The Beginner's Guide: How to Wash Hands

1. Ritual hand washing is one of the fundamental and important mitzvot in Judaism. It is a simple commandment that requires little effort, takes only a few seconds, and requires just a vessel and water.

2. The mitzvah of ritual hand washing has significant spiritual effects on a person, so much so that Rabbi Eliezer the Great, Rabbi Akiva's teacher, wrote in his testament: "My son, be cautious with hand washing, as this is a mitzvah that stands at the pinnacle of the world." This mitzvah is one of the seven rabbinic mitzvot and was instituted by King Solomon: "Rav Yehuda said in the name of Shmuel: When Solomon instituted commandments of eruvin (domains on Shabbat) and hand washing, a heavenly voice declared: 'My son, if your heart is wise, my heart will rejoice.'" (Eruvin 21)

3. The purpose of washing hands in the morning is to remove the spirit of impurity that rests on a person overnight. When a person sleeps, a spirit of impurity resides on their body, and upon awakening, with the return of their soul, the light of the soul illuminates the person and clears away the spirit of impurity from their entire body, except the hands. Through ritual hand washing, the negative spirit is removed, and the person is purified to serve Hashem (as explained by the Ramchal).

4. The mitzvah of ritual hand washing is performed as follows: Begin by pouring water on the right hand, then on the left, alternately, three times on each hand for a total of six times. Afterwards, wash the face with water, and recite the blessing: "Blessed are You, Hashem, Our God, King of the Universe, who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us regarding the washing of hands."

5. The Zohar explains that the reason for washing hands in the morning is because when a person sleeps, part of their soul leaves the body and returns in the morning upon waking. As a result, a spirit of impurity akin to death rests upon the person, concentrated at the fingertips. To remove this negative spirit, one should wash hands as instructed.

6. Before washing hands, a negative spirit rests on them. Care should be taken not to touch other body parts or food before the washing.

7. It is a mitzvah to educate children to wash their hands and to ensure this practice begins when they start touching food themselves.

8. In addition to morning hand washing, Jewish law requires diligence in washing hands multiple times throughout the day:

* Upon waking in the morning: "Wash your hands and bless regarding the hand washing." (Shulchan Aruch, Laws of Morning Conduct, Siman 4, Seif 1)

* After leaving the bathroom, even if no discharges occurred, and from the bathhouse even without bathing, due to the negative spirit hovering in these places." (Shulchan Aruch, Laws of Morning Conduct, Siman 4, Seif 18)

* Before eating a meal, "Anyone who eats bread upon which the ha-motzi blessing is said must first wash their hands, even if it's standard bread, and even if their hands are not dirty or impure, they shouldn't eat until both hands are washed..." (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Blessings, Chapter 6, Halacha 1).

* After a meal, clean the remaining food residue from the hands: "After-meal washing is an obligation." (Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim, Siman 181, Seif 1)

* In various situations defined by Jewish law: cutting one’s nails, removing shoes, touching feet, washing one’s head, touching a corpse, engaging in marital relations, and touching one’s body in unclean areas that produce sweat (Shulchan Aruch, Laws of Morning Conduct, Siman 4, Seif 18-19). See there for more cases that require hand washing by law.