Daf Ditty Eruvin 17

Daf Ditty: Eruvin 17: Salt 1 We learned in the mishna that in a military camp one is exempt from ritual washing of the hands. Abaye said: They taught this exemption only with regard to first waters, i.e., hand-washing before eating. However, final waters, i.e., hand-washing after eating and before reciting Grace after Meals, is an obligation even in a military camp. Rav Ḥiyya bar Ashi said: For what reason did the Sages say that the final waters are an obligation? It is due to the fact that there is the presence of Sodomite salt, which blinds the eyes even in a small amount. Since Sodomite salt could remain on one’s hands, one must wash them after eating. This obligation is binding even in a camp because soldiers are also obligated to maintain their health. Abaye said: And this type of dangerous salt is present in the proportion of a single grain [korta] in an entire kor of innocuous salt. Rav Aḥa, son of Rava, said to Rav Ashi: If one measured salt and came into contact with Sodomite salt not during mealtime, what is the halakha? Is there an obligation to wash his hands afterward? He said to him: It was unnecessary to say this, as he is certainly obligated to do so. RASHI 2 Tosafos DH MAYIM ACHARONIM CHOVAH תופסות ה"ד םימ ורחא נ םי הבוח םי נ ורחא םימ ה"ד תופסות Tosfos explains why we do not wash Mayim Acharonim. ישכע ו אל וגהנ םימב ורחא םינ ןיאד חלמ תימודס וצמ י ניניב וננב צ יוסחמ ידםנוח יב גנא ויכ Nowadays our custom is not to wash Mayim Acharonim, became Sodom salt is not found among us; יא ימנ יפל ןיאש נא ו גר םילי לבטל יתועבצא נ ו חלמב רחא הליכא רחא חלמב ו נ יתועבצא לבטל םילי גר ו נא ןיאש יפל ימנ יא Alternatively, it is because we do not normally dip our fingers in salt after eating. The Mishnah taught that those people who go out to war are exempt from washing their hands.1 Abaye adds that this exemption is limited to washing one’s hands before he eats, but washing one’s hands after eating before birkas hamazon is obligatory. Teshuvas Pnei Mavin notes that our Gemara answers a question that is discussed by the Poskim. The halachah is that one may wash after a meal with any beverage, and this leads Poskim to question whether one may use saliva for this purpose. Our Gemara would seem to prove that saliva may not be used for washing after a meal. If washing hands with saliva was effective, why didn’t they permit those people who went out to war to wash their hands after the meal with saliva? It must be that since saliva is not a liquid that promotes cleanliness or sanctity it is unfit for use for washing after a meal. Minchas Elazar rejects this proof and asserts that our Gemara is, in fact, proof that one may wash his hands with saliva after a meal. The reason Abaye emphasized that one is not exempt from washing after a meal even if one is in the midst of a war is specifically due to the fact that one can fulfill the obligation with saliva. He then proceeds to cite a proof that washing one’s hands with saliva does not make one’s hands clean and thus may not be used for washing after a meal. The Gemara Berachos (15a) rules that one who does not have water available to wash before davening should wipe his hands on a surface that will clean his hands, e.g. stones or pieces of wood. This ruling is codified in Shulchan Aruch as well. Why does the Gemara present as examples of objects that clean one’s hands stones and pieces of wood when it could have used 1 Daf Digest 3 saliva as an example? It must be, he concludes, that saliva is not effective to clean one’s hands and thus may not be used for washing after a meal Tosafos (see below) writes that in our days we no longer have the custom to wash our hands after the meal before we recite Birkas HaMazon, because we no longer have the salt of Sedom, which was capable of blinding a person. Also, our custom is not to dip our fingers in salt after a meal. Ritva disagrees, insisting that the words of the Gemara in Berachos (53b) indicate that the verse: For I am the LORD your God; sanctify yourselves 44 דמ שׁ,אתםהכוהא נםקתּ דּיXי ֶי,ֵההויֲִכּ ְְְְֱִִִֶַָ ֶי,ֵההויֲִכּ דּיXי נםקתּ שׁ,אתםהכוהא therefore, and be ye holy; for I am holy; neither shall ִוְִהייֶתם ְֹקִדשׁים, ִכּיָקדוֹ שׁא ָ ִ נ י ; ְ ו ל ֹ א ;יִנָשׁ ye defile yourselves with any manner of swarming וּ ֶתא ְְַתטמּא - ְָלכבּ ,פםכתשׁ ְֵֶַֹני - ֶץַהרשּׁ ֶ ֶץַהרשּׁ .thing that moveth upon the earth שׂﬠמָהר ֵַלֹ - ֶ.ָץרָהא For I am the LORD that brought you up out of the land 45 המ ,יִכּהֲהוינא י ְִָ מהֲתלַאﬠַהמּ םאֶֶכ ֶץְֵֶר ֶ ֶץְֵֶר םאֶֶכ מהֲתלַאﬠַהמּ of Egypt, to be your God; ye shall therefore be holy, for I םתיהו ם;הִ ִֵאלֶיkִיְ ,םכל תריצֶהָל ,םיְִמִ ְֹ ְִַ םְמ רצהל,כ ִליְִםה תה .am holy יֹ,כּםְקשׁד ישׁקאִ ִ ָָנוֹד .ִי ָוֹ שׁא ֹכְּשׁ Lev 11:45 is applied to this washing. “You are to sanctify yourselves” - this refers to washing before a meal. “And you should become holy” - this refers to washing after a meal. is incumbent upon the one who recites the רחא ו מ י ם םי Ritva adds that the halachah of washing` bentching for everyone else. The Shulchan Aruch (O.C. 181:10) cites Tosafos, and mentions that there are opinions that hold that this final washing is not done in our days. 4 Magen Avraham (ibid., #10) notes that the Mekubalim write that a person should be careful to wash before bentching. Mishna Berura (ibid., #22) cites the Bei’ur HaGr”a and Maharshal, both of whom hold that it is an obligation to wash before bentching, even in our days. רחא ו םי The Aruch HaShulchan (ibid., #5) argues forcefully in favor of the requirement to wash today. He claims that even Tosafos believes that this is an obligation, but that Tosafos merely םימ mentioned a rationalization why some people do not wash before bentching. However, as the Zohar states (Pinchas, 246): “Anyone who is lenient in terms of this washing will have his livelihood treated lightly from the heavens. Steinzaltz (OBM) writes:2 The last Mishna in the first chapter of Massekhet Eiruvin discusses some of the leniencies that are applied in a military camp. Aside from being exempt from some of the laws of Eiruvin, soldiers are also permitted to collect wood without worrying that it might belong to someone and they are not obligated to wash their hands before eating bread. The Gemara wants to know what is new about permission to collect wood, as there was a long- standing tradition from the time of Joshua that soldiers could do so. The Gemara gives a number of answers, the first of which posits that Joshua only permitted the collection of Hizmei and Higei – thorn-bushes that no one really cares about. The Mishna permitted other wood to be collected, as well. 2 https://www.steinsaltz-center.org/home/doc.aspx?mCatID=68446 5 The scientific name for Hizmei is Alhagi maurorum Medik. It is a thorny plant with smooth, non- serrated leaves. Ordinarily it grows to a height of 30 centimeters (1 foot), although it occasionally grows as high as one meter (3 feet). Higei can be identified with Ononis antiquorum L. of the Papolinaceae family. It, too, is a thorny plant that grows to about 75 centimeters (2.5 feet), which is found growing wild in fields and valleys. Regarding hand-washing before meals, Abaye points out that the leniency applies only to washing before eating, but regarding Mayim Aharonim – washing after eating – there is no room to be lenient, and all are obligated. Rav Hiyya bar Ashi explains that it is dangerous to refrain from washing after the meal, as the salt – MelaCh Sedomit – could blind you if there is any left on your fingers. ? 6 Rav Mordechai Kornfeld writes:3 "MAYIM ACHARONIM" The Mishnah (17a) states that soldiers going out to battle are exempt from "washing the hands." Abaye (17b) explains that this refers only to Mayim Rishonim, the washing of hands before eating. Mayim Acharonim, however, is obligatory even for soldiers going out to battle. The Gemara explains that the reason for the strict obligation of Mayim Acharonim is that there might be some salt from the meal left on one's fingers, and if he wipes his eyes with his fingers he risks becoming blind from the corrosiveness of the Sedomis salt contained in table salt. Common table salt nowadays does not contain Sedomis salt. Does the obligation to wash Mayim Acharonim still apply? (ROSH in Berachos (8:6), the RITVA, and other Rishonim write that in addition to the danger of Sedomis salt, there is another reason to wash Mayim Acharonim. Before one recites the blessings of Birkas ha'Mazon, he should wash his hands for the purpose of sanctity, as the Gemara states in Berachos (53b). Accordingly, even though we no longer have Sedomis salt at our meals, we should wash Mayim Acharonim in order sanctify ourselves before we recite Birkas ha'Mazon. TOSFOS (DH Mayim Acharonim, and in Berachos 53b, DH v'Hiyisem), see above, however, says that it is no longer the practice to wash Mayim Acharonim, for two reasons.

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