Get Your Clothing Yourself!

Get Your Clothing Yourself

 

One should not touch their clothing—nor food or drink—before negel vasser (ritual hand washing) in the morning. This is because a ruach ha’tumah (spirit of impurity) rests on one’s hands after sleeping until they’ve been washed. The Gemara says that one should not take their clothing from their shamash’s (personal assistant’s) hands unless the shamash has washed negel vasser. There is more than one way to understand this Gemara based on different versions of manuscripts on this topic. An alternative interpretation is that one should never have their shamash hand them their garments. Some suggest that if a person is capable of managing on their own, asking the shamash to hand them their clothing could be seen as a sign of arrogance. There were tzadikim (righteous people) who did not even allow another person to pass them their hat, but rather made sure to get it themselves. #386

https://halacha2go.com?number=386

Practical Halacha: One minute a day. By Horav Yosef Yeshaya Braun, shlita, Mara D'asra and member of the Badatz of Crown Heights.