Netilat Jadayim
Netilat Yadayim (נטילת ידיים), the ritual washing of the hands , as is the Tevila , immersion of the entire body in a Mikwe , a different one of two forms of ablution in Jews .
According to Israel Meir Lau , the Hebrew word netila is derived from נטלא natla , the Aramaic word for "vessel." However, other interpretations are also suggested.
The ritual washing of hands is mentioned in the Torah and explained in more detail in the Mishnah and Talmud . It is the subject of the Jadajim Mixed Nativity. Today it is practiced by followers of Orthodox Judaism and sometimes also in Conservative Judaism . It is not common in liberal Judaism .
Occasions for hand washing
- Negel Vasser ( Yiddish : “nail water”): after getting up early in the morning you wash your hands by taking a jug and alternately pouring water over your hands three times and saying a bracha (blessing). In some communities, it is customary to avoid bracha after having had sexual intercourse beforehand. According to the Shulchan Aruch, a person who sleeps longer than twenty minutes is also obliged to ritually wash their hands and do bracha.
- Netilat Jadajim : Before you eat a meal with bread, you wash your hands and say a bracha. In other situations you wash your hands without bracha, e.g. B. after touching the genitals or an insect.
- Majim acharonim (Hebrew: "water after") is the ritual washing of the fingers after a meal.
- During a seder , you wash your hands one more time before eating the vegetables called “karpas”.
- After going to the bathroom.
- To remove impurities after cutting your hair or nails.
- To remove tumat meit (Hebrew: "Pollution from death"): After attending a funeral service, entering a cemetery, or approaching a corpse within four cubits. When leaving the cemetery, hand washing is done three times; it is common not to dry your hands afterwards.
- Some strict believers wash themselves after an ejaculation, also during ejaculation, since the man is then considered to be Baal Keri, impure.
Washing hands
The rabbis of the Talmud concluded that it is necessary to wash your hands from Leviticus 15:11:
- And everyone whom the person with discharge touches - but he has not rinsed his hands in the water - should wash his clothes and bathe himself in the water, and he will be unclean by evening.
and from Psalm 26: 6
- I wash my hands of innocence and hold myself, Lord, by your altar.
The Halacha (Jewish law) requires that the water with which one washes his hands, natural, pure and unused should be and that it must not contain any other substances. It also has to be poured from a jug, in memory of Elisha who poured water on Elijah's hands .
How to wash your hands
When washing your hands in the morning: You take the jug in your right hand, give it to your left hand, pour water over your right hand, then your right hand takes over the jug and pours over your left hand. This process is repeated three times. To do this, you use a special jug (called "Negel Vasser" after the ritual) and a lavoir .
When washing your hands before a meal: Here, water is poured over the whole hand up to the wrist only once, first on the right hand, then on the left. Keep your hands slightly apart and upwards so that the hand can be completely moistened with water.
At meals
The Babylonian Talmud describes two different types of washing during a meal: washing before a meal is called Mayim Rishonim ("first water"), and washing after a meal is called Mayim Acharonim ("last water"). The first term is largely unused and forgotten, but the second is still used.
The Gemara of the Babylonian Talmud emphasizes the importance of this practice, including an argument that washing before a meal is so important that if one does not practice ablution one is considered unchaste, and punishment (by God) in the form of a great, sudden destruction and poverty could occur. The discussion of majim acharonim, washing after a meal, suggests that it is even more important as a preventive health measure than washing before the meal, because the salt used to preserve food can cause blindness when following Rub your eyes with unwashed hands after a meal.
Washing hands after a meal is firmly anchored in Orthodox Judaism. It is of particular importance on Shabbat and the Jewish holidays. The conservative communities spoke out against Majim Acharonim: since the rabbis in the times of the Talmud assumed health measures and since modern foods no longer contain such dangerous preservatives , there is no longer the obligatory washing of hands after a meal.
The seder includes a third ablution before eating the green vegetables as this is considered an independent meal. In Orthodox Judaism, every ablution, before, after and between meals, is observed during the Passover Seder. Outside of Orthodox Judaism, however, only ablution before the meal has survived.
Before prayer
According to the Shulchan Aruch , a person should wash both hands before praying. The prayers have been a substitute for the services that took place there since the destruction of the Jerusalem temple. It was compulsory for temple goers to ritually clean themselves.
Before a priestly blessing
In Orthodox Judaism (and sometimes also in Conservative Judaism) Kohanim (plural Kohen), members of priestly families, bless the congregation in the synagogue on special occasions. Before performing their office, they must ritually clean their hands. This custom goes back to the Torah :
“So that Aaron and his sons can wash their hands and feet when they go into the sacred tent or come to the altar to burn a sacrifice on it. 21 If they fail, they will die. This instruction applies to their descendants in the future too. ”Exodus 30:19
It is a custom for Levites to pour water over the hands of the Kohanim and to assist in other areas. In many congregations, as the temple in Jerusalem no longer stands, people no longer practice washing their feet before receiving a priestly blessing.
literature
- Israel Meir Lau: How Jews Live. Gütersloh 1988, ISBN 3-579-02155-9 (Hebrew original edition: Givatayim 1978. Translated by Miriam Magall).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Israel Meir Lau: How Jews Live . S. 7 .
- ↑ Daniel Travis, Netilat Jadajim - the ritual washing of hands ( memento of the original from March 9, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Hanegev. accessed on May 21, 2016.
- ↑ a b Israel Meir Lau: How Jews live . S. 7-8 .
- ↑ a b Israel Meir Lau: How Jews live . S. 56-57 .
- ↑ Israel Meir Lau: How Jews Live . S. 347 .
- ↑ Washing Hands Before Meal , Chabad.org, accessed May 21, 2016.
