

Hi,

Ordinarily, we recite a berachah before performing a mitzvah (עובר לעשייתן). However, one who has not yet washed his hands may well have dirty hands, and in such a circumstance one should not recite a berachah.

Therefore, our practice is to recite the berachah after washing, but before drying our hands. Since drying one's hands is considered part of the mitzvah, it is still somewhat 'before' performance of the mitzvah.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 158:11-12; Mishneh Berurah 158:40-42)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Hand-washing for small amounts of bread

Hi,

Some suggest that one need not wash before eating volumes of bread smaller than an egg (because those cannot receive impurity) or smaller than an olive (because eating those is not called 'eating').

These points are subject to debate, and so our practice is to wash, and omit the berachah.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 158:2-3; Mishneh Berurah 158:9-10)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Pat haba'ah b'kisnin

Hi,

Eating bread made from the five grains (enumerated in yesterday's email) requires hand-washing. However, some breads do not require hand-washing, because they are not normally used as the centerpiece of a meal. We call these breads “פת הבאה בכיסנין pat habaah b'kisnin.”

There is some debate as to what qualifies as pat habaah b'kisnin. The Shulchan Aruch brings three possibilities:

1. Bread made of dough filled with honey, sugar, nuts and similar items. (Some suggest that raisin challah with too many raisins might enter this category.)

2. Dough kneaded with honey, milk, oil or spices, such that they impact the ultimate taste.

3. Dry biscuits that are designed for chewing rather than the basis for a meal.

In practice, we consider all of these to be pat habaah b'kisnin.

One who establishes a meal using any of these pseudo-breads is obligated to wash beforehand.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 158:1 and 168:7-8; Mishneh Berurah 158:7-8)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Washing for non-grain bread

Hi,

The enactment of hand-washing before bread is tied to bread made from material the Torah calls דגן. Bread made from other materials does not require hand-washing.

Traditionally, דגן is understood to include wheat, barley, rye, oats and spelt.

(Mishneh Berurah 158:7)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Why bread?

Hi,

We have offered two sources for the practice of netilat yadayim (hand-washing) before eating bread:
1) Preparation for terumah-tithe, and
2) Cleanliness.

Although terumah applies to more than bread, and although cleanliness applies to more than bread, we wash and recite a berachah only for bread. This is because:

1) Re: terumah - the main form of terumah is grain, which is generally made into bread;
2) Re: cleanlienss - the main concern was for cleanliness at a meal, and meals center around bread.

(Mishneh Berurah 158:2; Sha'ar haTziyyun 158:3)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Netilat Yadayim - Hand washing before meals

Hi,

Thanks for your patience this past week; I hope to return to posting these emails now.

We begin a new topic: Washing one's hands for bread meals.

The Mishneh Berurah cites two reasons for washing:

1) A decree dating back to times when kohanim ate terumah (a tithe separated from Israeli produce, per biblical requirement). In those days, out of concern for impurity when handling terumah, everyone washed before bread, including non-kohanim. The decree persists even now.

2) A practice of maintaining sanctified cleanliness when approaching a meal.

(Mishneh Berurah 158:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Taking extra measures to ensure honesty

Hi,

One must go to great lengths in order to prevent even the remote possibility of dishonesty.

Thus a shopkeeper who uses weights on his scale may not store his weights in a medium that might corrode them or otherwise alter their weight, and a cashier is responsible to wipe off the scale each time it is used, lest material from the last weighing remain there.

(Code of Jewish Law Choshen Mishpat 231:11, 13)

Note: The Daily Jewish Law will be on hiatus until after our move, Gd-willing.

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Honest weights and measures

Hi,

One who sells products by weight or volume is obligated to make sure that his receptacles and weights are accurate. This is not dependent on who the consumer is, or what the consumer would accept.

Ahus a merchant is not even allowed to keep inaccurate weights or receptacles around; this is a biblical prohibition.

(Code of Jewish Law Choshen Mishpat 231:1, 3)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Taxes

Hi,

Assuming tax collection is done in a law-abiding manner (as opposed to random taxation by a private person who has bought the right of taxation from the government), one is not allowed to cheat on his taxes, whether the government is Jewish or non-Jewish. Cheating on one's taxes constitutes theft, as well as desecration of Gd's Name.

(Code of Jewish Law Choshen Mishpat 369:6)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Benefiting from stolen goods

Hi,

One may not knowingly benefit from the dishonesty of others.

For example, one may not purchase an item that he knows to be stolen. Further, one may not purchase anything from, or accept a gift from, a person who is a known thief, lest he unknowingly accept benefit from stolen property.

(Code of Jewish Law Choshen Mishpat 369:1, 3)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The authority of government

Hi,

The halachic requirements of honesty apply whether dealing with Jews or non-Jews, individuals or government.

Thus, for example, the Code of Jewish Law rules that if a Jew finds property that has been entirely abandoned, but government law requires that such property be returned, then he must honestly comply with the government's law.

(Code of Jewish Law Choshen Mishpat 259:7)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Bentching on company time

Hi,

A worker who is paid by time (ie by the hour or day) is required to be extra-careful not to waste time. If he eats, he is not permitted to recite the Birkat haMazon (blessing after meals) beyond the core three blessings.

[This assumes that one is working at a job for which he is only permitted time to eat. However, one who is working at a job in which it is understood that he has a given time for breaks is obligated to recite the full Birkat haMazon during that break.]

(Code of Jewish Law Choshen Mishpat 337:20)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Local practice and contractual agreements

Hi,

We are taught that all agreements and contracts made with members of the Jewish community are linked to local custom within the Jewish community - meaning that if an issue in the agreement is not spelled out, the default is that the parties will follow local Jewish custom. This applies to goods and services, as well as other points of a contract, such as a laborer's hours.

For example: If one were to open a dry cleaning business, and the local Jewish practice was for cleaners to press garments as well as to clean them, and he only wanted to clean the clothing without pressing, then he would need to stipulate that arrangement at the time when people would give him clothing. To do otherwise would be dishonest.

Note that "local practice" is not something that happened once or twice, and people liked. "Local practice" is defined as something which is common and has happened many times.

(Code of Jewish Law Choshen Mishpat 331:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Giving good advice

Hi,

We are instructed not to physically, verbally or otherwise cause anyone to stumble. Thus if someone asks me for advice, I am responsible to give him the frank advice that is best for him.

(Maimonides, Book of Mitzvot, Prohibition 299)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Truth in advertising

Hi,

We have been discussing Honesty.

One may not beautify a product for sale if the beautification will cover up a flaw, unless consumers normally test the product in a way that will uncover the flaw.

For example: One who is selling a beverage may not add a coloring agent that will mask its dilution, unless it is standard for the consumer to taste the beverage before buying it.

(Code of Jewish Law Choshen Mishpat 228:9-14)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Honesty about honor

Hi,

One may not perform an act which a beneficiary might think was done in his honor, if it really wasn't for his honor. For example, one may not open a new bottle of wine at a meal, indicating it's in honor of one of the participants, if one would have opened the bottle regardless.

However: If the natural assumption would not be that it was for the honor of the participant, then one may do it without explaining otherwise.

For example: If I come out of my house and encounter a friend down the street, and he assumes that I came out just to greet him, I need not let him know that I was coming out of my house anyway - the normal assumption is that I happened to encounter him, not that I left my house and walked all the way down the street just to greet him.

(Code of Jewish Law Choshen Mishpat 228:6)

Have a good day,
Mordechai