EXOD963 The custom of washing the hands before a meal most likely dates from the first century C.E. (Chulin 106a). The washing of one's fingers after a meal was instituted in the third century (Chulin 105a). One must also wash his hands upon rising in the morning (Berachot 15a, 3rd cent.) Occasions for washing were added in the Middle Ages. These include, along others, the rinsing of one's mouth in the morning, the washing of one's hands after the use of a lavatory, upon leaving a bathhouse, after the trimming of one's nails, the removal of shoes, the touching of one's feet or the private parts of the body, etc. (Orach Chaim 4:17-18). Hygienic reasons no doubt were an important factor in the establishment of the sanitary laws. However, the Judaic concept of man as a creature made in the image of God added a socioreligious mystique to the subject of cleanliness. A dirty body is in contempt of the divine image. This view is reflected in a talmudic statement: "One must wash his face, hands, and feet daily in his maker's honor" (Shabbat 50b). A clean body, according to Rashi, is a testimonial of honor to God, who made it in his image (ibid.). Nachmanides offers the same rationale for the religious custom of washing the hands before a meal. Handling food with clean hands is a gesture of respect for God, of whose bounty we are partaking (Nachmanides Exodus 30:19).