About Rabbi Jack Abramowitz
Rabbi Jack Abramowitz served as Director of Programs for NCSY before becoming Associate Director of the Pepa and Rabbi Joseph Karasick Department of Synagogue Services. Rabbi Abramowitz holds degrees in Jewish studies, communications and Higher Education Administration. Among his accomplishments, he authored NCSY's Torah on One Foot series of educational pamphlets and created negiah.org, the first abstinence web site for Jewish teens. Rabbi Abramowitz is the author of The Shnayim Mikra Companion on Torah, The Nach Yomi Companion volumes 1 and 2 on the books of the Prophets and the Writings, and The Tzniyus Book.
Rabbi Jack Abramowitz served as Director of Programs for NCSY before becoming Associate Director of the Pepa and Rabbi Joseph Karasick Department of Synagogue Services. Rabbi Abramowitz holds degrees in Jewish studies, communications and Higher Education Administration. Among his accomplishments, he authored NCSY's Torah on One Foot series of educational pamphlets and created negiah.org, the first abstinence web site for Jewish teens. Rabbi Abramowitz is the author of The Shnayim Mikra Companion on Torah, The Nach Yomi Companion volumes 1 and 2 on the books of the Prophets and the Writings, and The Tzniyus Book.
Recent Posts
- 2. Mazel Tov!:The obligation to circumcise a Jewish male
- 1. B’Sha’ah Tovah: The obligation for a man to have children with his wife
- The Ramban’s Emendations to the Taryag Mitzvos - pt. II
- The Ramban’s Emendations to the Taryag Mitzvos - pt. I
- 613. Write This Down: The obligation to write a Torah scroll
- 612. Hakheil BaSeder: The obligation to assemble the nation on the Succos after Shemittah
- 611. Simply Divine: The obligation to emulate God
- 610. Dead to Me: The prohibition against spending second tithe money on anything other than food
- 609. This One, Too: The prohibition against eating second tithe while ritually impure
- 608. Easily Inferred: The prohibition against a mourner eating second tithe
- 607. Confess!: The obligation to recite the confession of tithes
- 606. Arameans: The obligation to read the passage of the first fruits
- 605. Forget-Me-Nots: The prohibition against forgetting Amalek’s attack
- 604. Jihad?: The obligation to eradicate Amalek
- 603. Zachor: The obligation to remember what Amalek did
- 602. Possession is Also a Crime: The prohibition against keeping short-changing weights and measures
- 601. No Mercy!: The prohibition against taking pity on a pursuer
- 600. Run, Joey, Run: The obligation to save someone from a pursuer
- 599. It’s Gotta Be the Shoe: The obligation to perform chalitzah
- 598. Yibum, Yibum: The obligation to perform levirate marriage
- 597. Previous Engagement: The prohibition against a widow remarrying before severing the tie…
- 596. Zip It!: The prohibition against muzzling a working animal
- 595. Well, 39, Really…: The prohibition against exceeding the prescribed number of lashes
- 594. Whip It Good: The obligation for the courts to lash violators
- 593. Just Drop It: The prohibition against retrieving the forgotten sheaves
- 592. Fuggedaboutit!: The obligation to leave forgotten sheaves for the poor
- 591. Like a Handlebar-Mustached Villain: The prohibition against demanding collateral from a widow
- 590. Double Down: The prohibition against perverting the justice due converts and orphans
- 589. Inadmissable: The prohibition against the relatives of litigants testifying
- 588. Payday: The obligation to pay wages when due
- 587. Fork It Over: The obligation to return collateral when it’s needed
- 586. Lock Box: The prohibition against holding on to collateral that’s needed
- 585. Repo Men: The prohibition against a creditor taking collateral by force
- 584. Don’t Pick at It!: The prohibition against a metzora removing the signs of his tzaraas
- 583. Kitchen Aid: The prohibition against demanding food-preparing utensils as collateral
- 582. Shana Rishona: The obligation for a groom to rejoice with his bride for one year
- 581. National Service: The prohibition against conscripting a newlywed
- 580. Swingers: The prohibition against remarrying an ex-wife who married someone else in the interim
- 579. You Get Her a Get: The obligation to divorce with a document
- 578. Sickle Time: The prohibition against eating when one should be working
- 577. To Go–Not!: The prohibition against a worker picking to take home
- 576. Spread the Wealth Around: The obligation to allow hired hands to eat
- 575. Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is: The obligation to fulfill what was commits to do
- 574. Procrastinator: The prohibition against delaying fulfilling a vow
- 573. Verrrry Interesting… To obligation to conduct loans with non-Jews using interest
- 572. You’ve Captured My Interest: The prohibition against borrowing with interest
- 571. Offensive: The prohibition against offering animals bought with a prostitute’s wages…
- 570. Premarital: The prohibition against having sex outside of marriage
- 569. Simon Legree: The prohibition against wronging the fugitive slave
- 568. Underground Railroad: The prohibition against returning a runaway slave to his master abroad
- 567. Calling a Spade a Spade: The obligation to keep a digging tool among the weapons
- 566. Latrine Duty: The obligation for an army camp to have latrines
- 565. Step Off: The prohibition against ritually impure people ascending the Temple Mount
- 564. Let Bygones Be Bygones: The prohibition against excluding Egyptians after two generations
- 563. Sibling Rivalry: The prohibition against excluding Edomites after two generations
- 562. Not Only That…: The prohibition against offering peace to Ammon and Moab
- 561. Brotherly Hate: The prohibition against Ammon and Moab marrying in
- 560. Misunderstood: The prohibition against a mamzer entering the marriage pool
- 559. Unix Incompatible: The prohibition against a eunuch entering the marriage pool
- 558. The Old Ball-and-Chain: The prohibition against a rapist ever divorcing his victim
- 557. Why Would She Want That?: The obligation for a rapist to marry his victim
- 556. Fairly Self-Evident but Just in Case: The prohibition against punishing one acting under duress
- 555. Capital Punishment (#4 of 4): The obligation to execute by stoning when called for
- 554. Let Me Sleep on It: The prohibition against the slanderer divorcing his wife
- 553. Scandal!: The obligation for a slanderer to remain with his wife
- 552. I Do: The obligation to marry a wife properly
- 551. The Vegetable Lamb: The prohibition against wearing a garment containing both wool and linen
- 550. Iditarod: The prohibition against working different types of animals together
- 549. Seedy: The prohibition against eating diverse seeds from a vineyard
- 548. Key Lime Wine?: The prohibition against planting diverse species in a vineyard
- 547. Attractive Nuisance: The prohibition against leaving hazards on one’s property
- 546. Roofies: The obligation to make a guard rail on a flat roof
- 545. Shoo!: The obligation to send away the mother bird
- 544. Loaded Question: The prohibition against taking a mother bird with her young
- 543. What a Drag: The prohibition against men wearing women’s clothes
- 542. Male Impersonator: The prohibition against women wearing men’s clothes
- 541. …Pick Up Sticks!: The obligation to help others load and unload
- 540. Five, Six…: The prohibition against ignoring another struggling with a burden
- 539. Not the Droids You’re Looking For: The prohibition against ignoring a lost object
- 538. Lost and Found: The obligation to return a lost object
- 537. Chevra Kadisha: The obligation to bury the convicted on their day of execution
- 536. Boot Hill by Sundown: The prohibition against delaying burial overnight
- 535. Gallows Humor: The obligation to hang certain executed convicts
- 534. The Kind I’d Like to Meet: The prohibition against keeping the beautiful captive as a slave
- 533. …Walking Down the Street…: The prohibition against selling the beautiful captive
- 532. Pretty Woman…: The obligation to follow the procedure of a beautiful captive
- 531. Who Will Save the River Valley?: The prohibition against planting the site of the eglah arufah
- 530. CSI Israel: The obligation to break a calf’s neck following an unsolved murder
- 529. Waste Not, Want Not: The prohibition against wantonly destroying fruit trees during a siege
- 528. No Survivors: The prohibition against leaving Canaanite combatants alive
- 527. Peace Pipe: The obligation to offer peace terms to a city under siege
- 526. War and Peace: The obligation to appoint a kohein to address the army
- 525. Run Away! Run Away!: The prohibition against retreating in panic during battle
- 524. Let the Punishment Fit the Crime: The obligation to punish false witnesses as they sought to do
- 523. The Lone Ranger: The prohibition against accepting testimony from a lone witness
- 522. Copyright Protected: The prohibition against encroaching on another’s boundary
- 521. Willie Horton: The prohibition against a judge pitying a convicted offender
- 520. Miklat >>: The obligation to establish cities of refuge
- 519. What’s He Gonna Do to You? The prohibition against fearing to execute the false prophet
- 518. Right Message, Wrong Name: The prohibition against prophesizing in the name of an idol
Rabbinic Mitzvos #5 Netilas Yadayim
In both a positive mitzvah (#495) and a negative mitzvah (#496), the Torah requires us to follow rabbinic enactments. Seven of these are considered the “Sheva Mitzvos d’Rabbanan,” the “Seven Rabbinic Mitzvos.”
Before eating bread, a person must ritually wash his hands from a utensil. This is true even if he is eating regular bread (as opposed to terumah, which has a degree of sanctity) and even if his hands are clean. The water must be poured using what is called “koach gavra” (i.e., through human effort); sticking one’s hands under running water is insufficient.
The Talmud in Shabbos (14a-b) describes how hands were declared to be ritually impure because they get into everything. Shlomo HaMelech (King Solomon) instituted that we must wash our hands before eating bread. Ultimately, this keeps people from accidentally rendering terumah ritually impure.
Aside from Shabbos 14a-b, this mitzvah is discussed in the tractates of Chulin (106a-107b) and Sotah (4b). It is also the topic of tractate Yadayim in the Mishna. This mitzvah is codified in the Shulchan Aruch in Orach Chaim 158.
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