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{{Short description|Washing and bathing rituals in Judaism}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2014}}
{{Tumah and taharah}}
[[File:SilverWashingCup.jpg|thumb|right|A silver washing cup used for ''netilat yadayim'']]
[[File:Stone staircase at Gamla.jpg|thumb|Ancient ''mikveh'' unearthed at [[Gamla]]]]

In [[Judaism]], '''ritual washing''', or '''ablution''', takes two main forms. '''''Tevilah''''' ({{Langx|he|טְבִילָה|ṭəb̲îlā}}) is a full body immersion in a [[mikveh]], and '''''netilat yadayim''''' is the washing of the hands with a cup (see [[Handwashing in Judaism]]).

References to ritual washing are found in the [[Hebrew Bible]], and are elaborated in the [[Mishnah]] and [[Talmud]]. They have been codified in various codes of Jewish law and tradition, such as [[Maimonides]]' ''[[Mishneh Torah]]'' (12th century) and [[Joseph Karo]]'s ''[[Shulchan Aruch]]'' (16th century). These practices are most commonly observed within [[Orthodox Judaism]]. In [[Conservative Judaism]], the practices are normative, with certain leniencies and exceptions. Ritual washing is not generally performed in [[Reform Judaism]].

== Hebrew Bible ==
The [[Hebrew Bible]] requires immersion of the body in water as a means of purification in several circumstances, for example:
: And when the ''[[zav]]'' is cleansed of his issue, then he shall number to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes; and he shall bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean.<ref>{{bibleverse||Leviticus|15:13|HE}}</ref>

There are also references to hand-washing in Leviticus 15:11, "All those whom the one with a discharge touches, without having rinsed his hands in water, shall wash their clothes, bathe in water, and remain impure until evening," and in [[Psalms]] 26:6, "I wash my hands in innocence, and walk around Your altar, O LORD."

Priests were required to wash their hands and feet before service in the ritual sites:
{{blockquote|Make a laver of copper and a stand of copper for it, for washing; and place it between the [[Tent of Meeting]] and the altar. Put water in it, and let Aaron and his sons wash their hands and feet [in water drawn] from it. When they enter the Tent of Meeting they shall wash with water, that they may not die; or when they approach the altar to serve, to turn into smoke an offering by fire to [[יהוה]]|Exodus 30:18-20}}

[[File:MayimAchronimSet.jpg|thumb|right|A Silver Mayim Acharonim Set]]

== Washing the hands ==
{{Main|Handwashing in Judaism}}

According to [[halakha]] or custom, the hands are washed several times. These include before and after eating a meal with bread, upon waking in the morning, after using the toilet, before eating [[karpas]] in the [[Passover seder]], and before prayer. On some occasions, the water must be poured from a cup; on others, it may be delivered by any means, such as a faucet. A blessing is recited on some occasions.

== Full-body immersion==
{{Main|Mikveh}}
[[File:14440 The mikve in besalu.jpg|thumb|A medieval [[mikveh]] for the purpose of ritual immersion in [[Besalú]], Spain]]
Depending on the circumstances, such ritual bathing might require immersion in "living water"—either a natural stream or a [[mikveh]], a specially constructed ritual bath connected directly to a natural source of water such as a spring. There are several occasions on which [[biblical]] or rabbinical regulations require immersion of the whole body. For example, the impurity of [[zav]] is unique in that it cannot be purified by immersion in a normal mikve but requires immersion in a spring of [[living water]].

This article discusses immersion requirements in [[Rabbinic Judaism]] and its descendants. Other branches of Judaism, such as [[Haymanot]], have substantially different practices, including requiring an actual spring or stream.

=== Current practice ===
Occasions on which full-body immersion is currently practiced include:
* After a woman's ''[[niddah]]'' period concludes following [[menstruation]] or other uterine bleeding, she must immerse and only then is permitted to resume sexual relations with her husband.<ref>Babylonian Talmud, tractate Shabbath 64b.</ref> This practice remains the principal use of contemporary mikvehs. It is fully observed in Orthodox Judaism, and normative in Conservative Judaism. 
* Some Orthodox men immerse after having a seminal discharge (''[[keri]]'').<ref>Although the Shulchan Aruch (OC 88) rules that they repealed the requirement of this immersion, it is still considered a pious practice to continue to observe it.</ref>
* In Orthodox Judaism, there is a widespread [[minhag]] for men to immerse themselves on the day before [[Yom Kippur]], and many do so before the [[Three Pilgrimage Festivals]] and before [[Rosh Hashanah]]. Many also immerse themselves before the [[Shabbat]], and many (primarily [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidic Jews]]) do so daily before morning prayers.
* A convert to Judaism must immerse.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/why-immerse-in-the-mikveh/ |title=The Mikveh's Significance in Traditional Conversion |publisher=My Jewish Learning |author=Rabbi Maurice Lamm }}</ref>
* ''Taharah'', ("Purification"), the ritual washing and cleansing, and immersion in a mikveh according to many customs, of a Jew's body prior to burial
* Prior to ascending the [[Temple Mount]] (by those Orthodox or [[Masorti Judaism|Masorti]] authorities who permit ascending the Temple Mount)
* In Hassidic Judaism, men regularly shower daily before immersing in the mikvah before prayer each morning.

=== Past practice ===

==== Bodily fluids and skin conditions ====

The [[Torah]] prescribes rituals addressing the skin condition known as ''[[tzaraath]]''<ref>{{bibleverse||Leviticus|14:8-9|HE}}</ref> and unusual genital discharges in a man or woman ([[Zav]]/[[Zavah]]),<ref>{{bibleverse||Leviticus|15:5-10|HE}}</ref> which required special sacrifices and rituals in the days of the [[Temple in Jerusalem]] including immersion in a mikveh.

The practice of checking for ''tzaraath'' fell out of use with the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and the end of sacrificial rites. However, each of the other requirements remains in effect to some extent in Orthodox Judaism and (to a lesser degree) in [[Conservative Judaism]].

==== ''Zavah'' ====
A woman experiencing uterine blood, not part of normal menstruation, was classified as a ''zavah'' in the days of the [[Temple in Jerusalem]] and remained in a state of ritual impurity for seven days before immersion. Today, the law of ''zavah'' remains in effect in Orthodox Judaism, in two respects. Due to extreme conditions in Roman Palestine in the time of the Amoraim, women's periods became irregular, and women became unable to determine whether or not their discharges were regular (''niddah'') or irregular (''zavah''). As a result, women adapted a stringency combining the ''niddah'' and ''zavah'' periods, refraining from intercourse and physical contact with their husbands for seven days of the ''zavah'' period following menstruation, for a total of approximately 12 days per month, which Orthodox women continue to observe today. The laws of ''zavah'' are also applied, as in Biblical times, to uterine blood discharges outside regular menstruation. Such circumstances are often interpreted leniently, however, and rabbinic stratagems have been devised to lessen their severity. Women experiencing irregularities (droplets) are sometimes advised to wear coloured underwear to mitigate the detectability of evidence of ''zavah'' status and hence a need to determine that a woman is a ''zavah''.

==== ''Keri'' ====
{{Main|Keri}}
Men experiencing a seminal discharge, including through regular marital intercourse, were prohibited from entering the Temple in Jerusalem and required to immerse in a mikveh, remaining ritually impure until the evening. The [[Talmud]] ascribes to the [[Great Assembly]] of [[Ezra]] a Rabbinic decree imposing further restrictions on men ritually impure from a seminal discharge, including a prohibition on studying Torah and from participating in services.

[[Maimonides]] wrote a responsum lifting the decree of Ezra, based on an opinion in the Talmud stating that it had failed to be observed by a majority of the community and the Jewish people found themselves unable to sustain it. However, Maimonides continued to follow the ''Keri'' restrictions as a matter of personal observance. Since then, observance of the rules of ''Keri'' and hence regular mikveh use by men fell into disuse in many communities.{{Citation needed|date=June 2007}} [[Hasidic Judaism]], however, revived the practice of regular mikveh use, advocating regular daily mikveh use as a way of achieving spiritual purity. The growth of Hasidic Judaism resulted in a revival of mikveh use by men. In addition, some [[Sephardic Judaism|Sephardic]] and [[Mizrahi Judaism|Mizrahi]] communities continued to observe the rules of ''keri'' throughout.

==== Contact with an animal carcass ====

According to [[Leviticus]], anyone who comes into contact with or carries any creature that had not been deliberately killed by ''[[shechita]]'' was regarded by the biblical regulations as having made themselves unclean by doing so, and therefore was compelled to immerse their entire body.<ref>{{bibleverse||Leviticus|17:15|HE}}</ref> This regulation is immediately preceded by the rule against eating anything still containing blood, and according to biblical scholars this is also the context of the regulation about not eating non-sacrifices—that the regulation only treats such consumption as unclean if there is a risk of blood remaining within the carcass.<ref name="Peake's commentary on the Bible"/> In the version of this regulation in [[Deuteronomy]], eating the bodies of such creatures is not described as making an individual ritually impure, nor requires the eater to wash their body, but instead, such consumption is expressly forbidden, although the creature is allowed to be passed on to a [[Gentile|non-Jew]], who is permitted to eat it.<ref>{{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|14:21|HE}}</ref>

==== Contact with a corpse ====
{{main|Corpse uncleanness}}
Anyone who came into contact with a [[cadaver]] or [[grave]] was so ritually impure that they had to be sprinkled with the water produced from the [[red heifer]] ritual, in order to become pure again;<ref>{{bibleverse||Numbers|19:19|HE}}</ref> however, the person who carried out the red heifer ritual and who sprinkled the water was to be treated as having become ritually impure by doing so.<ref>{{bibleverse||Numbers|19:7-8|HE}}</ref> According to Cheyne and Black, this ritual derives from the same origin as the ritual described in the [[Book of Deuteronomy]] for a group of people to [[atonement in Judaism|atone]] for murder by an unknown perpetrator,<ref>Cheyne and Black, ''[[Encyclopedia Biblica]]''</ref> according to which a heifer is killed at a stream and hands are washed over it;<ref>{{bibleverse|Leviticus|16:26|HE}}</ref> Peake believed that these are both ultimately cases of [[sympathetic magic]],<ref name="Peake's commentary on the Bible">''[[Peake's commentary on the Bible]]''</ref> and similar rituals existed in Greek<ref>[[Sophocles]], ''Ajax'', 664</ref> and Roman<ref>[[Virgil]], ''[[Aeneid]]'', 2:217</ref> mythology.<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia">''Jewish Encyclopedia''</ref> The [[Masoretic Text]] describes the water produced from the red heifer ritual as a [[sin offering]];<ref>masoretic text of Numbers 19:9</ref> some English translations discount this detail, because it differs from other sin offerings by not being killed at the altar, although biblical scholars believe that this demonstrates a failure by these translations to understand the meaning of sin offerings.<ref name="Peake's commentary on the Bible"/>

==== Treatment of a corpse ====
No explicit regulations are expressed in the bible concerning the treatment of a corpse itself, although historic rabbinical sources saw an implication that the dead should be thoroughly washed per [[Ecclesiastes]],<ref>{{bibleverse||Ecclesiastes|5:15|HE}}</ref> as children are washed when born;<ref>''Sefer Hasidim'' 560</ref> according to [[Eliezer ben Joel HaLevi|Raavyah]], a prominent ''[[Rishonim|rishon]]'', argued that the corpse should be cleansed carefully, including the ears and fingers, with nails pared and hair combed, so that the corpse could be laid to rest in the manner that the person had visited the [[synagogue]] during life.<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia"/> Washing of corpses was not observed among the Jews living in [[Persian Empire|Persian]] [[Babylon]], for which they were criticised as dying ''in filth, without a candle and without a bath'';<ref>''[[Genesis Rabbah]]'' 38:5</ref> at the time, the non-Jewish Persians were predominantly [[Zoroastrian]], and consequently believed that dead bodies were inherently ritually unclean, and should be exposed to the elements in a [[Tower of Silence]] to avoid defiling the earth with them.

In the early periods, the body was washed in a standard mikveh,<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia"/> and this is frequently the form of the ritual in the present day, but the traditional washing ceremony, known as ''tahara'', became quite detailed over time. A special building for the corpse-washing existed in the cemetery in 15th century [[Prague]],<ref>''Sefer haMaharil''</ref> a practice which obtains in many Jewish communities today; a mikveh is provided at a number of ancient tombs. Female corpses are traditionally cleaned only by other females, and males only by other males.<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia"/>

Between death and the traditional ceremony, the body is placed on the ground, and covered with a sheet, and at the start of the traditional ceremony, the body is lifted from the ground onto a special board or slab (a ''tahara board''), so that it lies facing the door, with a white sheet underneath.<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia"/> The clothes are then removed from the corpse (if they were not removed when the corpse was placed on the ground), and at this point {{bibleverse||Ezekiel|5:15|HE}} is recited by the enactors of the ritual, as it refers to the removal of filthy clothes.<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia"/> Following this, the body is thoroughly rubbed with [[:wikt:lukewarm|lukewarm]] water, with the mouth of the corpse covered so that water does not enter it;<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia"/> the next part of the ritual is the pouring of water over the head, while {{bibleverse||Ezekiel|36:25|HE}} is quoted, since it refers to the sprinkling of water to produce cleanness;<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia"/> and then each limb is washed downwards, while {{bibleverse||Canticles|5:11|HE}} and the following verses, which describe the beauty of elements of the body, are spoken.<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia"/> Finally, nine measures of cold water are poured over the body while it is upright, which is the core element of the ceremony, and it is then dried (according to some customs), and en[[shroud]]ed;<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia"/> in ancient times the hair and nails were also cut, but by the 19th century, the hair was merely combed, and the nails were just cleansed with a special pin, unless their length is excessive.<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia"/> After the ceremony, the ''taharah board'' is washed and dried, but is kept facing the same way, as there is the belief that turning it the other way will cause another person to die within three days.<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia"/> Many communities have replaced the pouring of nine measures by immersion in a specially constructed mikveh.

A more elaborate ceremony, known as the ''grand washing'' ({{Transliteration|he|rechitzah gedolah|}}, {{Lang|he|רחיצה גדולה}}), is available for the corpses of the more significant individuals; [[Hillel the Elder]] is traditionally credited with its invention. According to this latter form of ceremony, the water used for washing was perfumed by [[rose]], [[Myrtus|myrtle]], or [[aromatic spices]]; the use of spices was an ancient practice,<ref>{{bibleverse|2|Chronicles|16:14|HE}}</ref> and the [[Mishnah]] especially mentions the washing ceremonies using myrtle.<ref>''[[Beitzah]]'' 6a; ''Berachot'' 8:1</ref>

==== Yom Kippur ====

The biblical regulations of [[Yom Kippur]] require the officiating [[Kohen Gadol|Jewish High Priest]] to bathe himself in water after sending off the [[scapegoat]] to [[Azazel]], and a similar requirement was imposed on the person who led the scapegoat away, and the person who burned the sacrifices during the rituals of the day.<ref>{{bibleverse||Leviticus|16:24|HE}}, {{bibleverse-nb||Leviticus|16:26|HE}}, {{bibleverse-nb||Leviticus|16:28|HE}}</ref> The [[Mishnah]] states that the High Priest had to immerse himself five times, and his hands and feet had to be washed ten times.<ref>''Yoma'' 3:3</ref>

== Reason for contemporary observance ==

Both Orthodox and Conservative Judaism currently have multiple views on the reason for contemporary observance of ritual washing and immersion obligation.

In Orthodox Judaism, opinion is generally split between a view that maintains that those Biblical rules related to [[Tumah|ritual purity]] that are possible to observe in the absence of a [[Temple in Jerusalem|Temple]] and a [[red heifer]] remain in force, and Jews remain Biblically-obligated to observe such of them as they can, and a view that Biblical ritual impurity requirements apply only in the presence of a [[Temple in Jerusalem]], and the current rules represent only [[Mitzvah#Rabbinic mitzvah|rabbinic ordinances]], practices decreed by the Rabbis in memory of the Temple.

In December 2006, Conservative Judaism's [[Committee on Jewish Law and Standards]] issued three responses on the subject of [[Niddah]]. All three ruled the traditional requirements of ritual washing remained in effect for Conservative Jews (with some leniencies and liberalization of interpretation), but disagreed on the reasoning for continuing this practices, as well as on the validity of specific leniencies. Two of the opinions reflect reasoning similar to the respective Orthodox views (Biblical requirements or rabbinic ordinances enacted in remembrance of the Temple.) A third opinion expressed the view that Conservative Judaism should disconnect ritual purity practices from the Temple in Jerusalem or its memory, and offered a new approach based on what it called the concept of holiness, rather than the concept of purity. Thus, Conservative Judaism, under its philosophy of pluralism, supports a range of views on this subject, from views similar to the Orthodox view to views expressing a need for a contemporary re-orientation.

== History and commentary ==

Both traditional religious and secular scholars agree that ritual washing in Judaism was derived by the Rabbis of the Talmud from a more extensive set of ritual washing and purity practices in use in the days of the Temple in Jerusalem, based on various verses in the Hebrew Scriptures and received traditions. There is disagreement, however, about the origins and meanings of these practices.

[[Philo of Alexandria]] refers to ritual washing in the context of the Temple and Leviticus, but also speaks of spiritual "washing".<ref>Jutta Leonhardt ''Jewish worship in Philo of Alexandria'' Page 270 - 2001 3 Ritual washing Washing is used for ritual purification in the context of the Temple worship. In Som. I 81, Philo quotes Lev 22 6 f, which states that no one is permitted to eat from holy things "unless the body is washed with water".</ref> At [[Qumran]], basins which served as baths have been identified, and among the Dead Sea scrolls, texts on maintaining ritual purity reflect the requirements of Leviticus.<ref>The Qumran community - Page 92 Michael Anthony Knibb - 1987 -"10-13, and among the many cisterns at Qumran, two basins have been identif1ed which served as baths and were perhaps used for ... Unclean, unclean shall he be as long as he rejects the precepts of God: The language is drawn from Lev."</ref>

According to the editors of the 1906 [[Jewish Encyclopedia]], the phrase ''netilat yadaim'' referring to washing of the hands, literally "lifting of the hands", is derived either from [[Book of Psalms|Psalm]] 134:2, or from the Greek word ''natla'' (αντλίον in Hebrew {{Lang|he|נַטְלָה}}), in reference to the jar of water used.<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia"/> The Jewish Encyclopedia states that many historic Jewish writers, and particularly the Pharisees, took it to mean that water had to be poured out onto uplifted hands, and that they could not be considered clean until water had reached the wrist.<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia"/> The Christian [[New Testament]] states that in Jesus' time, "Pharisees, and all the Jews" would not eat until they had washed their hands to the wrist, and it was noteworthy that Jesus and his followers did not wash.<ref>{{bibleverse||Mark|7:3-9|}}</ref>

According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, the historic requirement for priests to first wash their hands, together with the classical rabbinical belief that non-priest were also required to wash their hands before taking part in a holy act, such as prayer, was adhered to very strongly, to the extent that Christianity adopted the practice, and provided worshippers with fountains and basins of water in Churches, in a similar manner to the "[[Molten Sea]]" in the [[Temple in Jerusalem|Jerusalem Temple]] functioning as a laver.<ref>{{bibleverse||Exodus|30:18|}}</ref><ref>{{bibleverse|2|Chronicles|4:2-6|}}</ref> Although Christianity did not adopt the requirement for priests to wash feet before worship, in [[Islam]] the practice was extended to the congregation and expanded into [[wudu]].<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia"/>

According to [[Peake's Commentary on the Bible]], Biblical scholars regard the requirement of [[Kohanim]] washing their hands before the [[Priestly Blessing]] as an example of the [[taboo]] against the profane making contact with the sacred,<ref name="Peake's commentary on the Bible"/> and similar practices are present in other religions of the period and region.<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia"/> The Jewish Encyclopedia relates that according to [[Herodotus]] the [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] priests were required to wash themselves twice a day and twice a night in cold water,<ref>Herodotus, 2:37</ref> and according to [[Hesiod]] the [[Ancient Greece|Greeks]] were forbidden from pouring out the ''black wine'' to any deity in the morning, unless they had first washed their hands.<ref>Hesiod, ''[[Works and Days]]'', 722</ref>

According to the 1906 Jewish encyclopedia, The [[Letter of Aristeas]] states that creators of the [[Septuagint]] washed their hands in the sea each morning before prayer;<ref>Aristeas 305</ref> [[Josephus]] states that this custom was the reason for the traditional location of [[synagogue]]s near water.<ref>Josephus, ''Antiquities of the Jews'', 14:10:23</ref>
Biblical scholars regard this custom as an imitation by the laity of the behaviour of the priests.<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia"/> A [[baraita]] offers, as justification for the ritual of hand-washing after waking, the belief that a spirit of impurity rests upon each person during the night, and will not leave until the person's hands are washed,<ref>Baraita in ''Shabbat'' 109a</ref> and the [[Zohar]] argues that body is open to demonic possession during sleep because the [[soul]] temporarily leaves the body during it;<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia"/> the [[kabbalah]] argues that death awaits anyone who walks more than four [[yard]]s from their bed without ablution.<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia"/> According to {{Specify|date=May 2007}}, the cup containing the water has to be able to carry a certain amount {{Specify|date=May 2007}} of water, and it should have two handles.{{Citation needed|date=May 2007}}

According to Peake's commentary on the Bible, the Priestly Code specifies that individuals were ''washed'' before they could become members of the Jewish priesthood,<ref>{{bibleverse||Exodus|29:1-4|}}</ref> and similarly requires Levites to be ''cleansed'' before they assume their work.<ref>{{bibleverse||Numbers|8:15|}}</ref>
Peake's commentary states that although Biblical rules regarding ritual purification following bodily discharges clearly have [[sanitation|sanitary]] uses, they ultimately originated from the [[taboo]]s against contact with [[blood]] and [[semen]], due to the belief that these contained life, more than any other bodily fluid, or any other aspect of the body.<ref name="Peake's commentary on the Bible"/>

Rabbi [[Aryeh Kaplan]] in ''Waters of Life'' connects the laws of impurity to the narrative in the beginning of [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]]. According to Genesis, Adam and Eve had brought death into the world by eating from the [[Tree of the knowledge of good and evil|Tree of Knowledge]]. Kaplan points out that most of the laws of impurity relate to some form of death (or in the case of ''[[niddah]]'' the loss of a potential life). One who comes into contact with one of the forms of death must then immerse in water which is described in Genesis as flowing out of the Garden of Eden (the source of life) in order to cleanse oneself of this contact with death (and by extension of sin).<ref>[[Aryeh Kaplan]], ''Waters of Life''</ref>

==Mikveh in symbolic experience and biblical typology==
Immersing in a mikveh can be a symbolic act connecting a person to ancestral experiences.
{{expand section|date=April 2021}}
* [[Noah's Ark]] and the Flood
* [[Crossing the Red Sea]]
* The priests bearing the ark of the covenant lead the Israelites under Joshua across the {{slink|Jordan_River#Hebrew_Bible}}

== See also ==
* [[Ablution (disambiguation)]]
* [[Ablution in Christianity]]
* [[Ghusl]] in Islam
* [[Handwashing in Judaism]]
* [[Mikveh]]
* [[Niddah]]
* [[Ritual purification]]
* [[Ritual purification#Mandaeism|Ritual washing in Mandaism]]
* [[Tevilat Keilim]]
* [[Tumah and taharah]]
* [[Wudu]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|25em}}

== External links ==
* Rabbi [[Eliezer Melamed]] - [http://ph.yhb.org.il/en/category/tefila/08-washing-ones-hands-in-the-morning/ The Laws of Netilat Yadayim]

{{Halakha}}
{{Jewish life}}
{{Marital life in Judaism}}

[[Category:Jewish ritual purity law]]
[[Category:Judaism and sexuality]]
[[Category:Orthodox Judaism]]