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EXODUS — 30:19 wash

Torah Book & Portion, Book of Exodus, Ki Tisa (Exodus 30:11-34:35), Source Book Keys, BLOCH
Page(s): 23-4
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).

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EXODUS — 34:6 compassionate

Torah Book & Portion, Book of Exodus, Ki Tisa (Exodus 30:11-34:35), Source Book Keys, BLOCH
Page(s): 57-9
EXOD1030 The cultivation of the quality of mercy is a prime goal of Judaism. The Pentateuchal description of God's divine traits was revealed to Moses in the following words: [this and following verses]. The phrase "merciful and gracious God" is repeated nine times in the Bible. Most biblical social laws are motivated by compassion. Sympathy for the poor inspired thirteen distinct commandments which are broadly grouped under the heading of charity (Mishnah Torah, Hilchot Matanot Aniyim). The same motivation shaped the law of the sabbatical year, at which time the poor were given free access to the produce of the soil (Exodus 23:11). Consideration for the plight of the indigent enjoined the nightly restoration of a garment taken from a poor borrower in pledge for a loan. (Exodus 22:26). The widow and the orphan are repeatedly singled out in the Bible as a class deserving special consideration and sympathy (Exodus 22:21, Deuteronomy 14:29). The alien, frequently the target of xenophobic prejudice, is protected by several laws based on mercy. (Exodus 22:20, Leviticus 20:34). Handicapped people were treated as the rejects of society in the past, and their special needs were neglected. Their very helplessness invites criminals to perpetrate their mischief. The elderly are the most common victims of muggers. The same is true of the lame, the blind, and the slow-witted. Compassion for the incapacitated is the basis for the biblical injunction: "Thou shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind" (Leviticus 19:14). The apocryphal II Esdras summed up man's social obligations which are motivated by compassion: "Do right to the widow, judge for the fatherless, give to the poor, defend the orphan, clothe the naked, heal the broken and the weak, laugh not a lame man to scorn, defend the maimed, and let the blind man come into the site of my clearness (2: 20–21). The Bible mercifully extended its protection to the most lowly human being in ancient society, the slave. He must not be mistreated. He is entitled to a weekly day of rest [this verse]. A master's abuse of a slave, resulting in the loss of an eye or tooth, sets him free from bondage (Exodus 21:26-27).

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