From Parsha to Halakha: Pekudei Cleanliness next to Godliness?
Most of us wash our hands several times a day. Many of these instances are rabbinically mandated. The only time the Torah commands a person to wash their hands it refers to a Kohen about to enter the Tent of Meeting or perform Divine service. Does this Torah commandment have anything to do with our hand-washing?
Preparing for the Shekhina
In the final verses of the Book of Shemot, Kavod Hashem – the Cloud of Glory that indicates the Shekhina (Divine Presence) – fills the Mishkan (Tabernacle). Almost nine months after the Sin of the Golden Calf cast God out of the Israelite camp and Israel out from God’s presence, the Israelites once again merit to serve as the dwelling place of the Divine Presence in this world.[1]
This wondrous moment is often overshadowed by the detailed descriptions of the commands to construct the Mishkan and their fulfillment. People often have trouble appreciating these sections of the Torah. The measurements, repetition, and remoteness of this Divine service should probably evoke our curiosity; unfortunately, many of us retreat to boredom instead.
How many of us are still raptly following every word as Parshat Pekudei begins? Are we studying the audit of the donated construction materials? Do we feel excitement and trepidation when the Israelites bring their hard work to Moshe? Do we watch with bated breath as he constructs the Mishkan according to God’s word? Do we even recognize these as separate stages?
The mitzvah to wash hands and feet
The Torah tells us that Moshe did not merely assemble the Mishkan, he also readied it for service – anointed the vessels, filled the menorah with oil, the shulkhan (table) with showbread, and the kiyor (basin) with water.[2] Curiously, the Kohanim (Priests) – Aharon and his sons – go unmentioned until one curious aside right before the final verse of the construction:
“He put the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and he put water for washing there. From it Moshe, Aharon, and his sons would wash their hands and feet. They would wash when they entered the Tent of Meeting and when they approached the altar, as the Eternal commanded Moshe.”[3]
Based on the Torah verses and the Talmud in Zevachim, Rambam rules that there is a positive commandment for a Kohen to wash his hands and feet before he begins his service.[4] If he doesn’t wash his hands he’s liable for death, as is inferred from the commandment to build the kiyor, “When they enter the Tent of Meeting they shall wash with water and not die…”[5]
Furthermore, the mishna states that the service he performed with unwashed hands is invalidated. The gemara explains the source is a gezeira shava between several Torah laws regulating the Kohen’s service use the term “chuka” (statute) – the positive commandments to wear all the vestments and to wash hands and feet before serving and the prohibition against serving drunk.[6] After the latter the Torah states, “In order to distinguish between the sanctified and mundane, and between the impure and the pure.”[7] Just as an inebriated Kohen’s service is considered “mundane” – and therefore invalid – the same is true for service performed with unwashed hands or missing vestments.
The vessel of the kiyor
It’s clear that the Kohen’s obligation to wash his hands and feet is significant, yet the kiyor itself seems insignificant. It’s not mentioned with the principal vessels of the Mishkan – the aron (ark), menorah, shulkhan, altars; instead it’s an addendum at the tail end of the description, between the mitzvah to collect the half-shekel and the concluding mitzvot of the anointing oil and incense.[8]
Consequently, several commentaries explain that the kiyor is not one of the vessels that is necessary for the Shekhina to grace the Mishkan, but a secondary vessel that serves to cleanse the Kohanim before their service.[9] This also explains why it does not have poles like the other vessels and why the verses describing the erection of the Mishkan describe the function of the water inside the basin, as that seems to be more important than the vessel that contains it.
This may also be the reason we rule that the kiyor is not strictly necessary. It’s preferable for a Kohen to wash from the kiyor, but if he used another sanctified vessel instead his service is valid.[10] This may be the reason this week’s parsha relates that Moshe, Aharon and his sons washed themselves from the kiyor, even though they had just washed their entire bodies.[11]
Why is washing essential?
Ramban brings two explanations for the requirement that the Kohen wash his hands and feet. The plain explanation is based on the sages’ assumption “hayadayim askaniyot” – “hands are busy” moving and touching – so unless we’re paying attention and can account for everything we’ve touched since the last time we washed, we should assume they’re impure or dirty.[12] The Kohen washes his hands like an attendant serving at the king’s table would – even if they can’t see any filth, it shows honor and reverence. And since the Kohanim serve barefooted, they wash their feet as well.[13]
Ramban adds a mystical answer. The hands and feet are our extremities – the highest and lowest appendages when a person reaches up; they each end with ten digits, corresponding to the ten Sefirot (Emanations) described in Sefer HaYetzirah. Without pretending to understand these ideas, it seems that Ramban’s explanation focuses on the connection between our limited, physical bodies and our Creator. Ramban notes that Onkelos translates “rakhatz” as “kidesh” – sanctify instead of the usual wash. It’s possible that the Kohen washes his hands and feet to sanctify or dedicate his body and actions to serve as a conduit for God in this world.
Abarbanel notes there seems to be extraneous detail in the command to construct the kiyor and wash hands and feet.[14] Interestingly, these details are mentioned in the original mitzvah in Ki Tisa as well as the fulfillment in Pekudei. Both descriptions note the kiyor is placed between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, that the Kohanim wash their hands and feet when they enter the Tent of Meeting, and also when they go to serve at the altar.
Abarbanel explains the position of the kiyor is a visual reminder for the Kohen to wash before offering a sacrifice on the altar as well as before entering the Tent of Meeting – the Sanctuary itself. He explains that while the kiyor may be used for physical cleanliness after a Kohen offers a sacrifice, it’s primarily used for honor. For the most part, the Kohen Gadol was the only one to regularly enter the Sanctuary; he washes to honor its elevated sanctity. The other Kohanim generally stayed in the courtyard and offered sacrifices on the altar; they washed to honor the altar, which is compared to the King’s table.
The mitzvah of handwashing today
The rabbis instructed us to wash our hands on several occasions – before eating bread, after waking up in the morning and/or before praying. There’s some interrelated debate as to the reasons and procedure for each occasion – sometimes the procedure will be based on the reason, sometimes the reason will be derived from the traditionally accepted procedure. If we focus on the primary reasons for morning handwashing, we find an interesting parallel.
The gemara in Berakhot relates: “Rabbi Yochanan said: One who wants to accept the yoke of the Sovereignty of Heaven upon themselves should relieve themselves, wash their hands, lay tefillin, read keriyat shema, and pray (the amida). This is the complete [acceptance of the] Sovereignty of Heaven.”[15]
The gemara continues with another statement attributed to Rabbi Yochanan, quoting the verse, “I will wash my hands b’nikayon and circle the altar of the Eternal.” There seems to be some debate if “nikayon” here means physical cleanliness or ritual purity.
The Rosh explains that the rabbis instituted that we wash our hands in the morning because “hayadayim askaniyot” and they probably touched unclean parts of our body while we slept.[16] Therefore, he rules that we specifically wash our hands before praying.[17]
Rashba disagrees and states that the primary reason we wash our hands in the morning is that each morning it is as if we are created anew, and we wash our hands to sanctify ourselves for the service of God.[18]
These opinions seem to mirror Ramban’s two explanations for the Kohen’s handwashing – the more concrete concept of honoring God through physical cleanliness and the esoteric explanation of consecrating ourselves for Divine service. These explanations are not mutually exclusive; they may even be complementary. We are both physical and spiritual – each aspect influences the other. To honor the spiritual we cleanse and beautify the physical, and the physical is worthy of this honor and dignity because it is a vessel of spirituality. Like the kiyor itself, the vessel is a means to an end, yet the vessel itself must be sanctified.
[1] See Shemot 33:5-11
[2] The text indicates that Moshe did this singlehandedly.
[3] Shemot 40:30-32
[4] TB Zevachim 19b; Sefer HaMitzvot Mitzvot Aseh 24; Mishneh Torah Hilkhot Bi’at HaMikdash 5:1, based on Shemot 28:43.
[5] Shemot 30:20; Mishneh Torah ibid.
[6] Shemot 29:9; Mishna Zevachim 2:1; TB Zevachim 17b.
A gezeira shava is one of the logical rules the sages used to derive laws from the Biblical text. Literally “a parallel dictate,” it refers to parallel terminology that’s used to connect aspects of two or more laws. According to some opinions one may not invent their own gezeira shava, it must be passed on from their teacher – and it can be traced back to Moshe. (TB Pesachim 66a and Sukka 11b, Rashi and other commentaries) Others have more flexible explanations of the mechanism, but in general it is assumed that there are some rules that limit when it can be used.
[7] Vayikra 10:10.
[8] Shemot 30:17-21
[9] Ramban, Chizkuni, Seforno, Ha’Emek Davar ibid.
[10] TB Zevachim 22b; Mishneh Torah ibid; Ein Yosef on Sefer Hamitzvot ibid.
[11] See commentaries on Shemot 40:31, particularly Tzafnat Pane’akh. Malbim also notes this curiosity, but connects it with the requirement that the washing vessel be sanctified. This is also connected to a debate about Moshe’s status on the eighth day of miluim: Was Moshe considered a Kohen when he sanctified the Mishkan and Aharon and his sons?
[12] TB Chulin 106a; TB Shabbat 14a; Mishneh Torah Hilkhot Sha’ar Avot HaTima 8:8. Rashi explains the primary concern is filth – that someone touched a part of their body that is unclean. Rambam teaches that it is. Sefer HaChinuch (106) mentions both when he explains this mitzvah.
[13] Ramban Shemot 30:19
[14] Shemot 30:17
[15] TB Berakhot 14b-15a.
[16] Piskei HaRosh Berakhot 9:23.
[17] He specifically states the Amida, but also mentions Keriyat Shema, although this may be because the sages teach us to start the Amida immediately following the concluding blessing of Keriyat Shema (smikhat geula l’tefilla).
The blessing should be: “al nekiyut yadayim,” “on cleansing the hands, and not “al netilat yadayim,” “on taking up the hands.” The latter blessing was instituted for washing hands before eating bread, which was partly enacted to commemorate laws of ritual cleanliness and is therefore ideally performed with a vessel the gemara calls a natla.
[18] Responsa Rashba 1:191.
The discussion of ruach ra’ah – an evil or impure spirit – only appears in later writings, influenced by Kabbalistic ideas.