Siman 128, Se'if 6 · The source of the obligation to wash before Birkas Kohanim

Shulchan Aruch, Siman 128, se'if 6

"Even though the kohanim already washed their hands in the morning, they wash them again up to the joint, which is where the hand meets the arm... and the levi pours the water over their hands."
(Shulchan Aruch)

The source of the obligation to wash before Birkas Kohanim

• The source in the Gemara: This netilas yadayim is mentioned by Chazal. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says that a kohen must wash his hands before going up to the duchan, even though he already washed them in the morning. This is not an explicit derivation from the Torah, but a statement in the Gemara.
• The parallel to the avodah in the Beis Hamikdash: The underlying idea is that the kohanim in the Beis Hamikdash washed their hands from the kiyor and its base every morning, even though presumably they had already washed at home. It was the kedushah of the place that demanded an additional washing.

(In the Mikdash the kohanim also washed their feet, particularly according to the view that they served barefoot; that is in addition to the washing of the hands and is not our subject here.)

The hint from the pasuk (Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 19)

"'Even though the kohanim already washed their hands' - the essential washing was attached by the Rabbis to a verse, as it says: 'Lift up your hands in holiness and bless Hashem,' meaning: when you lift up your hands, first sanctify them, which is the washing, and afterwards bless Hashem."
(Mishnah Berurah)

• Careful wording: The Mishnah Berurah writes that the Rabbis "attached" the law to the verse (asmachta). The verse does not definitively obligate a kohen to wash before nesias kapayim; it is no more than a hint.
• The meaning of the verse: "Lift up your hands" refers to nesias kapayim; "in holiness" indicates that the hands must first be sanctified, which is by washing; "and bless Hashem" is Birkas Kohanim, since the kohanim are the conduit of Hashem's blessing to Israel, as the Torah says in Birkas Kohanim, "and I will bless them."

Water specifically

"And the washing must be with water specifically; here it does not help to use anything that cleans, as is permitted for tefillah in Siman 92."
(Mishnah Berurah)

• The comparison to Siman 92: Regarding tefillah, the halachah is that one traveling on the road who has no water may clean his hands with anything that cleans, such as rubbing them in earth, against a wall, or one against the other. That is a b'dieved arrangement.
• The novelty here: For nesias kapayim, a kohen cannot suffice with that sort of cleaning; he needs a proper washing with water.

The blessing must immediately follow the sanctification

"And the Mechaber rules that even though he washed his hands in the morning, he should sanctify them again before nesias kapayim, because we require that the blessing come immediately after the sanctification."
(Mishnah Berurah)

• The reason: From the verse "Lift up your hands in holiness and bless Hashem" it follows that the sanctification and the blessing must be adjacent to one another.
• An open question: This raises the question of how much proximity is required, since the kohanim wash in one place and then go up to the duchan in another.

The custom of washing with rose water

• The custom: There was a practice of adding rose water and fragrances to the water with which the kohanim washed their hands, so that it would have a pleasant scent.
• Where it was practiced: The custom emerges from questions asked in two places far apart from one another: in the responsa Darchei Noam (Egypt) and in the Chavos Yair (Frankfurt).
• A possible reason: The kohanim bless as agents of Hashem, and people wanted their hands to carry a pleasant scent. Some connect this to the statement that at Matan Torah the world was filled with a beautiful fragrance.
• Why specifically on Yom Tov: Outside Eretz Yisrael nesias kapayim is done only on Yom Tov, so it is a rare occasion, and people wanted to mark it as something special.

The difficulty of creating a scent on Yom Tov

"It is forbidden on Yom Tov to place into water something that generates a scent (Magen Avraham); and the Eliyah Rabbah permits it, since the oil itself is merely mixed into the water, it is not considered generating a scent."
(Be'er Heitev)

• The problem: The prohibition of molid is about bringing something new into existence. One who puts perfume into water turns ordinary water, which is meant for drinking and washing, into scented water, and has thus created a new reality in it.
• The Eliyah Rabbah's leniency: Rose water is an oil that has been mixed into water, and oil does not blend with water to become one substance with it; they remain two liquids side by side. Therefore there is no generating of a new scent here, only fragrant oil that has been poured into water.

Is scented water still "water specifically"?

• The question that arises: Since the Mishnah Berurah requires washing with water specifically, the question arises whether water with perfume mixed into it is still considered water for the purposes of netilah, or whether it has left the category of water.
• The two views: According to the language of the Mishnah Berurah, water that has been altered is problematic for the washing. Others hold that it is still valid for netilas yadayim.

When there is no water: the view of the Rambam (Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 20)

"'They wash again' - and if he has no water, the Acharonim write that we may rely on the view of the Rambam, who holds that one fulfills the requirement with the netilas yadayim he did in the morning, as long as he did not divert his attention and he knows that he did not touch an unclean place."
(Mishnah Berurah)

• The practical ruling: A kohen who has no water available does not refrain from going up to the duchan, since this is a mitzvah; rather he relies on the Rambam's view, provided he is certain that he has guarded his hands from the morning until Birkas Kohanim.
• What does not help: The kohen may not clean his hands in the ways mentioned in Siman 92 in place of a proper washing.

Guarding one's hands after the morning washing

• A case of touching: If the kohen untied his shoelaces or the like, he clearly must wash again, because he touched a place that is not clean. And not everyone wears shoes that need to be untied by hand.
• A story about Rav Chaim Palagi: It is told of Rav Chaim Palagi, who was the rav of Izmir some hundred and fifty years ago, that he slept in gloves so that he would not touch covered parts of his body with his hands, out of concern for ruach ra'ah, and he even wore them during the day, because as chief rabbi people would come to him and shake his hand.

The nature of this washing: an act of kedushah, not of cleanliness

• The main point: The Shulchan Aruch is speaking about a kohen who already washed in the morning and knows he has not touched anything. The obligation is not because of cleanliness but because this is an act of sanctification, just as the kohanim did when they came to the Beis Hamikdash.
• The levels of tumah and taharah: A yisrael is not commanded to eat his ordinary food in taharah and need not be careful about impure things; a kohen is different, since he is about to enter and serve in the Mikdash.
• A person must purify himself for the festival: A yisrael becomes obligated in taharah when he goes up to Yerushalayim for the festival, so that he can enter the azarah. From here many have the practice of immersing in a mikveh before Yom Tov, as a remembrance of what our ancestors did in order to go up to Yerushalayim in purity.

The concept of "chaverim" in the Gemara

• The source: It says in Shoftim, "And all of Israel gathered to the city as one man, chaverim." Chazal expounded: when do all of Israel gather to the city, meaning Yerushalayim? On the festival.
• Why they are called chaverim: On the pilgrimage everyone immersed before going up, and therefore each one could eat and associate with his fellow without concern for tumah, such as the concern that the other might spit on him and render him impure.
• The definition of a chaver: A "chaver" in the language of the Gemara is not a friend, but a person who is scrupulous about the laws of tumah and taharah even though he is not a kohen. In the times of the Gemara there were associations of chaverim who maintained this all year round, and they formed a closed group that would not eat with someone who was not careful.
• The reason: Although they were not obligated in taharah, they accepted it upon themselves out of a desire to be more sanctified. Le'havdil, the sect known as the Essenes was also extremely scrupulous about tumah and taharah; they would immerse in the morning and dress in white, out of the approach that this brings one closer to the Holy One, Blessed be He.
• In our times: The concept of chaverim in this sense belongs mainly to the era when the Beis Hamikdash stood, and today it does not apply.

How much of the hand is washed, and in what manner

"'Up to the joint' - like a kohen sanctifying his hands for the avodah."
(Mishnah Berurah)

• Up to the joint: He washes up to where the hand meets the arm, in the way that a kohen in the Mikdash would sanctify his hands for the avodah.
• The requirements of the Acharonim: The Acharonim write that it may well require washing from a vessel and by human power, like ordinary netilas yadayim, and that simply opening a faucet is not enough.
• Opening a faucet: Some contemporary poskim hold that opening a faucet also counts as human power, provided that for each pouring he opens and closes it anew.
• The quality and quantity of the water: The water should not be altered from its natural state, meaning it should not be dirty, and there should be a revi'is of it.

"And the levi pours water over their hands"

• The novelty: The kohen does not wash his own hands; rather the levi pours over them. Nothing like this is found in other washings, and a person does not need to be waited upon for washing before a seudah.
• The words of the Beis Yosef: The Beis Yosef writes that he heard and saw that the levi washes for the kohen, and he did not know of a source for it, neither in the Gemara nor in the Midrashim; later he found that it is written in the Zohar that there is an obligation on the levi to pour over the kohen's hands. The source of the halachah is the Zohar alone.

When there is no levi (Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 22)

"'And the levi pours water' - and when there is no levi, a firstborn who opened his mother's womb pours, for he too has a measure of holiness."
(Mishnah Berurah)

• The reason: Until the Mishkan was built, the avodah was performed by the firstborn, and only then was Moshe told to take the levi'im from among Bnei Yisrael in place of every firstborn of Bnei Yisrael. The levi'im replaced the firstborn, yet a certain sanctity remained with the firstborn, and therefore he takes the place of the levi for pouring the water.

In passing · Creating something new on Shabbos and Yom Tov

• Soda water: When carbonation machines were invented, some wanted to forbid using them on Shabbos because of molid, since one takes water, introduces gas into it, and a new thing comes into being. There was a dispute whether water with bubbles counts as a new thing, and most poskim permitted it, because in the end it is still water.
• Water with coffee or sugar: That is not comparable, since the water was designated for drinking and it is still designated for drinking; something has merely been added to it. This is also one of the grounds for permitting soda water, since it is made for drinking.
• Scented water, by contrast: There the water is not drunk at all, so one is turning water into a perfume preparation, which is not its ordinary use, and therefore there was a discussion of molid.

Netilas yadayim before tefillah for everyone

• One who comes to shul: Some say that one who comes to daven Minchah or Shacharis must wash his hands, and others say that if he washed in the morning and did not touch anything unclean he need not.
• The practical factor: Someone who untied his shoes with his hands needs to wash because of that contact itself, not because of the mere fact that he is coming to daven.