Q&A: Hand-Washing for a Priest with a Bandage
Hand-Washing for a Priest with a Bandage
Question
Hello Rabbi,
The laws of hand-washing today are rabbinic, so a bandage is exempt from washing, and only the exposed area needs to come into contact with the water.
What is a priest in the Temple supposed to do if he was injured and therefore needs a bandage on his hand? (I’m not talking about a broken hand, because then he would be disqualified from the service; rather, a bandage because of a cut or something else.)
Would the rabbinic rule apply in such a case, or would the priest be unable to serve as long as his hand is bandaged?
Answer
I didn’t understand the question. Do you think that in the Temple, hand-washing is a Torah-level obligation? Based on what law?
Discussion on Answer
Sanctifying the hands and feet is a Torah-level positive commandment at the beginning of the service. Some of the medieval authorities (Rishonim) (and the Geonim) wrote that several of the laws of hand-washing are learned from there (such as the need for a vessel), but that is really not clear and has no clear source. Simply speaking, hand-washing for eating or in the morning does not come from there.
An intervening substance invalidates the sanctification of the hands and feet, and presumably if you have a bandage that invalidates it.
The priests are obligated in the Temple to sanctify their hands and feet; after all, isn’t the whole matter of hand-washing in our times derived from there?
So the question is whether a priest who, as a result of some injury that is not a fracture, needs to put a Band-Aid / bandage / dressing on his hand would be permitted to serve and be exempt regarding sanctification (washing) in accordance with what the Sages established for us today, or whether he would not be allowed to serve because he cannot sanctify his hands, since there is something intervening on them.