Netilat Yadayim: The Mitzvah That Brings Wealth

What? Netilat yadayim is the rabbinic commandment to purify our hands by pouring water over them. This mitzvah is one of seven rabbinic commandments established by King Shlomo: "Rabbi Yehuda said in the name of Shmuel: When Shlomo established eruvin and netilat yadayim, a heavenly voice proclaimed: 'My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will rejoice'" (Eruvin 21).

When a person engages in certain ordinary activities such as sleeping, touching a carcass or covered body parts, entering a bathroom or cemetery, getting a haircut, shaving, or cutting nails, among other things, his hands become impure. Around the time of the destruction of the Second Temple, the Sages broadened the mitzvah of netilat yadayim and established that it is also forbidden to eat bread without washing hands (Chullin 106a).

Some say that the term "netilat yadayim" means taking ("netilat") water in a vessel to wash hands; others maintain that the term "netilat yadayim" derives from the Aramaic word "natla," which refers to the cup used for washing hands.

Why? The Rashba (a well-known early halachic authority) writes that we wash netilat yadayim in the morning because "after sleep, a person becomes like a new creation... therefore one needs to give thanks and sanctify oneself with netilat yadayim, like a kohen who sanctifies his hands from a basin before his service."

There are two reasons why we wash our hands before eating: One is connected to terumah (the agricultural offering given to a kohen for personal use). In essence, the Sages decreed that everyone should wash their hands before eating so that the kohanim would also be accustomed to washing their hands before eating the terumah. Even though nowadays the Temple is long destroyed, and for generations kohanim have not eaten terumah due to impurity, the rabbinical ordinance to wash our hands before eating remains in effect, for the Temple will soon be rebuilt, and we must be prepared and accustomed to the practices of purity. Additionally, we wash our hands before eating since our hands are active and touch sweaty or unclean places, and it is inappropriate to eat with dirty hands. To maintain the purity and sanctity of eating, the Sages established the practice of washing our hands before meals.

Something to think about. The Sages emphasized the importance of being careful about netilat yadayim, and even noted that being careful about netilat yadayim is a segulah (spiritual remedy) for wealth, while disregarding it can bring a person to poverty. It's also important to know that even if one's hands are clean, and he just washed them with soap and water, he is still obligated to wash netilat yadayim before a meal