Q&A: Something Dipped in Liquid
Something Dipped in Liquid
Question
Hello Rabbi Michael Abraham,
Regarding something dipped in liquid, I saw the view brought in Peninei Halakha in the name of Maharam of Rothenburg, Ba'al HaIttur, and Tosafot (Pesachim 115a), that there is a difference between the hand-washings: washing before bread was instituted also for holiness and cleanliness, and therefore even nowadays one should sanctify and clean one’s hands before the meal. But the rule of washing hands before eating something dipped in liquid exists only because of a vestige of impurity, and since today the laws of ritual purity and impurity are not practiced, there is no need to wash hands before eating something dipped in liquid.
May one rely on such opinions from the outset (even though most halakhic decisors are stringent)?
Beyond that, do foods like cereal with milk, salad with olive oil, stewed fruit in syrup, or any food with sauce also fall under the rule of something dipped in liquid? Or is it only whole vegetables that were washed?
Answer
In my opinion, one may certainly rely on these opinions, and that is indeed the practice among most Jews, who do not wash their hands for something dipped in liquid. At least on the basis of a rabbinic-level doubt, and especially since according to all views the reason for the enactment no longer exists (because the laws of ritual purity and impurity are no longer practiced), and the whole washing is only formal.
However, on the night of the Passover Seder, the custom is to wash hands for karpas as part of the Seder procedure. Here it is proper to continue that practice.
The halakhic decisors mention several exemptions, such as something smaller than an olive-bulk, or when one eats with an eating utensil (a fork), and the like. Since the whole matter is doubtful and lacks any real practical reason, one can certainly be lenient (after all, even without all this there is room to be lenient, as explained above). However, on the night of the Seder one washes even for less than an olive-bulk of karpas.
*** There is an error in the following paragraph; see the clarification note ***
I should note that I do not understand the words of the halakhic decisors who speak also about crackers and other things dipped in liquid. On the face of it, it would seem to me that the enactment refers only to vegetables, since bringing them into contact with liquid renders them fit to contract ritual impurity. Other foods that were prepared by human hands can contract ritual impurity even without liquid being on them, so I do not understand why one would need to wash hands when they are dipped in liquid. But I have not found a source for my reasoning, so I would not rely on it in practice.
Clearly, if the liquid in question is not one of the seven liquids, there is no rule of hand-washing here.
Regarding cornflakes, see here:
https://he.wikisource.org/wiki/%D7%97%D7%91%D7%9C_%D7%A0%D7%97%D7%9C%D7%AA%D7%95_%D7%92_%D7%94
Discussion on Answer
Nothing that I know of.
Thank you. Is there a source for the idea that it is proper to wash one’s hands for chicken in soup?