Ablution in Judaism
Encyclopedia
Ritual washing in Judaism, or ablution, takes two main forms. A tevilah (טְבִילָה) is a full body immersion in a mikveh, and a netilat yadayim which is the washing of the hands with a cup.
References to ritual washing are found in the Hebrew Bible
, and are elaborated in the Mishnah
and Talmud
. They have been codified in various codes of Jewish law and tradition, such as Maimonides
's Mishneh Torah
(12th century) and Joseph Karo's Shulchan Aruch
(16th century.) These customs are most commonly observed within Orthodox Judaism
. In Conservative Judaism
, the practices are normative with certain leniencies and exceptions. Ritual washing is not generally performed in Reform Judaism
.
And also references to hand-washing:
basins which served as baths have been identified, and among the Dead Sea scrolls texts on maintaining ritual purity reflect the requirements of Leviticus.
and received traditions. There is disagreement, however, about the origins and meanings of these practices. This article first describes these practices as they exist in contemporary traditional Judaism, then discusses various alternative perspectives on their nature, origins, and meaning.
Traditional Judaism requires certain types of ritual washing. Some of these types do not require a special ritual body of water (and can be done with tap water):
Other occasions require full immersion in a special body of water, such as a spring
, stream, or mikveh:
15:11. The Talmud
inferred the specific requirements of hand-washing from these passages.
The general Hebrew term for ritual hand washing is netilat yadayim, meaning lifting up of the hands. The term "the washing of hands" after evacuation is sometimes referred to as "to wash asher yatzar" referring to the bracha (blessing) said which starts with these words.
Halakha
(Jewish law) requires that the water used for ritual washing be naturally pure, unused, not contain other substances, and not be discoloured. The water also must be poured from a vessel as a human act, on the basis of references in the Bible to this practice, e.g. Elisha
pouring water upon the hands of Elijah. Water should be poured on each hand at least twice. A clean dry substance should be used instead if water is unavailable.
term negel vasser, meaning nail water. This Yiddish term is also used for a special cup used for such washing.
.
The Gemarah of the Babylonian talmud contains homilectic descriptions of the importance of the practice, including an argument that washing before meals is so important that neglecting it is tantamount to unchastity
, and risks divine punishment in the form of sudden destruction or poverty. The discussion of mayim acharonim, washing after meals, contains a suggestion that washing after meals, as a health measure, is the more important of the two washings, on grounds that the salt used as a preservative in food could cause blindness if the eyes were rubbed without washing.
Although mayim acharonim was once not widely practiced (for example, until recently it did not appear in many Orthodox Passover Haggadahs) it has undergone something of a revival and has become more widely observed in recent years, particularly for special meals such as the Shabbat
and Jewish holidays. Conservative Judaism
has supported discontinuing the practice of mayim acharonim on the grounds that the rabbis of the Talmud instituted it as a health measure, and since modern foods no longer contain preservatives so dangerous as to cause blindness upon contact with the eyes, washing the hands after meals is no longer required and can be discontinued by contemporary rabbinic decision.
The standard Passover Seder
has an additional, third washing, prior to eating the green vegetable, which is considered an act of eating separate from the meal. In Orthodox Judaism, it also has the same types of washings as any other meal, one before the meal and one after. Only the one before the meal is generally done outside Orthodox Judaism
According to the Shulchan Aruch
, a person should wash both hands before prayer, based on a tradition requiring ritual purification upon entering the Temple in Jerusalem
, in whose absence prayer, in Orthodox Judaism
, serves in its place.
(and, in some cases, in Conservative Judaism
), Kohanim, members of the priestly class, offer the Priestly Blessing
before the congregation on certain occasions. Before performing their offices, they are required to wash their hands. Judaism traditionally traces this requirement to the Torah
:
It is customary for Levites to pour the water over the hands of the Kohanim and to assist them in other ways. In many communities, washing the feet before the Priestly Blessing is not practiced in the absence of a Temple in Jerusalem
.
states God commanded Jews to wash the hands and provides the text of the netilat yadaim blessing still in use.
According to the Shulchan Aruch
a person who slept is required to wash upon arising, and says the natilat yadayim blessing.
This article discusses the requirements of immersion in Rabbinic Judaism and its descendents. Some other branches of Judaism, such as Falasha Judaism, have substantially different practices including the requirement of an actual spring or stream.
prescribes rituals addressing the skin condition known as tzaraath
and unusual genital discharges in a man or women (Zav/Zavah
), which required special sacrifices and rituals in the days of the Temple in Jerusalem
which included immersion in a mikveh. In addition, a period of ritual impurity following a seminal discharge (keri
) and a during and following a women's niddah
period around menstruation ended with ritual immersion.
The practice of checking for tzaraath
fell out of use with the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and the end of sacrificial rites. However, each of the other requirements remains in effect to some extent in Orthodox Judaism and (to a lesser degree) in Conservative Judaism
.
remains fully observed in Orthodox Judaism and normative in Conservative Judaism. Women's ritual immersion prior to resuming sexual relations following their niddah period remains the principal use of contemporary mikvehs.
and remained in a state of ritual impurity for 7 days prior to immersion. Today, the law of zavah remains in effect in Orthodox Judaism, in two respects. Due to extreme conditions in Roman Palestine in the time of the Amoraim, women's periods became irregular, and women became unable to determine whether or not their discharges were regular (niddah) or irregular (zavah). As a result, women adapted a stringency combining the niddah and zavah periods, refraining from intercourse and physical contact with their husbands for seven days of the zavah period following menstruation, for a total of approximately 12 days per month, which Orthodox women continue to observe today. The laws of zavah are also applied, as in Biblical times, to uterine blood discharges outside regular menstruation. Such circumstances are often interpreted leniently, however, and rabbinic stratagems have been devised to lessen their severity. Women experiencing irregularities (droplets) are sometimes advised to wear coloured underwear to mitigate the detectability of evidence of zavah status and hence a need to determine that a woman is a zavah.
ascribes to the Great Assembly
of Ezra
a Rabbinic decree imposing further restrictions on men ritually impure from a seminal discharge, including a prohibition on studying Torah and from participating in services.
Maimonides
wrote a responsum lifting the decree of Ezra, based on an opinion in the Talmud stating that it had failed to be observed by a majority of the community and the Jewish people found themselves unable to sustain it. However, Maimonides continued to follow the Keri restrictions as a matter of personal observance. Since the decree of Maimonides
, observance of the rules of Keri and hence regular mikweh use by men fell into disuse in many communities. Hasidic Judaism
, however, revived the practice of regular mikva use, advocating regular daily mikweh use as a way of achieving spiritual purity. The growth of Hasidic Judaism resulted in a revival of mikweh use by men. In addition, some Sephardic
and Mizrahi communities continued to observe the rules of keri throughout.
, anyone who comes into contact with or carries any creature that hadn't been deliberately killed by shechita
was regarded by the biblical regulations as having made themselves unclean by doing so, and therefore was compelled to immerse their entire body. This regulation is immediately preceded by the rule against eating anything still containing blood, and according to biblical scholars this is also the context of the regulation about not eating non-sacrifices - that the regulation only treats such consumption as unclean if there is a risk of blood still remaining within the carcass. In the version of this regulation in Deuteronomy
, eating the bodies of such creatures isn't described as making an individual ritually impure, nor requires the eater to wash their body, but instead such consumption is expressely forbidden, although the creature is allowed to be passed on to a stranger, who is permitted to eat it.
, was so ritually impure that they had to be sprinkled with the water produced from the red heifer
ritual, in order to become ritually pure again; however, the person who carried out the red heifer ritual and who sprinkled the water, was to be treated as having become ritually impure by doing so. According to biblical scholars, this ritual derives from the same origin as the ritual described in Deuteronomy
for a group of people to atone
for murder by an unknown perpetrator, according to which a heifer is killed at a stream, and hands are washed over it; biblical scholars believe that these are both ultimately cases of sympathetic magic
, and similar rituals existed in Greek and Roman mythology. The masoretic text
describes the water produced from the red heifer ritual as a sin offering; some English translations discount this detail, because it differs from other sin offerings by not being killed at the altar, although biblical scholars believe that this demonstrates a failure by these translations to understand the meaning of sin offerings.
, as children are washed when born; according to Eliezer ben Joel HaLevi
, a prominent rishon
, argued that the corpse should be cleansed carefully, including the ears and fingers, with nails pared and hair combed, so that the corpse could be laid to rest in the manner that the person had visited the synagogue
during life. Washing of corpses was not observed among the Jews living in Persian Babylon
, for which they were criticised as dying in filth, without a candle and without a bath; at the time, the non-Jewish Persians were predominantly Zoroastrian, and consequently believed that dead bodies were inherently ritually unclean, and should be exposed to the elements in a Tower of Silence to avoid defiling the earth with them.
In the early periods the body was washed in a standard mikveh, and this is frequently the form of the ritual in the present day, but the traditional washing ceremony, known as tahara, became quite detailed over time. A special building for the corpse-washing existed in the cemetery in 15th century Prague
, a practice which obtains in many Jewish communities today; a mikveh is provided at a number of ancient tombs. Female corpses are traditionally cleaned only by other females, and males only by other males.
Between death and the traditional ceremony, the body is placed on the ground, and covered with a sheet, and at the start of the traditional ceremony, the body is lifted from the ground onto a special board or slab (a tahara board), so that it lies facing the door, with a white sheet underneath. The clothes are then removed from the corpse (if they were not been removed when the corpse was placed on the ground), and at this point is recited by the enactors of the ritual, as it refers to the removal of filthy clothes. Following this, the body is thoroughly rubbed with lukewarm
water, with the mouth of the corpse covered so that water does not enter it; the next part of the ritual is the pouring of water over the head, while is quoted, since it refers to the sprinkling of water to produce cleanliness; and then each limb is washed downwards, while and the following verses, which describe the beauty of elements of the body, are spoken. Finally, nine measures of cold water are poured over the body while it is upright, which is the core element of the ceremony, and it is then dried (according to some customs), and enshroud
ed; in ancient times the hair and nails were also cut, but by the 19th century the hair was merely combed, and the nails were just cleansed with a special pin, unless their length is excessive. After the ceremony, the taharah board is washed and dried, but is kept facing the same way, as there is a superstition
with the belief that turning it the other way will cause another person to die within 3 days. Many communities have replaced the pouring of nine measures by immersion in a specially constructed mikveh.
A more elaborate ceremony, known as the grand washing (rehizah gedolah), is available for the corpses of the more significant individuals; Hillel the Elder
is traditionally credited with its invention. According to this latter form of ceremony, the water used for washing was perfumed by rose
, myrtle, or aromatic spices; the use of spices was an ancient practice, and the Mishnah
especially mentions the washing ceremonies using myrtle.
require the officiating Jewish High Priest
to bathe himself in water after sending off the scapegoat
to Azazel
, and a similar requirement was imposed on the person who led the scapegoat away, and the person who burned the sacrifices during the rituals of the day. The Mishnah
states that the High Priest had to immerse himself five times, and his hands and feet had to be washed ten times.
for the laity including men to immerse themselves on the day prior to Yom Kippur
and often do so before the three pilgrimage festivals, and before Rosh Hashanah
; some Haredi Jews additionally immerse themselves at least before a Shabbat
, and some Hasidic Jews do so daily before morning prayers.
In Orthodox Judaism, opinion is generally split between a view that maintains that those Biblical rules related to ritual purity that are possible to observe in the absence of a Temple
and a Red heifer
remain in force and Jews remain Biblically obligated to observe such of them as they can, and a view that Biblical ritual impurity requirements apply only in the presence of a Temple in Jerusalem
and the current rules represent only rabbinic ordinances, practices decreed by the Rabbis in memory of the Temple.
In December 2006, Conservative Judaism's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards
issued three responsa on the subject of Niddah
. All three ruled the traditional requirements of ritual washing remained in effect for Conservative Jews (with some leniencies and liberalization of interpretation), but disagreed on the reasoning for continuing this practices as well as on the validity of specific leniencies. Two of the opinions reflect reasoning similar to the respective Orthodox views (Biblical requirements or rabbinic ordinances enacted in remembrance of the Temple.) A third opinion expressed the view that Conservative Judaism should disconnect ritual purity practices from the Temple in Jerusalem or its memory, and offered a new apprach based on what it called the concept of holiness rather than the concept of purity. Thus, Conservative ideology, under its philosophy of pluralism, supports a range of views on this subject, from views similar to the Orthodox view to views expressing a need for a contemporary reorientation. Most Conservative Jews do not observe the laws of niddah.
, the phrase netilat yadaim referring to washing of the hands, literally "lifting of the hands", is derived either from Psalm 134:2, or from the Greek word natla (αντλίον), in reference to the jar of water used. The Jewish Encyclopedia states that many historic Jewish writers, and particularly the Pharisees, took it to mean that water had to be poured out onto uplifted hands, and that they could not be considered clean until water had reached the wrist. This is commented on by the Synoptic Gospels
, which state that these groups didn't eat until they had washed their hands to the wrist, but the Gospels castigates them for this, arguing that it was only followed as an ostentatious tradition, ignoring religious obligations, and that washing the hands was worthless without inward religious obligations also being adhered to, and insignificant if the inward obligations, such as giving all of one's possessions to the poor, were followed.
According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, the historic requirement for priests to first wash their hands, together with the classical rabbinical belief that non-priest were also required to wash their hands before taking part in a holy act, such as prayer, was adhered to very strongly, to the extent that Christianity adopted the practice, and provided worshippers with fountains and basins of water in Churches, in a similar manner to the "Molten Sea
" in the Jerusalem Temple
functioning as a laver. Although Christianity did not adopt the requirement for priests to wash feet before worship, in Islam
the practice was extended to the congregation and expanded into wudu
.
According to Peake's Commentary on the Bible
, Biblical scholars regard the requirement of Kohanim washing their hands prior to the Priestly Blessing
as an example of the taboo
against the profane making contact with the sacred, and similar practices are present in other religions of the period and region. The Jewish Encyclopedia relates that according to Herodotus
the Egyptian
priests were required to wash themselves twice a day and twice a night in cold water, and according to Hesiod
the Greeks
were forbidden from pouring out the black wine to any deity in the morning, unless they had first washed their hands.
According to the 1906 Jewish encyclopedia, The Letter of Aristeas
states that creators of the Septuagint washed their hands in the sea each morning before prayer; Josephus
states that this custom was the reason for the traditional location of synagogue
s near water.
Biblical scholars regard this custom as an imitation by the laity of the behaviour of the priests. A baraita
offers, as justification for the ritual of hand-washing after waking, the belief that a spirit of impurity rests upon each person during the night, and will not leave until the person's hands are washed, and the Zohar
argues that body is open to demonic possession during sleep because the soul
temporarily leaves the body during it; the kabbalah
argues that death awaits anyone who walks more than four yard
s from their bed without ablution. According to , the cup containing the water has to be able to carry a certain amount of water, and it should have two handles.
Peake's Commentary on the Bible states that among the Israelites there was a taboo against the sacred mixing with the profane, and consequently a requirement to regain ritual purity before committing a sacred act. According to Peake's commentary, the Priestly Code specifies that individuals were washed before they could become members of the Jewish priesthood, and similarly requires Levites to be cleansed before they assume their work.
Peake's Commentary on the Bible states that although Biblical rules regarding ritual purification following bodily discharges clearly have sanitory
uses, they ultimately originated from the taboo
s against contact with blood
and semen
, due to the belief that these contained life, more than any other bodily fluid, or any other aspect of the body.
Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan
in Waters of Life connects the laws of impurity to the narrative in the beginning of Genesis. According to Genesis, Adam and Eve had brought death into the world by eating from the Tree of Knowledge
. Kaplan points out that most of the laws of impurity relate to some form of death (or in the case of niddah
the loss of a potential life). One who comes into contact with one of the forms of death must then immerse in water which is described in Genesis as flowing out of the Garden of Eden (the source of life) in order to cleanse oneself of this contact with death (and by extension of sin).
References to ritual washing are found in the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
, and are elaborated in the Mishnah
Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
and Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
. They have been codified in various codes of Jewish law and tradition, such as Maimonides
Maimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
's Mishneh Torah
Mishneh Torah
The Mishneh Torah subtitled Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka is a code of Jewish religious law authored by Maimonides , one of history's foremost rabbis...
(12th century) and Joseph Karo's Shulchan Aruch
Shulchan Aruch
The Shulchan Aruch also known as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most authoritative legal code of Judaism. It was authored in Safed, Israel, by Yosef Karo in 1563 and published in Venice two years later...
(16th century.) These customs are most commonly observed within Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
. In Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
, the practices are normative with certain leniencies and exceptions. Ritual washing is not generally performed in Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
.
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible includes various regulations about bathing:- And whoever he that hath issue (a zav, ejaculant with an unusual discharge) touches without having rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening
And also references to hand-washing:
- I will wash my hands in innocence; so will I compass Thine altar, O LORD
Late Second Temple period
Philo of Alexandria refers to ritual washing in the context of the Temple and Leviticus, but also speaks of spiritual "washing." At QumranQumran
Qumran is an archaeological site in the West Bank. It is located on a dry plateau about a mile inland from the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, near the Israeli settlement and kibbutz of Kalia...
basins which served as baths have been identified, and among the Dead Sea scrolls texts on maintaining ritual purity reflect the requirements of Leviticus.
Rabbinical Judaism
Both traditional religious and secular scholars agree that ritual washing in Judaism was derived by the Rabbis of the Talmud from a more extensive set of ritual washing and purity practices in use in the days of the Temple in Jerusalem, based on various verses in the Hebrew BibleHebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
and received traditions. There is disagreement, however, about the origins and meanings of these practices. This article first describes these practices as they exist in contemporary traditional Judaism, then discusses various alternative perspectives on their nature, origins, and meaning.
Traditional Judaism requires certain types of ritual washing. Some of these types do not require a special ritual body of water (and can be done with tap water):
- Netilat Yadayim Shacharit ("Raising [after ritually washing] the hands of the morning"), when getting up in the morning after a full night's sleep, or even after a lengthy nap, there is the custom to wash one's hands ritually by pouring a large cup of water over one's hands, alternating three times. In the custom of some communities, it is also done without a blessing after engaging in sexual intercourseSexual intercourseSexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
or other seminal emission. - Netilat yadayim La'Pat ("Raising [after ritually washing] the hands for bread"), also known as Mayim Rishonim. which is done with a blessing, prior to eating any breadBreadBread is a staple food prepared by cooking a dough of flour and water and often additional ingredients. Doughs are usually baked, but in some cuisines breads are steamed , fried , or baked on an unoiled frying pan . It may be leavened or unleavened...
with a meal, and done without a blessing, after touching a tamei (ritually impure) object (such as one's private parts, leather shoes, or an or insectInsectInsects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
, or after paying a visit to a cemeteryCemeteryA cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
). - Mayim acharonim ("After-waters") a law or custom of ritually washing off one's fingers after a meal, to protect oneself from touching the eyes with hazardous residue.
- During a Passover SederPassover SederThe Passover Seder is a Jewish ritual feast that marks the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted on the evenings of the 14th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar, and on the 15th by traditionally observant Jews living outside Israel. This corresponds to late March or April in...
, a third washing of netilat yadayim is performed without any blessing being recited, before the eating of a vegetable, called karpasKarpasKarpas is one of the traditional rituals in the Passover Seder. It refers to the vegetable, usually parsley or celery, that is dipped in liquid and eaten. The liquid may be any of the seven which make food capable of becoming ritually impure, although salt-water or vinegar are usually used...
, prior to the main meal. - After visiting the bathroom, the ritual washing of one's hands as a symbol of both bodily cleanliness and of removing human impurity - see Netilat yadayim above.
- Every KohenKohenA Kohen is the Hebrew word for priest. Jewish Kohens are traditionally believed and halachically required to be of direct patrilineal descent from the Biblical Aaron....
present has his hands ritually washed in synagogueSynagogueA synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
by the Levi'imLeviteIn Jewish tradition, a Levite is a member of the Hebrew tribe of Levi. When Joshua led the Israelites into the land of Canaan, the Levites were the only Israelite tribe that received cities but were not allowed to be landowners "because the Lord the God of Israel himself is their inheritance"...
(Levites) before uttering the Priestly BlessingPriestly BlessingThe Priestly Blessing, , also known in Hebrew as Nesiat Kapayim, , or Dukhanen , is a Jewish prayer recited by Kohanim during certain Jewish services...
in front of the congregation. - To remove tuma ("impurity") after cutting one's hair or nails
- To remove tumat met ("impurity from death") after participating in a funeral procession, or entering a cemetery, or coming within four cubits of a corpse
- Some communities observe a requirement for washing one's body (which may be done with tap water) after experiencing a seminal emission, including ejaculation or receiving seminal fluid during sexual intercourse since these activities make the man baal keri (one who is impure due to ejaculation.)
Other occasions require full immersion in a special body of water, such as a spring
Spring (hydrosphere)
A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...
, stream, or mikveh:
- By a married Jewish woman after her niddahNiddahNiddah is a Hebrew term describing a woman during menstruation, or a woman who has menstruated and not yet completed the associated requirement of immersion in a mikveh ....
period concludes following menstruationMenstruationMenstruation is the shedding of the uterine lining . It occurs on a regular basis in sexually reproductive-age females of certain mammal species. This article focuses on human menstruation.-Overview:...
or other uterine bleeding and she wishes to resume conjugal relations with her husband. This requires special preparation. - The day before ("eve of") Yom KippurYom KippurYom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...
and other Festivals - By some Orthodox Jews on Friday afternoons (in preparation for Shabbos)
- When converting to Judaism.
- Taharah, ("Purification"), the ritual washing and cleansing, and immersion in a mikveh according to some customs, of a Jew's body prior to burial.
Temple Mount
- Prior to ascending the Temple MountTemple MountThe Temple Mount, known in Hebrew as , and in Arabic as the Haram Ash-Sharif , is one of the most important religious sites in the Old City of Jerusalem. It has been used as a religious site for thousands of years...
by those Orthodox authorities who permit ascending the Temple mount (and also by the Masorti movement in Israel). For this purpose an ordinary mikveh is not sufficient—it requires a pool of "living water," i.e. a spring, river, or a pool attached to one of these.
According to Conservative Judaism
- Some rabbis within Conservative JudaismConservative JudaismConservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
advise non-married women who choose to engage in sexual activity to also observe niddah and immersion in a mikveh.
General basis in Jewish law
The rabbis of the Talmud derived the requirement of washing the hands as a consequence of the statement in LeviticusLeviticus
The Book of Leviticus is the third book of the Hebrew Bible, and the third of five books of the Torah ....
15:11. The Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
inferred the specific requirements of hand-washing from these passages.
The general Hebrew term for ritual hand washing is netilat yadayim, meaning lifting up of the hands. The term "the washing of hands" after evacuation is sometimes referred to as "to wash asher yatzar" referring to the bracha (blessing) said which starts with these words.
Halakha
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
(Jewish law) requires that the water used for ritual washing be naturally pure, unused, not contain other substances, and not be discoloured. The water also must be poured from a vessel as a human act, on the basis of references in the Bible to this practice, e.g. Elisha
Elisha
Elisha is a prophet mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an. His name is commonly transliterated into English as Elisha via Hebrew, Eliseus via Greek and Latin, or Alyasa via Arabic.-Biblical biography:...
pouring water upon the hands of Elijah. Water should be poured on each hand at least twice. A clean dry substance should be used instead if water is unavailable.
How performed
Contemporary practice is to pour water on each hand three times for most purposes using a cup, and alternating the hands between each occurrence; this ritual is now known by the YiddishYiddish language
Yiddish is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages...
term negel vasser, meaning nail water. This Yiddish term is also used for a special cup used for such washing.
At meals
The Babylonian Talmud discusses two types of washing at meals: washing before a meal is described as first waters (the Hebrew term is mayim rishonim), and after a meal is known as last waters (the Hebrew term is mayim aharonim). The first term has generally fallen from contemporary usage; the second term has stuck. The modern term for the former is Ntillat yadayim, washing of hands. Washing before meals is normative in Orthodox JudaismOrthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
.
The Gemarah of the Babylonian talmud contains homilectic descriptions of the importance of the practice, including an argument that washing before meals is so important that neglecting it is tantamount to unchastity
Chastity
Chastity refers to the sexual behavior of a man or woman acceptable to the moral standards and guidelines of a culture, civilization, or religion....
, and risks divine punishment in the form of sudden destruction or poverty. The discussion of mayim acharonim, washing after meals, contains a suggestion that washing after meals, as a health measure, is the more important of the two washings, on grounds that the salt used as a preservative in food could cause blindness if the eyes were rubbed without washing.
Although mayim acharonim was once not widely practiced (for example, until recently it did not appear in many Orthodox Passover Haggadahs) it has undergone something of a revival and has become more widely observed in recent years, particularly for special meals such as the Shabbat
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
and Jewish holidays. Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
has supported discontinuing the practice of mayim acharonim on the grounds that the rabbis of the Talmud instituted it as a health measure, and since modern foods no longer contain preservatives so dangerous as to cause blindness upon contact with the eyes, washing the hands after meals is no longer required and can be discontinued by contemporary rabbinic decision.
The standard Passover Seder
Passover Seder
The Passover Seder is a Jewish ritual feast that marks the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted on the evenings of the 14th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar, and on the 15th by traditionally observant Jews living outside Israel. This corresponds to late March or April in...
has an additional, third washing, prior to eating the green vegetable, which is considered an act of eating separate from the meal. In Orthodox Judaism, it also has the same types of washings as any other meal, one before the meal and one after. Only the one before the meal is generally done outside Orthodox Judaism
Before worship
Shulchan Aruch
The Shulchan Aruch also known as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most authoritative legal code of Judaism. It was authored in Safed, Israel, by Yosef Karo in 1563 and published in Venice two years later...
, a person should wash both hands before prayer, based on a tradition requiring ritual purification upon entering the Temple in Jerusalem
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
, in whose absence prayer, in Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
, serves in its place.
Before the Priestly Blessing
In Orthodox JudaismOrthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
(and, in some cases, in Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
), Kohanim, members of the priestly class, offer the Priestly Blessing
Priestly Blessing
The Priestly Blessing, , also known in Hebrew as Nesiat Kapayim, , or Dukhanen , is a Jewish prayer recited by Kohanim during certain Jewish services...
before the congregation on certain occasions. Before performing their offices, they are required to wash their hands. Judaism traditionally traces this requirement to the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
:
- And Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat; when they go into the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to cause an offering made by fire to smoke unto the LORD.
It is customary for Levites to pour the water over the hands of the Kohanim and to assist them in other ways. In many communities, washing the feet before the Priestly Blessing is not practiced in the absence of a Temple in Jerusalem
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
.
After sleeping
The TalmudTalmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
states God commanded Jews to wash the hands and provides the text of the netilat yadaim blessing still in use.
According to the Shulchan Aruch
Shulchan Aruch
The Shulchan Aruch also known as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most authoritative legal code of Judaism. It was authored in Safed, Israel, by Yosef Karo in 1563 and published in Venice two years later...
a person who slept is required to wash upon arising, and says the natilat yadayim blessing.
Other occasions
The hands are also washed:- after visiting the bathroom, the ritual washing of one's hands as a symbol of both bodily cleanliness and of removing human impurity.
- after cutting one's hair or nails
- after participating in a funeral procession, upon leaving a cemetery, or coming within four cubits of a corpse
- after touching a normally covered part of your body (private parts, back , arm pits, etc.)
- after touching inside of nose and ear
- after touching the scalp, but not if you just touched the hair
- prior to scribal work (optional)
Full-body immersion
There are several occasions on which biblical or rabbinical regulations require immersion of the whole body, referred to as tevilah. Depending on the circumstances, such ritual bathing might require immersion in "living water" - either by using a natural stream or by using a mikveh (a specially constructed ritual bath, connected directly to a natural source of water, such as a spring).This article discusses the requirements of immersion in Rabbinic Judaism and its descendents. Some other branches of Judaism, such as Falasha Judaism, have substantially different practices including the requirement of an actual spring or stream.
Conversion to Judaism
Traditional Judaism requires converts into Judaism to immerse themselves fully in water in a mikveh or body of "living water."Bodily fluids and skin conditions
The TorahTorah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
prescribes rituals addressing the skin condition known as tzaraath
Tzaraath
The Hebrew noun tzaraath describes a disfigurative condition mainly referred to in chapters 13-14 of Leviticus, as well as conditions equivalent to be "mildew" on clothes and houses.Tzaraath affects both animate...
and unusual genital discharges in a man or women (Zav/Zavah
Zav/Zavah
In Torah terminology, the Hebrew word zav is a state of ritual impurity arising from abnormal seminal discharge from the male sexual organ...
), which required special sacrifices and rituals in the days of the Temple in Jerusalem
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
which included immersion in a mikveh. In addition, a period of ritual impurity following a seminal discharge (keri
Keri
Keri is a Hebrew term which literally means "happenstance", "frivolity" or "contrariness" and has come to mean "seminal emission". The term is generally used in Jewish law to refer specifically to the regulations and rituals concerning the emission of semen, whether by nocturnal emission, or by...
) and a during and following a women's niddah
Niddah
Niddah is a Hebrew term describing a woman during menstruation, or a woman who has menstruated and not yet completed the associated requirement of immersion in a mikveh ....
period around menstruation ended with ritual immersion.
The practice of checking for tzaraath
Tzaraath
The Hebrew noun tzaraath describes a disfigurative condition mainly referred to in chapters 13-14 of Leviticus, as well as conditions equivalent to be "mildew" on clothes and houses.Tzaraath affects both animate...
fell out of use with the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and the end of sacrificial rites. However, each of the other requirements remains in effect to some extent in Orthodox Judaism and (to a lesser degree) in Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
.
Niddah
NiddahNiddah
Niddah is a Hebrew term describing a woman during menstruation, or a woman who has menstruated and not yet completed the associated requirement of immersion in a mikveh ....
remains fully observed in Orthodox Judaism and normative in Conservative Judaism. Women's ritual immersion prior to resuming sexual relations following their niddah period remains the principal use of contemporary mikvehs.
Zav/Zavah
Women experiencing uterine blood not part of normal menstruation was classified as a zavah in the days of the Temple in JerusalemTemple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
and remained in a state of ritual impurity for 7 days prior to immersion. Today, the law of zavah remains in effect in Orthodox Judaism, in two respects. Due to extreme conditions in Roman Palestine in the time of the Amoraim, women's periods became irregular, and women became unable to determine whether or not their discharges were regular (niddah) or irregular (zavah). As a result, women adapted a stringency combining the niddah and zavah periods, refraining from intercourse and physical contact with their husbands for seven days of the zavah period following menstruation, for a total of approximately 12 days per month, which Orthodox women continue to observe today. The laws of zavah are also applied, as in Biblical times, to uterine blood discharges outside regular menstruation. Such circumstances are often interpreted leniently, however, and rabbinic stratagems have been devised to lessen their severity. Women experiencing irregularities (droplets) are sometimes advised to wear coloured underwear to mitigate the detectability of evidence of zavah status and hence a need to determine that a woman is a zavah.
Keri
Men experiencing a seminal discharge, including through regular marital intercourse, were prohibited from entering the Temple in Jerusalem were required to immerse in a mikveh and remained ritually impure until the evening. The TalmudTalmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
ascribes to the Great Assembly
Great Assembly
The Great Assembly or Anshei Knesset HaGedolah , also known as the Great Synagogue, was, according to Jewish tradition, an assembly of 120 scribes, sages, and prophets, in the period from the end of the Biblical prophets to the time of the development of Rabbinic Judaism, marking a transition from...
of Ezra
Ezra
Ezra , also called Ezra the Scribe and Ezra the Priest in the Book of Ezra. According to the Hebrew Bible he returned from the Babylonian exile and reintroduced the Torah in Jerusalem...
a Rabbinic decree imposing further restrictions on men ritually impure from a seminal discharge, including a prohibition on studying Torah and from participating in services.
Maimonides
Maimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
wrote a responsum lifting the decree of Ezra, based on an opinion in the Talmud stating that it had failed to be observed by a majority of the community and the Jewish people found themselves unable to sustain it. However, Maimonides continued to follow the Keri restrictions as a matter of personal observance. Since the decree of Maimonides
Maimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
, observance of the rules of Keri and hence regular mikweh use by men fell into disuse in many communities. Hasidic Judaism
Hasidic Judaism
Hasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew —Ḥasidut in Sephardi, Chasidus in Ashkenazi, meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith...
, however, revived the practice of regular mikva use, advocating regular daily mikweh use as a way of achieving spiritual purity. The growth of Hasidic Judaism resulted in a revival of mikweh use by men. In addition, some Sephardic
Sephardic Judaism
Sephardic law and customs means the practice of Judaism as observed by the Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews, so far as it is peculiar to themselves and not shared with other Jewish groups such as the Ashkenazim...
and Mizrahi communities continued to observe the rules of keri throughout.
Contact with a carcass
According to LeviticusLeviticus
The Book of Leviticus is the third book of the Hebrew Bible, and the third of five books of the Torah ....
, anyone who comes into contact with or carries any creature that hadn't been deliberately killed by shechita
Shechita
Shechita is the ritual slaughter of mammals and birds according to Jewish dietary laws...
was regarded by the biblical regulations as having made themselves unclean by doing so, and therefore was compelled to immerse their entire body. This regulation is immediately preceded by the rule against eating anything still containing blood, and according to biblical scholars this is also the context of the regulation about not eating non-sacrifices - that the regulation only treats such consumption as unclean if there is a risk of blood still remaining within the carcass. In the version of this regulation in Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy
The Book of Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible, and of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch...
, eating the bodies of such creatures isn't described as making an individual ritually impure, nor requires the eater to wash their body, but instead such consumption is expressely forbidden, although the creature is allowed to be passed on to a stranger, who is permitted to eat it.
Contact with a corpse
Anyone who came into contact with a human corpse, or graveGrave (burial)
A grave is a location where a dead body is buried. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as graveyards or cemeteries....
, was so ritually impure that they had to be sprinkled with the water produced from the red heifer
Red heifer
The red heifer or red cow was a sacrifice in the Hebrew Bible the ashes of which are used for the ritual purification of an ancient Israelite who had come into contact with a corpse.- Hebrew Bible :...
ritual, in order to become ritually pure again; however, the person who carried out the red heifer ritual and who sprinkled the water, was to be treated as having become ritually impure by doing so. According to biblical scholars, this ritual derives from the same origin as the ritual described in Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy
The Book of Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible, and of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch...
for a group of people to atone
Atonement in Judaism
Atonement in Judaism is the process of causing a transgression to be forgiven or pardoned.- In Rabbinic Judaism :In Rabbinic Judaism, atonement is achieved through some combination of*repentance*Temple service Atonement in Judaism is the process of causing a transgression to be forgiven or...
for murder by an unknown perpetrator, according to which a heifer is killed at a stream, and hands are washed over it; biblical scholars believe that these are both ultimately cases of sympathetic magic
Sympathetic magic
Sympathetic magic, also known as imitative magic, is a type of magic based on imitation or correspondence.-Similarity and contagion:The theory of sympathetic magic was first developed by Sir James George Frazer in The Golden Bough...
, and similar rituals existed in Greek and Roman mythology. The masoretic text
Masoretic Text
The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible and is regarded as Judaism's official version of the Tanakh. While the Masoretic Text defines the books of the Jewish canon, it also defines the precise letter-text of these biblical books, with their vocalization and...
describes the water produced from the red heifer ritual as a sin offering; some English translations discount this detail, because it differs from other sin offerings by not being killed at the altar, although biblical scholars believe that this demonstrates a failure by these translations to understand the meaning of sin offerings.
Treatment of a corpse
No explicit regulations are expressed in the bible concerning the treatment of a corpse itself, although historic rabbinical sources saw an implication that the dead should be thoroughly washed, in the from EcclesiastesEcclesiastes
The Book of Ecclesiastes, called , is a book of the Hebrew Bible. The English name derives from the Greek translation of the Hebrew title.The main speaker in the book, identified by the name or title Qoheleth , introduces himself as "son of David, king in Jerusalem." The work consists of personal...
, as children are washed when born; according to Eliezer ben Joel HaLevi
Eliezer ben Joel HaLevi
Eliezer ben Yoel HaLevi was a noted rabbi and Talmudic scholar. He was a grandson of Eliezer ben Nathan , and authored Sefer Avi Ezri which is more commonly known by its author's acronym as Sefer Ra'avyah. He had a significant influence on Asher ben Jehiel...
, a prominent rishon
Rishonim
"Rishon" redirects here. For the preon model in particle physics, see Harari Rishon Model. For the Israeli town, see Rishon LeZion.Rishonim were the leading Rabbis and Poskim who lived approximately during the 11th to 15th centuries, in the era before the writing of the Shulkhan Arukh and...
, argued that the corpse should be cleansed carefully, including the ears and fingers, with nails pared and hair combed, so that the corpse could be laid to rest in the manner that the person had visited the synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
during life. Washing of corpses was not observed among the Jews living in Persian Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
, for which they were criticised as dying in filth, without a candle and without a bath; at the time, the non-Jewish Persians were predominantly Zoroastrian, and consequently believed that dead bodies were inherently ritually unclean, and should be exposed to the elements in a Tower of Silence to avoid defiling the earth with them.
In the early periods the body was washed in a standard mikveh, and this is frequently the form of the ritual in the present day, but the traditional washing ceremony, known as tahara, became quite detailed over time. A special building for the corpse-washing existed in the cemetery in 15th century Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, a practice which obtains in many Jewish communities today; a mikveh is provided at a number of ancient tombs. Female corpses are traditionally cleaned only by other females, and males only by other males.
Between death and the traditional ceremony, the body is placed on the ground, and covered with a sheet, and at the start of the traditional ceremony, the body is lifted from the ground onto a special board or slab (a tahara board), so that it lies facing the door, with a white sheet underneath. The clothes are then removed from the corpse (if they were not been removed when the corpse was placed on the ground), and at this point is recited by the enactors of the ritual, as it refers to the removal of filthy clothes. Following this, the body is thoroughly rubbed with lukewarm
Lukewarm
Lukewarm or The Lukewarm may refer to:*Lukewarm , a fictional character from the BBC series Porridge*""2 + 2 = 5" , or "The Lukewarm", a song by Radiohead from their album Hail to the Thief...
water, with the mouth of the corpse covered so that water does not enter it; the next part of the ritual is the pouring of water over the head, while is quoted, since it refers to the sprinkling of water to produce cleanliness; and then each limb is washed downwards, while and the following verses, which describe the beauty of elements of the body, are spoken. Finally, nine measures of cold water are poured over the body while it is upright, which is the core element of the ceremony, and it is then dried (according to some customs), and enshroud
Shroud
Shroud usually refers to an item, such as a cloth, that covers or protects some other object. The term is most often used in reference to burial sheets, winding-cloths or winding-sheets, such as the famous Shroud of Turin or Tachrichim that Jews are dressed in for burial...
ed; in ancient times the hair and nails were also cut, but by the 19th century the hair was merely combed, and the nails were just cleansed with a special pin, unless their length is excessive. After the ceremony, the taharah board is washed and dried, but is kept facing the same way, as there is a superstition
Superstition
Superstition is a belief in supernatural causality: that one event leads to the cause of another without any process in the physical world linking the two events....
with the belief that turning it the other way will cause another person to die within 3 days. Many communities have replaced the pouring of nine measures by immersion in a specially constructed mikveh.
A more elaborate ceremony, known as the grand washing (rehizah gedolah), is available for the corpses of the more significant individuals; Hillel the Elder
Hillel the Elder
Hillel was a famous Jewish religious leader, one of the most important figures in Jewish history. He is associated with the development of the Mishnah and the Talmud...
is traditionally credited with its invention. According to this latter form of ceremony, the water used for washing was perfumed by rose
Rose
A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...
, myrtle, or aromatic spices; the use of spices was an ancient practice, and the Mishnah
Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
especially mentions the washing ceremonies using myrtle.
Yom Kippur
The biblical regulations of Yom KippurYom Kippur
Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...
require the officiating Jewish High Priest
Kohen Gadol
The High Priest was the chief religious official of Israelite religion and of classical Judaism from the rise of the Israelite nation until the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem...
to bathe himself in water after sending off the scapegoat
Scapegoat
Scapegoating is the practice of singling out any party for unmerited negative treatment or blame. Scapegoating may be conducted by individuals against individuals , individuals against groups , groups against individuals , and groups against groups Scapegoating is the practice of singling out any...
to Azazel
Azazel
Azazel or Azazael or Azâzêl is a term used three times in the Hebrew scriptures, and later in Hebrew mythology as the enigmatic name of a character....
, and a similar requirement was imposed on the person who led the scapegoat away, and the person who burned the sacrifices during the rituals of the day. The Mishnah
Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
states that the High Priest had to immerse himself five times, and his hands and feet had to be washed ten times.
Ritual immersion by men
In modern Orthodox Judaism, there is a widespread minhagMinhag
Minhag is an accepted tradition or group of traditions in Judaism. A related concept, Nusach , refers to the traditional order and form of the prayers...
for the laity including men to immerse themselves on the day prior to Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...
and often do so before the three pilgrimage festivals, and before Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah , , is the Jewish New Year. It is the first of the High Holy Days or Yamim Nora'im which occur in the autumn...
; some Haredi Jews additionally immerse themselves at least before a Shabbat
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
, and some Hasidic Jews do so daily before morning prayers.
Reason for contemporary observance
Both Orthodox and Conservative Judaism currently have multiple views on the reason for contemporary observance of ritual washing and immersion obligation.In Orthodox Judaism, opinion is generally split between a view that maintains that those Biblical rules related to ritual purity that are possible to observe in the absence of a Temple
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
and a Red heifer
Red heifer
The red heifer or red cow was a sacrifice in the Hebrew Bible the ashes of which are used for the ritual purification of an ancient Israelite who had come into contact with a corpse.- Hebrew Bible :...
remain in force and Jews remain Biblically obligated to observe such of them as they can, and a view that Biblical ritual impurity requirements apply only in the presence of a Temple in Jerusalem
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
and the current rules represent only rabbinic ordinances, practices decreed by the Rabbis in memory of the Temple.
In December 2006, Conservative Judaism's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards
Committee on Jewish Law and Standards
The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards is the central authority on halakha within Conservative Judaism; it is one of the most active and widely known committees on the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly. Within the movement it is known as the CJLS...
issued three responsa on the subject of Niddah
Niddah
Niddah is a Hebrew term describing a woman during menstruation, or a woman who has menstruated and not yet completed the associated requirement of immersion in a mikveh ....
. All three ruled the traditional requirements of ritual washing remained in effect for Conservative Jews (with some leniencies and liberalization of interpretation), but disagreed on the reasoning for continuing this practices as well as on the validity of specific leniencies. Two of the opinions reflect reasoning similar to the respective Orthodox views (Biblical requirements or rabbinic ordinances enacted in remembrance of the Temple.) A third opinion expressed the view that Conservative Judaism should disconnect ritual purity practices from the Temple in Jerusalem or its memory, and offered a new apprach based on what it called the concept of holiness rather than the concept of purity. Thus, Conservative ideology, under its philosophy of pluralism, supports a range of views on this subject, from views similar to the Orthodox view to views expressing a need for a contemporary reorientation. Most Conservative Jews do not observe the laws of niddah.
Secular historical and scholarly commentary
According to the editors of the 1906 Jewish EncyclopediaJewish Encyclopedia
The Jewish Encyclopedia is an encyclopedia originally published in New York between 1901 and 1906 by Funk and Wagnalls. It contained over 15,000 articles in 12 volumes on the history and then-current state of Judaism and the Jews as of 1901...
, the phrase netilat yadaim referring to washing of the hands, literally "lifting of the hands", is derived either from Psalm 134:2, or from the Greek word natla (αντλίον), in reference to the jar of water used. The Jewish Encyclopedia states that many historic Jewish writers, and particularly the Pharisees, took it to mean that water had to be poured out onto uplifted hands, and that they could not be considered clean until water had reached the wrist. This is commented on by the Synoptic Gospels
Synoptic Gospels
The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as the Synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in the same sequence, and sometimes exactly the same wording. This degree of parallelism in content, narrative arrangement, language, and sentence structures can only be...
, which state that these groups didn't eat until they had washed their hands to the wrist, but the Gospels castigates them for this, arguing that it was only followed as an ostentatious tradition, ignoring religious obligations, and that washing the hands was worthless without inward religious obligations also being adhered to, and insignificant if the inward obligations, such as giving all of one's possessions to the poor, were followed.
According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, the historic requirement for priests to first wash their hands, together with the classical rabbinical belief that non-priest were also required to wash their hands before taking part in a holy act, such as prayer, was adhered to very strongly, to the extent that Christianity adopted the practice, and provided worshippers with fountains and basins of water in Churches, in a similar manner to the "Molten Sea
Molten Sea
The Molten Sea or Brazen Sea was a large basin in the Temple in Jerusalem made by Solomon for ablution of the priests. It is described in and . It stood in the south-eastern corner of the inner court. According to the Bible it was five cubits high, ten cubits in diameter from brim to brim, and...
" in the Jerusalem Temple
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
functioning as a laver. Although Christianity did not adopt the requirement for priests to wash feet before worship, in Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
the practice was extended to the congregation and expanded into wudu
Wudu
Wuḍhu is the Islamic procedure for washing parts of the body using water often in preparation for formal prayers...
.
According to Peake's Commentary on the Bible
Peake's commentary on the Bible
Peake's Commentary on the Bible is a one-volume commentary on the Bible that gives special attention to Biblical archaeology and the then-recent discoveries of biblical manuscripts.-First edition:...
, Biblical scholars regard the requirement of Kohanim washing their hands prior to the Priestly Blessing
Priestly Blessing
The Priestly Blessing, , also known in Hebrew as Nesiat Kapayim, , or Dukhanen , is a Jewish prayer recited by Kohanim during certain Jewish services...
as an example of the taboo
Taboo
A taboo is a strong social prohibition relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and or forbidden based on moral judgment, religious beliefs and or scientific consensus. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society...
against the profane making contact with the sacred, and similar practices are present in other religions of the period and region. The Jewish Encyclopedia relates that according to Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
the Egyptian
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
priests were required to wash themselves twice a day and twice a night in cold water, and according to Hesiod
Hesiod
Hesiod was a Greek oral poet generally thought by scholars to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. His is the first European poetry in which the poet regards himself as a topic, an individual with a distinctive role to play. Ancient authors credited him and...
the Greeks
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
were forbidden from pouring out the black wine to any deity in the morning, unless they had first washed their hands.
According to the 1906 Jewish encyclopedia, The Letter of Aristeas
Letter of Aristeas
The so-called Letter of Aristeas or Letter to Philocrates is a Hellenistic work of the 2nd century BCE, one of the Pseudepigrapha. Josephus who paraphrases about two-fifths of the letter, ascribes it to Aristeas and written to Philocrates, describing the Greek translation of the Hebrew Law by...
states that creators of the Septuagint washed their hands in the sea each morning before prayer; Josephus
Josephus
Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
states that this custom was the reason for the traditional location of synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
s near water.
Biblical scholars regard this custom as an imitation by the laity of the behaviour of the priests. A baraita
Baraita
Baraita designates a tradition in the Jewish oral law not incorporated in the Mishnah. "Baraita" thus refers to teachings "outside" of the six orders of the Mishnah...
offers, as justification for the ritual of hand-washing after waking, the belief that a spirit of impurity rests upon each person during the night, and will not leave until the person's hands are washed, and the Zohar
Zohar
The Zohar is the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material on Mysticism, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology...
argues that body is open to demonic possession during sleep because the soul
Soul
A soul in certain spiritual, philosophical, and psychological traditions is the incorporeal essence of a person or living thing or object. Many philosophical and spiritual systems teach that humans have souls, and others teach that all living things and even inanimate objects have souls. The...
temporarily leaves the body during it; the kabbalah
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
argues that death awaits anyone who walks more than four yard
Yard
A yard is a unit of length in several different systems including English units, Imperial units and United States customary units. It is equal to 3 feet or 36 inches...
s from their bed without ablution. According to , the cup containing the water has to be able to carry a certain amount of water, and it should have two handles.
Peake's Commentary on the Bible states that among the Israelites there was a taboo against the sacred mixing with the profane, and consequently a requirement to regain ritual purity before committing a sacred act. According to Peake's commentary, the Priestly Code specifies that individuals were washed before they could become members of the Jewish priesthood, and similarly requires Levites to be cleansed before they assume their work.
Peake's Commentary on the Bible states that although Biblical rules regarding ritual purification following bodily discharges clearly have sanitory
Sanitation
Sanitation is the hygienic means of promoting health through prevention of human contact with the hazards of wastes. Hazards can be either physical, microbiological, biological or chemical agents of disease. Wastes that can cause health problems are human and animal feces, solid wastes, domestic...
uses, they ultimately originated from the taboo
Taboo
A taboo is a strong social prohibition relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and or forbidden based on moral judgment, religious beliefs and or scientific consensus. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society...
s against contact with blood
Blood
Blood is a specialized bodily fluid in animals that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells....
and semen
Semen
Semen is an organic fluid, also known as seminal fluid, that may contain spermatozoa. It is secreted by the gonads and other sexual organs of male or hermaphroditic animals and can fertilize female ova...
, due to the belief that these contained life, more than any other bodily fluid, or any other aspect of the body.
Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan
Aryeh Kaplan
Aryeh Moshe Eliyahu Kaplan was a noted American Orthodox rabbi and author known for his "intimate knowledge of both physics and kabbalah." He was lauded as an original thinker and prolific writer, from studies of the Torah, Talmud and mysticism to introductory pamphlets on Jewish beliefs and...
in Waters of Life connects the laws of impurity to the narrative in the beginning of Genesis. According to Genesis, Adam and Eve had brought death into the world by eating from the Tree of Knowledge
Tree of Knowledge
-Religion and mythology:* Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, a tree in the Garden of Eden, mentioned in the Book of Genesis-Publications:* The Tree of Knowledge, a novel by Pío Baroja* Drvo Znanja, a Croatian magazine...
. Kaplan points out that most of the laws of impurity relate to some form of death (or in the case of niddah
Niddah
Niddah is a Hebrew term describing a woman during menstruation, or a woman who has menstruated and not yet completed the associated requirement of immersion in a mikveh ....
the loss of a potential life). One who comes into contact with one of the forms of death must then immerse in water which is described in Genesis as flowing out of the Garden of Eden (the source of life) in order to cleanse oneself of this contact with death (and by extension of sin).
See also
- Mikveh
- NiddahNiddahNiddah is a Hebrew term describing a woman during menstruation, or a woman who has menstruated and not yet completed the associated requirement of immersion in a mikveh ....
- Tumah and taharah
- Ablution (disambiguation)
- Ritual purificationRitual purificationRitual purification is a feature of many religions. The aim of these rituals is to remove specifically defined uncleanliness prior to a particular type of activity, and especially prior to the worship of a deity...