Hi,
I was washing netilas yadayim for bread, and after
one pour, my wet hand touched my dry hand. Do I need to start again?
The goal of washing netilas yadayim for bread is to
remove a low level of ambient impurity from one's hands. After ascertaining
that there is no dirt on one's hands, one pours a first round of water, which
purifies her hands, but renders the water remaining on her hands impure. Then
one pours a second round of water, which purifies the water on her hands. [Some
pour a third round, for reasons beyond the scope of this paragraph.]
Because the first round of washing leaves the water on the
wet hand impure, touching the wet hand to the dry hand renders the dry hand
impure, and netilas yadayim cannot remove that impurity. Therefore, one
should dry both hands, and then start washing again.
However: If the first pour on the wet hand contained at
least four ounces of water, then one need not dry and re-start; that quantity
of water does not become impure.
(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 162:2, 4; Mishneh Berurah
162:18-21,32-37)
Have a great day,
Mordechai
Good morning, Is there is a sound basis to washing 3 times on each hand as well as grasping the kli's wet handles with a towel? Michael Felder
ReplyDeleteThree times - Yes; see the Shulchan Aruch I referred to in the post.
ReplyDeleteGrasping the wet handles with a towel - If it is before the hand is washed, yes. There is a view that one's hands must be dry until they are ritually washed.