💾 Archived View for scholasticdiversity.us.to › scriptures › jewish › t › Shulchan%20Arukh%2C%20Orac… captured on 2024-05-10 at 12:31:19. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayim 613

Home

Shulchan Arukh

613 ‎[1] **“The prohibition of washing on Yom Kippur” - Containing twelve paragraphs.**

It is forbidden to wash on Yom Kippur whether with hot water or with cold water, and even sticking one’s finger in water is forbidden. But if one’s hands or feet or the rest of his body is dirty with mud or with excrement or if one has blood flowing from his nose, he is permitted to wash them (those parts which are dirty), because the only type of washing that is forbidden is washing for pleasure. ‎[2] A man washes his hands in the morning and makes the blessing over the washing of hands. He should be careful not to wash his hands beyond the joints of his fingers.

Hagah*: He must not intend enjoyment of the washing, only to get rid of the evil spirits on his hands, (הגהות מיימוני). ‎[3] If one urinates and handles it (his penis) with his hands or he goes to the bathroom and he wipes himself, he is permitted to wash since his hands are dirty. (*Hagah*: and he washes up to the ends of the joints of his fingers.) And if he wants to pray, even if he did not wipe himself, he is also permitted to wash (his fingers in water) up to the ends of the joints of his fingers.
Hagah*: And so it is with a priest who goes up to recite the priestly benediction, he washes his hands even though they are clean because the majority of (the instances of) washing which are not intended for pleasure are permitted, (הגהות מיימוני פ״ב מהל׳ י״כ ומהרי״ל). Therefore even if one comes from the street and his feet are dirty, it is permissible to wash them, (ב״י בשם הגהות מיימוני וסמ״ג וטור הלכות ט״ב). ‎[4] One who is ailing and does not feel well until he rinses his face with water is permitted (to do so).
Hagah*: It is customary for us to be strict in this (matter) for even the washing of the eyes which is a little bit medicinal, it is customary to be strict with this, (מהרי״ל), and it was forbidden to wash one’s mouth on Yom Kippur as was explained above in section 567, paragraph three. ‎[5] One who goes to the house of study or to visit one’s father or his rabbi or one who is greater than him in wisdom, or for the need of performing a *mitzvah* (a good deed), is able to pass through water up to his neck going and coming provided that he does not take his hand from under the edge of his shirt to lift up the edges of his shirt over his arms and provided that the water does not flow rapidly, for if so, even on a weekday this would be prohibited because of the danger, even if the water only reaches his hips. ‎[6] The fact that it is permissible to pass bodily through the water to perform a *mitzvah*, this is only to pass bodily through the water itself, but to pass through water in a small boat, this is, according to some, prohibited. ‎[7] A rabbi is forbidden to pass through water in order to go to his student. ‎[8] One who is going to guard his fruit is permitted to pass through water in his going, but not his return.
Hagah*: In each instance where it is permitted to pass through water, even if there was a way for him to be able to circle around by way of dry ground, he is permitted to pass (through water), since to shorten his walk is more preferable. ‎[9] It is forbidden for one to cool oneself in moist mud if he moistens it so as to dabble, and it is forbidden to cool oneself in vessels that contain water even if they are pottery, clay, or metal, but if they are empty, it is permissible and the same holds true for fruits and babies (to cool them).
Hagah*: It is prohibited to soak a tablecloth when it is still day (before Yom Kippur) and to use it like a sort of moist vessel in order to cool off with it on Yom Kippur because we are afraid that it might not dry well enough and one might squeeze it (and squeezing is prohibited on Yom Kippur), (הגהות מיימוני פ״ב ומרדכי וסמ״ק ומנהגים). One who is sick washes as he usually does even though he is not dangerously ill, (רמב״ם). ‎[10] A bride is permitted to wash her face all the (first) thirty days (of her marriage). ‎[11] One who sees (his) semen at this time (Caro’s time and later) on Yom Kippur, if it is moist he wipes it off with a piece of cloth, this is sufficient; if it is dry or it made him dirty, he washes only the dirty spots and prays. It is forbidden for him to wash his body or to immerse himself (inaritual bath), even though on all other days of the year he used to immerse (in a ritual bath) in order to pray. ‎[12] At this time it is forbidden for a wife to immerse herself (in a ritual bath) on Yom Kippur even if the time for her immersion arrived on that day.

Version Info

Version: Hilkhot Yom ha-Kippurim, trans. by Jan M. Brahms. HUC, 1976

Source: http://library.huc.edu/pdf/theses/Brahms_Jan_M-CN-Rab-1976_rdf.pdf

License: CC-BY

Jewish Texts