We continue our study of the laws of the Sabbath, focusing on the ritual purity of hands. The Sages established a rabbinic decree stating that a person’s hands are generally considered to have a second degree of ritual impurity. This is because hands are naturally active and may touch various objects without a person’s awareness. To safeguard the sanctity of the priestly tithe, the Sages ruled that if hands touch such food, the tithe becomes disqualified as a third degree of impurity. While this was finalized in the attic of Chananya during the era of Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel, the Gemara investigates the earlier origins of this law.
Rav Yehuda, citing Shmuel, explains that the history of this decree actually reaches back to the time of Shlomo Hamelech. When he established the laws of Sabbath boundaries—which serve as a safeguard for the prohibition of carrying on the Sabbath—he also established the laws of ritual hand-washing as a safeguard for the priestly tithe. A heavenly voice affirmed this, and David Hamelech expressed that such wisdom brings joy to the heavens. Rashi notes that King Solomon effectively created "handles" for the Torah. Just as a handle allows one to hold a cup without touching the vessel itself, these safeguards allow a person to avoid transgressing actual prohibitions.
The Gemara clarifies that these decrees evolved in stages. Shlomo Hamelech originally established the impurity of hands only for sacrificial items. Later, Hillel and Shammai extended this to the priestly tithe, though their ruling was not immediately accepted by the broader community. It was only when the students of Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel met later that this became one of the eighteen finalized decrees. Although Shammai and Hillel are known for their many disputes, they actually only argued over three specific cases themselves.
The first dispute concerns the dough offering. Shammai ruled that the obligation to set aside a portion for the priest begins with one measure of flour, while Hillel required two measures. The Sages established the requirement at one and a half measures. This law is rooted in the portion of manna gathered by the Jewish people in the wilderness, which was defined as a tenth of an eiphah. In terms of volume, a tenth of an eiphah equals 43.2 eggs. When converting this to the measure known as a kav, a tenth of an eiphah equals 1.8 wilderness measures. The Sages' ruling of one and a half measures is based on the Yerushalmi standard, which was twenty percent larger than the wilderness measure; thus, 1.8 wilderness measures equal exactly 1.5 Jerusalem measures. Later, as measurements grew even larger in places like Tzipori, the required volume was adjusted to 1.2 measures, or five logs. Rabbi Yose maintained a slightly stricter view, requiring five logs plus a small additional amount.
The second dispute involves the ritual bath. Drawn water can disqualify a ritual bath if it is added before the bath reaches its required volume. Hillel ruled that a volume of one hin disqualifies the bath. He specifically used the biblical term "hin" to remain faithful to the language of his teachers, Shemaya and Avtalyon. Shammai argued that the disqualifying volume was nine measures, which equals thirty-six logs. However, the Sages eventually accepted the testimony of two weavers from the Dung Gate in Jerusalem. Despite their humble trade and location, they testified in the name of Shemaya and Avtalyon that even three logs of drawn water disqualify a bath. The Sages accepted this testimony, demonstrating that the Beit Hamidrash is open to the truth regardless of a person’s social standing. This testimony is also recorded in the tractate of Eduyot.
The third dispute concerns the laws of menstrual impurity. Shammai held that a woman’s ritual impurity begins only at the moment she observes it. Hillel ruled more strictly, stating that she is considered retroactively impure back to her last physical examination, even if many days have passed. The Sages adopted a middle path, applying a twenty-four-hour rule. They ruled that she is retroactively impure for either the previous twenty-four hours or the time since her last examination, whichever is the shorter, more lenient period.
The Gemara asks why only these three disputes were listed. It explains that other famous arguments, such as whether one may lean on a sacrifice during a festival, were not exclusive to Shammai and Hillel but were inherited from the pairs of scholars who preceded them, as discussed in Haggigah. Another dispute regarding the susceptibility of grapes to impurity during the pressing process was excluded because Hillel eventually conceded to Shammai.
The discussion then shifts to the ritual impurity of lands outside of Israel. Yose ben Yoezer and Yose ben Yochanan are credited with the initial decree. The Gemara notes that this law also developed in stages alongside major historical events. One hundred and eighty years before the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, the Roman Empire began to conquer the land; eighty years before the destruction, the Sages decreed impurity on foreign lands and glass vessels; and forty years before the destruction, the Sanhedrin moved from the Lishkat HaGazit to a different location on Har HaBayit, signaling that they would no longer judge capital cases.
The evolution of the decree regarding foreign lands followed a specific logical progression. Initially, the two scholars named Yose decreed that a clod of foreign earth made the priestly tithe "pending"—meaning it could not be eaten but was not yet burned—while the air of the land remained pure. Eighty years before the destruction, the Sages extended the "pending" status to both the earth and the air. Finally, the Sages in Usha decreed that contact with a clod of foreign earth requires the tithe to be burned, while the air remains in the "pending" category. This clarified the earlier teaching of Ilfa, who noted that certain decrees began with the requirement to burn the tithe immediately.
In Usha, the Sages established six specific cases where the priestly tithe must be burned due to a doubt of impurity. These include doubts regarding a field with a lost grave, a clod of earth from a foreign land, the clothing of an unlearned person who may not be careful with purity laws, vessels found in public, saliva, and urine. While Rabbi Yose argued for stricter rules regarding these doubts in a private domain, the Sages maintained that in cases of doubtful contact, the tithe is merely suspended. These intricate laws of purity reflect a deeper spiritual reality.
As the Alter Rebbe explains, every soul possesses a divine spark that is a literal part of the Creator. This soul has a constant thirst to return to its infinite source. This spiritual journey is mirrored in the life of Yaakov Avinu, as described in Parashat Vayeitzei. When he left the home of Yitzchak and Rivka to enter the world, he dreamt of a ladder reaching toward the heavens. This ladder represents our study and prayer—an intellectual and spiritual ascent that begins on the earth but reaches the highest levels of the divine.