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Yaddayim - Ritual Hand Washing

by Yaddayim - Ritual Hand Washing

The tractate Yaddayim addresses ritual hand-washing (Netilath Yaddayim), an ordinance established by the Sages to promote vigilance and prevent violation of Torah purity laws. According to the Torah, impurity affects the entire body, rendering the concept of isolated hand impurity contradictory—either a person is fully impure or not impure at all. The Sages instituted a lesser, rabbinic form of hand impurity (Tumath Yaddayim), designed to safeguard sacred items like sacrificial meat and Terumah, the produce donated by farmers to priests, by requiring hand-washing before handling them.The ordinance was first enacted during the First Temple period*, requiring immersion of the hands in a body of water, such as a Mikveh, before handling or consuming sacrificial meat, which possesses greater sanctity than Terumah*. In the early Second Temple era, the Sages expanded the ordinance to require that water be poured upon hands before they interact with Terumah*, which is of lesser sanctity than