March 2023
Another hands-on feature of the seder is hand-washing, netilat yadayyim.
The first washing, immediately following kadesh, sanctification of the seder proceedings, is done without a bracha. Rabbi Matt Berkowitz suggests that washing without blessing is meant to set a mood, reminding all at the table that this is no ordinary meal. Carried out in silence, the washing is a liminal moment, bridging the spiritual kiddush and the first physical/symbolic act of the seder — eating karpas (with a bracha!).
The second washing immediately precedes the feast. This is a standard washing that has its origins in Shemot/Exodus 30:20: “When [Aharon and his sons] come into the Tent of Meeting (ohel mo’eid) …or when they approach the altar to serve … they shall wash their hands ….”
In his history of Jewish customs, Professor Daniel Sperber writes that this Torah instruction to kohanim/priests was expanded over time to include the consumption by anyone, even mere Israelites, of sanctified food. Later, everyone everywhere was expected to engage in a ritual washing before eating a meal that included bread (which also calls for the “motzi” bread blessing).
The road from the altar of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem to our home table was paved by the sages who set out to create a durable and portable practice of Judaism following the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. Our ritual washing connects us to our ancient history and biblical legacy.
You may be familiar with the phrase “one hand washes the other.” For netilat yadayyim, it is meant literally: holding a cup or other vessel in one hand, we pour some water over the other hand, then switch. As The Observant Life observes, this action “relieves the hands of their implicit impurity,” a mindfulness ritual preparing us to eat.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’ אֱ’לֹהֵֽינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶר קִדְּשָֽנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וִצִוָּֽנוּ עַל נְטִילַת יָדָֽיִם
baruch atta adonai eloheinu melech ha’olam asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al netialt yadayyim.
We praise You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the universe, for imbuing our lives with sanctity by commanding us to wash our hands (raising them for sacred purpose).
בְּתֵּאָבוֹן bon appetite!