Speaking before hamotzi

Hi,

One should not speak at all after washing one's hands with the ritual netilat yadayim until after reciting the hamotzi blessing on the bread, and chewing and swallowing.

However: One who speaks briefly between netilat yadayim and hamotzi, such as by telling someone the time, need not wash again and recite a new blessing.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:132)

Have a good day,
Mordechai

Talking after netilat yadayim

Hi,

One should not speak after the ritual netilat yadayim hand-washing, before reciting the berachah and beginning to dry his hands. However, one who does speak at that point need not wash again, so long as he was careful not to touch anything that would trigger a new obligation to wash.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:128)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Rings and washing one's hands for bread

Hi,

One who always keeps his/her ring on may keep it on when washing the ritual netilat yadayim for bread as well. However, this person should make sure to use at least 4 ounces of water in each pouring of water, to effect ritual purification of the ring itself.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:127)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Standing for the berachah upon washing for bread

Hi,

Generally, a berachah recited before performing a mitzvah should be recited while standing. However, the berachah upon the ritual netilat yadayim washing for bread may be different because it leads to eating, and because the act of netilat yadayim itself may be performed while seated. Therefore, there is ample room to contend that one may sit for this berachah.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:125)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Contact after washing for bread

Hi,

One who has washed the ritual netilat yadayim for bread, and whose hands then touch another person's skin, needs to wash again. This is true even if the other person has also washed already.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:123)

המצפה לישועה,
Mordechai

Netilat Yadayim: Wet hands and dry hands

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

The size of a washing cup

Hi,

The washing cup used for ritual washing - whether when rising in the morning or for bread - must be able to hold at least a reviit - a little less than four ounces - of liquid.

(Mishneh Berurah 159:5)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Using a faucet to wash one's hands ritually

Hi,

For the ritual washing performed in the morning or before eating bread, the water must be poured on to the hands by human action. Opening a tap from a barrel or urn is considered human action. There is debate regarding a faucet from a water pipe, though, because the water must be poured from a keli [vessel], and it is not clear that the faucet suffices.

(Ishei Yisrael 2:8 and footnotes there)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Order of hand-washing for bread

Hi,

One should wash his right hand first when washing netilat yadayim for a meal. It is true that Kav haYashar (Rav Tzvi Hirsch Kaidanover, 1705) recommended that one wash the left first, for mystical reasons, but this is a minority view and it is not echoed by the normal halachic authorities.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 3:32)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

How much pat haba'ah b'kisnin triggers HaMotzi?

Hi,

We have learned that one who eats פת הבאה בכיסנין pat haba'ah b'kisnin, a type of grain-based bread which is not considered 'normal' bread in the eyes of Jewish law, need not wash beforehand and recite HaMotzi and Birkat haMazon. This may apply to pizza, for example.

However: One who eats a volume of pat haba'ah b'kisnin which is equal to the volume of bread consumed in a normal meal - as determined by the general practice in that society - is required to wash and recite HaMotzi and Birkat haMazon.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 3:32)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Netilat Yadayim with dirty hands

Hi,

Washing one's hands ritually for bread is ineffective if one's hands are dirty. However, "dirty" means that there is a physical substance interfering between one's skin and the water. If one's hands are stained, as with ink, but the skin is smooth and exposed entirely to the water, then one may wash ritually.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 2:110)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

A prayer before eating bread

Hi,

One may not add prayers after washing for bread and before the "HaMotzi", even if those prayers relate to the meal itself. At best this is an interruption between washing and HaMotzi, and at worst, if the prayer is intended to be a regular service, it is also a violation of "Bal Tosif", the prohibition against adding regular prayer.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 2:48)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Mezuman interrupts a meal

Hi,

One who responds to a mezuman but intends to keep eating may do so without a new hand-washing or berachah.

However, one who decides to stop eating, and then resumes his meal, must wash again for bread and must recite a new berachah upon the food. There is some debate about the berachah upon washing, though; consult your local authority, please.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 200:2; Mishneh Berurah 200:7; Shaar haTziyyun 200:9)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Washing on Yom Kippur, Part III

Hi,

Despite the prohibition against bathing on Yom Kippur, one who touches a part of the body that is normally covered, and therefore normally sweaty, must wash his fingers before prayer.

(Mishneh Berurah 613:6)

May we be inscribed and sealed for a great year,
Mordechai

Washing for bread, without water - Part III

Hi,

We have been learning about ways to handle Netilat Yadayim before meals when water is not available.

In addition to the options we have mentioned, one may dip his hands in a running stream so long as his hands are covered with water, even if it lacks the 40 seah a mikvah would have.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 158:13, 159:14)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Washing for bread, without water - Part II

Hi,

In our previous post we noted one solution for Netilat Yadayim in the absence of water.

The Shulchan Aruch notes an additional possibility: Eat with covered hands. It would be best to do this with both hands covered, to avoid the risk of accidental contact with the food by an unwashed hand.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 163:1; Mishneh Berurah 163:5)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Washing for bread, without water

Hi,

One who will travel, and who suspects he will not have water to wash for a meal, may use the following strategy: Wash and dry his hands, and then don gloves until he is ready to eat. He would be permitted to converse between washing and the meal, so long as he was careful not to remove his gloves.

Should water become available before the meal, though, this person would be required to re-wash.

(Mishneh Berurah 164:4)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Washing for bread, in the bathroom

Hi,

A frequent travel question: May one wash netilat yadayim before a meal, in a bathroom?

Aside from hygienic factors, one is not supposed to wash in a bathroom, for a couple of reasons:
1. One may not recite the berachah in there, and the berachah is to be recited before drying one's hands;
2. "Ruach ra'ah" is present in the bathroom, and one should not eat with ru'ach raah about him. [No, I can't translate ruach ra'ah, sorry.]

One who has no other place to wash may use water from the bathroom, but should ideally remove it from the bathroom and then wash away from that area.

(Har Tzvi Orach Chaim 1:50)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Washing in large gatherings and then waiting for the group

Hi,

First, a reminder that you can find Yom Kippur-related halachot by clicking here.

When a group gathers for a meal, it is good to have everyone participate in a single berachah, answering Amen to the leader's HaMotzi; this causes greater honor for Gd. However, if the group is large enough that there will be a significant pause between washing and eating, then one should not wait for the group.

Definining the "significant pause" is difficult, but note that the general advice of the Rama is to avoid a gap of time long enough to walk 22 amot - about 40 feet.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 165:2, 166:1; Mishneh Berurah 165:5)

גמר חתימה טובה, May we be sealed for a great year,
Mordechai

Covered parts of the body

Hello,

Regarding yesterday's post, in which I noted that touching the "covered parts of the body" would necessitate re-washing for bread, I have been asked to clarify the meaning of "covered parts of the body." After all, that changesfrom society to society, and from season to season.

In this area of law - washing for bread - the issue is fundamentally that of sweat; parts of the body which are covered tend to develop perspiration. Therefore, any part of the body which is covered on any given day is in this category.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 4:21; Mishneh Berurah 164:9, 4:54)

Have a great day,
Mordechai