Post by Rabbi Neil on Apr 23, 2020 17:43:16 GMT
When Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis arrived at the General Hospital in Vienna in 1847, he was troubled by the high mortality rate of mothers in the maternity ward who contracted puerperal or “childbed” fever. And he was puzzled by the vastly different rates of fever in two different maternity wards, one staffed by physicians and the other by midwives. After careful study of the two wards, Dr. Semmelweis came up with a novel hypothesis: the physicians also did autopsies, and they were carrying particles on their hands from their work in pathology to the maternity ward, causing the mothers to contract infections. The answer to the problem was simple: physicians were to wash their hands with a chlorinated lime solution before delivering the babies. Sure enough, once doctors started washing their hands, the rate of childbed fever dropped to less than 2%. Even though Dr. Semmelweis was right, he was ridiculed, criticized, and even locked up in an asylum until his untimely death at age 47 from sepsis. But his 1 discovery - that washing our hands prevents disease - has remained one of the greatest lifesaving insights in modern history. Of course, Jews, like many other ancient peoples, knew about the importance of washing our hands centuries before Dr. Semmelweis came along.
The Shulchan Arukh, written in 1563, gives us several guidelines for handwashing: “The following things require washing the hands in water [after them]: One who rises from bed, goes out of the bathroom, or out of the bath house, one who cuts his nails, takes off his shoes, touches his feet, or washes his head, some say: also one who goes among the dead, or touched the dead, one who cleanses his clothes of lice, has sexual intercourse, touches a louse, or touches his body with his hand. Anyone doing any of these and not washing his hands, if he is a scholar, his studies are forgotten, and if he is not a scholar, he goes out of his mind” (Orach Chayim 4:18). The Code also wisely suggests that “one should not put his hands in his mouth, ears, eyes, or nose before washing one's hands” (Orach Chayim 4:3). Now, Joseph Karo, the author of the Shulhan Arukh, didn’t know from germs. But he, like Jews in the centuries before him, had an intuition that washing our hands was an important spiritual practice. Pure hands lead to a pure body and soul. The Torah first commands handwashing for the Kohanim, the priests, before they offer sacrifices in the Mishkan. So we read in Exodus: “The Eternal spoke to Moses, saying: ‘Make a laver of copper and a stand of copper for it, for washing; and place it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar. Put water in it, and let Aaron and his sons wash their hands and feet [in water drawn] from it. When they enter the Tent of Meeting they shall wash with water, that they may not die; or when they approach the altar to serve, to turn into smoke an offering by fire to the Eternal, they shall wash their hands and feet, that they may not die. It shall be a law for all time for them—for him and his offspring—throughout the ages’” (Exodus 30:17-21).
Aside from ritual purity, handwashing was also associated with moral purity in the Torah. Deuteronomy prescribes the strange ritual of the eglah arufah, the broken-necked heifer, in the case of an unsolved murder. “The elders of the town nearest to the corpse shall then take a heifer which has never been worked, which has never pulled in a yoke; and the elders of that town shall bring the heifer down to an everflowing wadi, which is not tilled or sown. There, in the wadi, they shall break the heifer’s neck… Then all the elders of the town nearest to the corpse shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the wadi. And they shall make this declaration: ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done. Absolve, Eternal One, Your people Israel whom You redeemed, and do not let guilt for the blood of the innocent remain among Your people Israel.’ And they will be absolved of bloodguilt” (Deut. 21:1-9). The elders of the town wash their hands as a sign of their innocence. This idea is also reflected in the Psalms: “I wash my hands in innocence, and walk around Your altar, Eternal One” (Psalm 26:6).
After the Temple was destroyed, the practice of handwashing was extended to all Jews, not just the priests. And in addition to washing first thing in the morning, after using the bathroom, and the other activities I mentioned before, washing hands before eating bread became the most important instance of the practice. The reason is obscure -- the Talmud simply says it’s for “holiness” (Ber. 53b), while the 19th-century Mishnah Berurah suggests that it is so people are accustomed to washing their hands before eating, so that when the Temple is rebuilt, the priests will be ready to resume their duties. Until that day, our table is our altar and our bread is our offering. As Rabbi Solomon Ganzfried writes in the Kitzur Shulhan Arukh, “To serve the Creator, Blessed be the Name, therefore a person must be sanctified and wash his hands from a vessel, just as a Kohein washed his hands each day from the special basin located in the Temple prior to his service.” Leonard Felder, psychologist and author of the book “Seven Prayers That Can Change Your Life,” suggests that the ritual of handwashing can be used as a way to focus our intention on the ways we use our hands. He points out that the blessing that is said before washing is “vitzivanu al n’tilat yadayim,” which literally means “Who commands us concerning the lifting up of hands.” So, Felder concludes, washing our hands is a way of raising up our reason for living. The ritual invites us:
1. To set [our] intention that [we] want to be of service to the Creator;
2. To imagine [ourselves] like a high priest at the Temple preparing for a service;
3. And to move and speak in a way that serves up an offering to the One who gave [us our] gifts.
As Rabbi Marder likes to remind us, we are the hands of God. Reciting the blessing and washing our hands can connect us to our sacred purpose. We will all be doing a lot of handwashing in the coming days as we do everything we can to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. So let’s take this opportunity to reconnect to an ancient Jewish practice, focusing our attention on the health and wholeness of both our bodies and our souls. Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha’olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav, v’tzivanu al n’tilat yadayim. Blessed Are You, Eternal our God, Ruler of the universe, who sanctifies us with commandments and commands us concerning the lifting up of hands. May we lift up our hands for righteous purposes, and may the work of our hands be fulfilled.
The Shulchan Arukh, written in 1563, gives us several guidelines for handwashing: “The following things require washing the hands in water [after them]: One who rises from bed, goes out of the bathroom, or out of the bath house, one who cuts his nails, takes off his shoes, touches his feet, or washes his head, some say: also one who goes among the dead, or touched the dead, one who cleanses his clothes of lice, has sexual intercourse, touches a louse, or touches his body with his hand. Anyone doing any of these and not washing his hands, if he is a scholar, his studies are forgotten, and if he is not a scholar, he goes out of his mind” (Orach Chayim 4:18). The Code also wisely suggests that “one should not put his hands in his mouth, ears, eyes, or nose before washing one's hands” (Orach Chayim 4:3). Now, Joseph Karo, the author of the Shulhan Arukh, didn’t know from germs. But he, like Jews in the centuries before him, had an intuition that washing our hands was an important spiritual practice. Pure hands lead to a pure body and soul. The Torah first commands handwashing for the Kohanim, the priests, before they offer sacrifices in the Mishkan. So we read in Exodus: “The Eternal spoke to Moses, saying: ‘Make a laver of copper and a stand of copper for it, for washing; and place it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar. Put water in it, and let Aaron and his sons wash their hands and feet [in water drawn] from it. When they enter the Tent of Meeting they shall wash with water, that they may not die; or when they approach the altar to serve, to turn into smoke an offering by fire to the Eternal, they shall wash their hands and feet, that they may not die. It shall be a law for all time for them—for him and his offspring—throughout the ages’” (Exodus 30:17-21).
Aside from ritual purity, handwashing was also associated with moral purity in the Torah. Deuteronomy prescribes the strange ritual of the eglah arufah, the broken-necked heifer, in the case of an unsolved murder. “The elders of the town nearest to the corpse shall then take a heifer which has never been worked, which has never pulled in a yoke; and the elders of that town shall bring the heifer down to an everflowing wadi, which is not tilled or sown. There, in the wadi, they shall break the heifer’s neck… Then all the elders of the town nearest to the corpse shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the wadi. And they shall make this declaration: ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done. Absolve, Eternal One, Your people Israel whom You redeemed, and do not let guilt for the blood of the innocent remain among Your people Israel.’ And they will be absolved of bloodguilt” (Deut. 21:1-9). The elders of the town wash their hands as a sign of their innocence. This idea is also reflected in the Psalms: “I wash my hands in innocence, and walk around Your altar, Eternal One” (Psalm 26:6).
After the Temple was destroyed, the practice of handwashing was extended to all Jews, not just the priests. And in addition to washing first thing in the morning, after using the bathroom, and the other activities I mentioned before, washing hands before eating bread became the most important instance of the practice. The reason is obscure -- the Talmud simply says it’s for “holiness” (Ber. 53b), while the 19th-century Mishnah Berurah suggests that it is so people are accustomed to washing their hands before eating, so that when the Temple is rebuilt, the priests will be ready to resume their duties. Until that day, our table is our altar and our bread is our offering. As Rabbi Solomon Ganzfried writes in the Kitzur Shulhan Arukh, “To serve the Creator, Blessed be the Name, therefore a person must be sanctified and wash his hands from a vessel, just as a Kohein washed his hands each day from the special basin located in the Temple prior to his service.” Leonard Felder, psychologist and author of the book “Seven Prayers That Can Change Your Life,” suggests that the ritual of handwashing can be used as a way to focus our intention on the ways we use our hands. He points out that the blessing that is said before washing is “vitzivanu al n’tilat yadayim,” which literally means “Who commands us concerning the lifting up of hands.” So, Felder concludes, washing our hands is a way of raising up our reason for living. The ritual invites us:
1. To set [our] intention that [we] want to be of service to the Creator;
2. To imagine [ourselves] like a high priest at the Temple preparing for a service;
3. And to move and speak in a way that serves up an offering to the One who gave [us our] gifts.
As Rabbi Marder likes to remind us, we are the hands of God. Reciting the blessing and washing our hands can connect us to our sacred purpose. We will all be doing a lot of handwashing in the coming days as we do everything we can to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. So let’s take this opportunity to reconnect to an ancient Jewish practice, focusing our attention on the health and wholeness of both our bodies and our souls. Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha’olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav, v’tzivanu al n’tilat yadayim. Blessed Are You, Eternal our God, Ruler of the universe, who sanctifies us with commandments and commands us concerning the lifting up of hands. May we lift up our hands for righteous purposes, and may the work of our hands be fulfilled.