Translation:Shulchan Aruch/Orach Chaim/159

by Yosef Karo

159: Which vessels can you wash your hands with and how to pour the water on your hands. Contains 20 Seifim.

1 Only wash your hands with a vessel. And all vessels are kosher, and even g'lalim vessels [meaning, vessels made from cow feces and dust], and stone vessels, and earthenware vessels. And it must be able to hold a reviis. And if there is a hole/crack in the vessel – that is, that if you put it in liquids, they will enter it through the crack – and that is bigger than a hole that the liquid that's in the vessel exits through – then it's no longer considered a vessel and you shouldn't use it to wash your hands. And even if it could hold a reviis below the crack.
2 And the above applies when one pours from its mouth above, because that which is above the crack is not considered to be in a vessel, so the water isn't pouring onto his hands from the vessel. However, if he pours from the crack, it is permitted since it can hold a reviis from there and below.

3 A vessel that holds a reviis when it is propped up by something else and if it is not propped up will pour out the water and a reviis will not remain in it is not a vessel. Therefore, the plug of a barrel that is pointed and doesn't hold a reviis when it is not supported should not be used to wash with. And if he widened it on the bottom until it does hold a reviis while it sits unsupported, you can wash with it.

4 Chemeth and k'fisha, which are types of vessels of skin, which one repaired and made for them a flat bottom, can be used for washing. But a sack and a basket which he repaired so that they can sit without being supported, and he smeared them with tar until they hold liquids, may not be used for washing since they are not made to hold liquids. And the same rule applies to hats from felts (meaning: a hard cloth; feltrs in the foreign language), even when they are so hard that they hold water and it doesn't ooze out from them, still, they are not made to hold water. And still, in a time of urgency, they are permitted, for travelers of the roads frequently drink in them.

5 A vessel which is made from the start so that it can't stand without support, and is not used without being supported, is well considered a vessel. Therefore, a vessel which is full of holes at its bottom, and its opening at the top is narrow, and when a person places his finger on it, the water doesn't go out, and when he removes it, the water goes out, it is permitted to wash from it even though it doesn't hold anything; since it is made for holding in this way and this is its main use, it is called a vessel. Gloss: And all the more so, a vessel that has a faucet at the bottom, since from the start it was made to hold in such a way [Tur; Beit Yosef].

6 One should not pour water unto his friend with his hands, for only a vessel may be used for washing. And the same rule applies if he washed his one hand from the vessel and poured from it to his other hand, that it's nothing. And Rabbeinu Tam permits in this case since the beginning of the washing to his one hand was from the vessel – and that is if his first hand was clean, for example, that he poured on it a revi'it at once.

Gloss: And the custom is be lenient like the words of Rabbeinu Tam. But the first opinion is the main one. Therefore, it is proper to be stringent in the first place.

7 The water needs to come through the power of one pouring it. Therefore, a pipe that draws water from the river and pours with it, and the water is drawn from it to water the field – one can't place his hands inside it so that the water should flow on them because it is not coming through the power of a person, for the power of the one pouring has already ceased. And if he places his hands close to place of the pouring, even though he doesn't place it under the pouring precisely, the washing is valid, for as long as it is close to place of the pouring, it is still coming from his power. And if he immersed his hand into this pipe, they are not clean through the power of immersion because it is drawn. And these words only apply to a pump that pours into the pipe itself. But if it pours it outside of the pipe and he leads it into the pipe, and he immersed his hands in it, they are clean, for drawn water which they conducted through a channel is kosher; and even if he draws and pours into the dent itself, if the bucket is punctured from behind with a water collector, and while he's still pouring through its opening into the pipe, it flows from behind to the river, he immerses his hands in it and they are clean, for it's considered as if he immersed in the river, for this flow connects the vessel to the river, and the water that's in the pipe is considered connected to the waters of the river, even though such a flow is not considered a connection regarding immersion. And there are those who disagree with this and say that also for washing the hands it is not considered a connection.

Gloss: One should not wash his hands from those stones that are set in the wall, and he made for them a receptacle and a faucet. But if in the beginning they were vessels and he connected them to the wall, one can wash from it. [Aguddah, Chapter "He who Sells a House"].

8 If one put his hands into a vessel of water and dabbled his hands in them – if the vessel is connected to the ground, it's not a valid washing for him; and if it's not connected to the ground – there are those who say that it's a valid washing for him and there are those who say that it's not valid for him. And in a time of urgency, he could rely on the words of those who are lenient. And if afterwards, he had the opportunity to wash in the way of washing, he washes without a blessing.

9 A barrel which contains water – one places it on his knees and pours from it onto the hands. And if it was tilted on the ground and the water is flowing from it – or that it's standing and the water is exiting through a hole in it – and he placed his hands there, it's not a valid washing for him. And if there was a plug [meaning: something closing the hole; spina in the foreign language] in the hole and he removed it and received the water on his hands, it is well considered the power of a person. And he needs to put it back and remove it for every single pouring.
10 If one tilted a barrel full of water and went and sat down and the barrel is pouring the whole day because of his tilting, and he washed his hands from it, the washing is valid for him.

11 Everyone is permitted to pour water over the hands, even one who is deaf, mentally incapable, and a child; a heathen, and a niddah. [And there are those who say that a child under the age of six is considered like a monkey] (Notes on Rosh, 2nd chapter of Berakhot).

12 If the monkey [This is a kind of beast – simia in the foreign language] pours water over the hands, some consider this invalid, and some consider it valid, and their words seem correct. (And nevertheless, it is good to be strict).

13 And from the start, the one who washes should have intent for washing that makes fit for eating.

[And the intent of the one pouring also works, even from the start, even if the one washing did not have intent at all] [Rabbi Shlomo ibn Aderet, Number 510].

14 If one immersed his hands in the water of a spring, even if it doesn't contain 40 seah, the immersion is valid for him as long as his hands get covered by it at once. And if he immersed them in the water of a mikveh, there are those who say that its rule is like a spring; and there are those who say that it requires 40 seah. And we hold like the words of the one who's lenient.

[And one should be stringent from the start].

15 Rain water that is flowing [meaning: it continues to flow; that it's not collected) and it contains 40 seah – it's uncertain whether one immerses his hands in it.

16 Forty seah of drawn water that's in the ground – according to Maimonides, the hands cannot be immersed in it; and according to Rabbi Abraham ben David, they can be immersed. And drawn water which was completely conducted through a channel – the hands can be immersed in it even according to Maimonides.

17 One should not take water from the river in his one hand and pour on his second hand because here there is no washing and no immersion.
18 One's one hand with washing and his one hand with immersion – his hands are clean.

19 One who immerses his hands doesn't need two times, and not drying, and not to raise his hands.

20 One who immerses his hands doesn't recite the blessing "...on immersing the hands"; rather: "...on washing the hands". [And there are those who say that the blessing "...on immersing the hands" is recited. And so is the main view] [Tur; and Mordecai, Chapter "These are the Things"; and Sefer Mitzvot Gadol; and Agur].