by Rabbi Alan J Yuter
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are that of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the Union for Traditional Judaism, unless otherwise indicated.
Is a person who has a close relative who died but the burial has not taken required, permitted or forbidden to perform the netilat yadayi’im ritual? I have heard that the washing of hands is a mattir, a rite that allows us to eat bread, which were it not for the commandment blessing, the bread would be forbidden to eat.
At bBerachot 23b, is taught that an onen is exempt from the obligation to observe the positive, i.e. the “to do” commandments. There is a method of Talmudic study called the “Analytic,” or Brisker approach, which was formulated by Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik (1820–1892) of Brest Litovsk, or “Brisk.” This method makes the assumption that there is an esoteric, conceptual substrate encoded in the literary Oral Torah canon. To this view, we are not permitted to eat bread until we say the commandment blessing and wash the hands. Therefore, the [1] hand washing is a mattir for the eating of bread, [2] absent the hand washing, the bread would be forbidden to eat, and [3] as a consequence, an onen would be obliged to wash one’s hands in order to avoid the negative, i.e. “not to do” command to not eat bread until or unless the washing has taken place.
In Rabbinic Hebrew, the idiom mattir is a participle referring to the authority person who permits a particular act and does not seem to occur as a verbal noun meaning “to authorize.” The doctrine that a blessing be recited in order to give Israel the right to use God’s created world seems to be based on bBerachot 25a where it is forbidden to a Jew to enjoy the goodies of this world without saying a “thank you” blessing acknowledging the Creator’s beneficent kindness.
We are also told that Baruch She-amar is a mattir to authorize the saying of Psalms. Were this conjecture convincing, the Oral Law would have said so, the Sefardim would not be saying Psalms before Baruch She-amar, and Ashkenazi communities would not be saying Psalm 30 before Baruch She-Amar.
Before washing the hands, a commandment blessing should be recited, as the commandment blessing should properly be said before performing the commanded act, with the sole exception being the commandment blessing of the convert’s immersion.[1] This exception is due to the fact that the person’s Jewishness is expressed in one’s commandedness and this only occurs after immersion. The popular, contemporary “orthodox” practice of saying the commandment blessing after the acts of miqveh immersion, lighting Shabbat candles, and washing one’s hands, make the non-Halakhic assumption that blessings should not be recited in a state of ritual impurity and that Shabbat begins with the Shabbat candle blessing. In point of fact, the blessing formula is ner shel Shabbat, the pre-Shabbat candle. The accepting of Shabbat with candles is a latter-day convention.
The original question, does an onen have to wash before eating bread, may now be answered. The hand washing blessing is a commandment blessing, indicating that the rite is a positive rabbinic law, and not merely a rite to allow the eating of bread. Since the hand washing is a positive, performative act, the hand washing rite should not be performed by an onen.
I therefore recommend that an onen not wash before eating bread, and do so without reciting the blessing.
[1] bPesahim 7b as understood by e.g. Rif ad. loc., and Hai Gaon cited in Tos. Hullin 136b s.v. k’Rav Ilai and Mahzor Vitri 174. Sherira Gaon (Teshuvat HaGeonim Sha’arei Teshuvah 170) applies the same rule to other ritual baths, reasoning that, when possible, one might as well first achieve ritual purity and then say the blessing. CF Rashi ad. loc. Conspicuously, as Rambam reports the rule that blessings are recited prior to ritual acts, he references both the kindling of Shabbat candles and washing hands. Mishneh Torah Berachot 11:3. Compare Shulhan Arukh Orah Hayim 158:11
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Educated and first ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Rabbi Alan J. Yuter earned additional ordinations from Yeshiva University, supervised by Rav Moshe D. Tendler, and the Israeli Chief Rav Mordecai Eliahu. He further received Yadin Yadin from Rav David Weiss Halivni and earned a PhD in modern Hebrew Literature from New York University.
A founding member of the UTJ, Rabbi Yuter served as a faculty member at the UTJ’s rabbinical school and has held multiple pulpits, including extended stints in Springfield, NJ, and Baltimore, MD.
Rabbi Yuter is a prolific writer on ritual and philosophical issues, underpinnings of halakha, Biblical criticism, and much more. His essays can be found on UTJ’s Viewpoints . He is also a frequent contributor for The Institute of Jewish Ideas and Ideals.
In addition to his activities with the UTJ, Rabbi Yuter teaches at Torat Reva in Jerusalem and is associated with the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding, affiliated with Ohr Torah Stone in Efrat.
Rabbi Yuter and his wife Linda reside in Israel.