The sixtieth "room" in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Tuesday, 28 Shevat 5703.
Shiurim: Chumash, Yisro, third portion, with the commentary of Rashi.
Tehillim, the 28th of the month, from chapter 97 through chapter 103 inclusive.
Tanya, chapter 23, from the words "vechein halevush" until the word "yemeihem" on page 56.
The subject of today's saying is the practice of chassidim in washing the hands before a meal. We will give a bit of an introduction, and then we will read the saying itself.
In the Shulchan Aruch, in the laws of washing the hands, in siman 162, it says as follows: a person who comes to wash his hands has several options before him. If he takes a revi'is of water and pours a full revi'is at once over both hands (usually when someone else helps him and pours a full revi'is over both of his hands) - one time suffices, and with that he has washed his hands. But if he has only one revi'is, and he wants to wash each hand by itself - so that less than a revi'is reaches each hand - the Shulchan Aruch writes that he must wash each hand twice. Why? Because the first time, since there is not the required measure in the revi'is, the water becomes impure from the hand, and therefore he must pour a second time in order to purify the water that remains, and then he may proceed to the meal.
It is also written in halachah that after washing the hands and before the berachah one must rub the hands one against the other. All of this is in the Shulchan Aruch, even before the chassidic practice. And let us add another detail written in halachah: if a person comes to wash his hands and his hands are dirty - it is written that he should wash his hands three times; but with clean hands that are not dirty - as stated, twice. This is what is written in halachah.
Here, in today's saying, we see the practice of the Rebbe Maharash, and afterwards also of the Rebbe Rashab, which later became the plain practice of every chassid - and as the Rebbe says, also among women and girls who always wash their hands - that even with completely clean hands, when one goes to the sink with clean hands, one washes three times on each hand. And of course, afterwards also the rubbing at the third time, as we will see in the body of the saying itself.
Before we read the saying, let us add an interesting point - a story that the Rebbe Rayatz tells in one of the sichos: once, at his father the Rebbe Rashab's, there was a Shabbos on which very distinguished and famous guests arrived, and they were all hosted at the table of the Rebbe Rashab. At the washing of the hands, the rabbanim who were there noticed that the Rebbe Rashab washed his hands three times on each hand. This became a topic of conversation among the rabbanim: where is this halachah written that they saw the Rebbe practicing, to wash three times on each hand? It was clear to them that if the Rebbe practices this way one should practice this way, but what is the source of the matter? In the meantime they remained silent.
When they sat down at the table, after everyone had washed, the eldest of the rabbanim - in one place it is written that this was Rav Chein - asked the Rebbe Rashab what the source is for the halachah he had practiced, to wash the hands three times on each hand before eating. The Rebbe Rashab reflected for a moment and answered that right now he does not remember where the matter is written, but if he practices this way - it is clear that it is written. [In a note below there appears, from another maamar of the Rebbe Rayatz, that by tzaddikim, who are so united with the Holy One blessed be He, all of their limbs fulfill everything, even a mitzvah whose reason they do not know - and this is in essence what the Rebbe Rashab was saying.]
Even before he gave the reason, the Rebbe Rashab related that before he reached the age of bar mitzvah his father the Rebbe Maharash called him and told him that he must learn thoroughly all the halachos that are relevant in actual practice. And then, as he said about himself before the bar mitzvah, he accustomed all the limbs of his body to carry out properly all the halachos relevant to each and every limb. And he concluded and said: if I wash my hands three times on each hand, then it is written somewhere, even if I do not remember right now where.
Now, in the saying, we see the source of the matter. And this is its wording: "My father, my teacher and Rebbe [the Rashab, may his soul rest in Eden] writes in one of his letters: according to the Hagahos Ashri". What is "Hagahos Ashri"? I will say two words about this. As is known, the Rosh - Rabbeinu Asher ben Yechiel - was one of the great commentators on the Talmud and one of the poskim, and his rulings are very fundamental in halachic ruling; the Bais Yosef relies on him greatly, together with two other great ones, in all of his rulings. The Rosh lived about 700 years ago. After the Rosh there was a great Jew, Rabbi Yisrael by name, who wrote glosses on the Rosh - he gathered rulings and matters that complete the Rosh - and the sefer he wrote is called "Hagahos Ashri", which are additions to the rulings of the Rosh.
There, in the Hagahos Ashri, it discusses meat after the salting - that the practice is to rinse it twice: once to remove the dirt and the blood as it comes out of the salt, and a second time for cleanliness - and it says there that one should be meticulous and do this three times; and there is an addition there, that so too with the washing of the hands, three times. And this is what the Rebbe Rashab writes: "washing the hands for a meal - three consecutive times" - to wash each hand three times. "So did my father, my teacher and Rebbe do", that is, "the Maharash, may his soul rest in Eden" - so did the Rebbe Maharash do, and so did the Rebbe Rashab do. "And from the third pouring he leaves a little water in the palm of his left hand, and with this he rubs both of his hands" - after the third pouring he leaves a little water in the palm of the left hand, and with it he rubs both of his hands, and then he makes the berachah and so on.
Let us complete one more interesting point: at first, as we saw from the previous story, the Rebbe Rashab practiced this way, but the chassidim did not yet practice this way and did not know about it, and they saw it by the Rebbe Rashab and began to wonder where he took it from; and only afterwards did the matter become a regular and established practice. It is interesting that there is another story that the Rebbe Rayatz tells in one of the sichos: on a certain Shabbos they invited a distinguished guest for the meal, and after the Rebbe Rashab had washed his hands and sat down to the meal, the guest went to wash his hands and washed three times on each hand, as we are accustomed today. The Rebbe Rayatz relates: "I saw that father was observing him with very intense contemplation", and he noticed that this was a contemplation of examination and scrutiny of what the guest was doing.
After the meal the Rebbe Rayatz asked his father: what was it that you were observing so much about that chassid who washed his hands in such a manner? The Rebbe Rashab explained and said: there is the meticulousness of a simple man, and there is the meticulousness of a scholar and a knowledgeable man. A simple man who performs a meticulous practice - he does it out of simple acceptance, because that is how he saw it done; but a person who is knowledgeable and a scholar who does this - it must come to him out of recognition, knowledge and connection. Therefore, since this chassid is knowledgeable, I was observing to see whether he does this out of understanding what he is doing, or whether he is only imitating what he saw by others. The Rebbe Rashab wanted very much that the matter be internal - that if you do something, you should do it with understanding; whereas the simple man does it out of simple acceptance.
Again we see from this story that at that time this was still not everyone's practice. And as the Rebbe notes, today the matter has become the plain and regular practice - even among women and girls they wash their hands with the towel with all of this meticulousness, three times, as it appears here plainly within the saying, that this is the practice of chassidim.