All right, rabotai (gentlemen), besiman tov umazal tov, that we're great accomplishment. It's not such a great accomplishment to start sefarim (books). There's a natural motivation to start projects, but an unnatural inclination to finish them. Usually, people fall out, as they say. Everybody begins. That's what we say at the siyum (completion celebration): lehatchil sefarim ulesayemam (to begin books and complete them). It isn't taken for granted that even if you matchil (begins), you will necessarily get to the end.
Mesillat Yesharim, at the beginning of the sefer, talks about zerizut (alacrity) in two parts: zerizut before the mitzvah (commandment), and zerizut during the mitzvah. Zerizut before the mitzvah is starting it; zerizut during the mitzvah is seeing it through. Each part is difficult; neither is easy. Hamatchil bemitzvah omerim lo gemor (One who begins a mitzvah is told, finish it). You have to tell him, “Gemor” (finish it). He needs a pep talk, because everybody is gung-ho and excited at the beginning: “Oh, we’re starting daf (page) bet.” Everybody comes early, and then, by the time you get a week into it, if that much, people start to lose their luster.
So zerizut is needed, and Pesachim is the masechet (tractate) that taught us about zerizut, right? At the beginning of the masechet, if you remember way back, daf dalet, zerizim makdimim. We learned it from Avraham Avinu (Abraham our father): vayashkem Avraham baboker (Abraham arose early in the morning). So we learned the inyan (matter) of zerizut. We learned it later on in the masechet, when the father told his sons that whoever comes to Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) will zocheh (merit) to eat the Korban Pesach (Passover offering). He said, “Kedei lezarzam” (in order to spur them on); he did it in order to mezarez (spur them on). The inyan of Pesachim, chametz (leaven), and the whole inyan of matzah (unleavened bread) is zerizut. If you don't make the matzah in time, mitzvah haba'ah leyadecha al tachmitzena (When a mitzvah comes to hand, do not let it become leavened). So baruch Hashem, we were able to be mekayem (fulfill) the inyan of zerizut, which is the whole inyan of Pesachim: we were able to see the masechet through from beginning to end.
Again, thank God, it was not an easy time when we started the masechet. It was already the second wave of the pandemic. A lot of our members were in and out of quarantine, back and forth. We were watching the world go into a little chaos. They were limiting people in the synagogues. As we know, we were in Deal together, Norman; we heard that famous phone call we had with the governor, and now we’re watching the result of that phone call play out. Nonetheless, it was not an easy time to study the masechet.
It turns out that Eruvin was really the time of sheket (quiet), when we studied Eruvin. It was the summer months; everything was really calm. There were no COVID cases, really no pandemic and stuff like that. We had a great way learning. But this masechet had its challenges. Baruch Hashem, by and large, our members attended. We had the Zoom, Benjy, every morning, and all the other members who were able to participate. I have great shevach vehoda'ah laKadosh Baruch Hu (praise and thanks to the Holy One, blessed be He) that we were able to be here for every shiur (lesson), that we didn't miss a shiur. You have to give hakarat hatov (gratitude) laKadosh Baruch Hu. Forget about COVID; sometimes you miss because you wake up late, you sleep late, I don't know, stuff happens, rabotai. During those 121 days, we had Farah, we had semachot (celebrations), and we had two berit milahs (circumcision ceremonies) for my grandsons. Baruch Hashem, they were born in Pesachim; we’ll always remember that. A lot of good things happened too. Nonetheless, the daf is a yated ne'eman, a firm, firm stake in the ground that doesn't move, shelo tamush (that it not depart).
Our custom is that during the times of the siyumim (completion celebrations), we like to say some divrei Torah (Torah teachings). So we'll say something today, something we prepared based on the masechet. We all know the siman (section number) that the Chachamim (Sages) established for us at the beginning of the Seder: Kadesh Urchatz Karpas Yachatz (Sanctify, wash, greens, divide). I think that's universal. Everybody says Kadesh Urchatz Karpas Yachatz, the fifteen simanim established to guide a person through the Seder.
Now, obviously, we’re talking about great Chachamim, who probably didn't need a siman to get them through the Seder. They probably knew Kadesh comes first, then Urchatz and Karpas. Nonetheless, we have the siman, which teaches us that there are obviously a lot of sodot (mysteries) in Kadesh Urchatz Karpas Yachatz, not just setam (merely) giving us guidance about what comes next. We do a lot of rituals in Judaism, and we don't need mnemonics to remind us what comes first and what comes second. We have many different ceremonies, and because we do them so often, we know them. Pesach, we do twice a year, especially in Galut (exile). Nobody really needs Kadesh Urchatz as a guide.
The Ben Ish Chai, in his Haggadah, has many derashot (interpretive teachings) on the words Kadesh Urchatz. He takes them out of their natural meaning. He is doresh (expounds): Kadesh is not Kiddush (sanctification blessing), Kadesh means something else; Urchatz is not washing hands, it means something else. He is doresh in three or four different ways. He says the Chachamim gave you these words to signal different concepts. The diyuk (precision) I made this year on Kadesh Urchatz was that the first washing is called Urchatz. The second washing is called Rachtzah—washing.
Some of our members don't make a big fuss about it. They say, “Okay, big deal, this is technical stuff. Urchatz, Rachtzah—why is the rabbi being such a picky-yuni guy? It's the same thing; you wash your hands. And anyway, it's a rhyme.” If you're into rhyming, then Kadesh Urchatz Karpas Yachatz: you want Urchatz to rhyme with Yachatz. Maggid Rachtzah Motzi Matzah. If you accept that, then I can't convince you. If you believe this is all about some poet who was looking for a rhyme, so he put Urchatz here and Rachtzah there, and that's the end of it, then this class is not for you. Probably none of our classes are for you, because you missed the whole boat. These Chachamim were not just making rhymes. It's not some folktale you read to the kids where you have to rhyme everything exactly, like Dr. Seuss, lehavdil (by way of distinction).
Recently, we gave a big derash on Shamor veZachor bedibbur echad (Observe and remember were said in one utterance). When Shelomoh Alkabetz wrote Lecha Dodi, he wrote Shamor before Zachor, even though in the Aseret haDibrot (Ten Commandments), it's Zachor veShamor. Before I gave a long answer, I said, “But I know the critics are going to come along and say, ‘Why are you making such a fuss? It's the rashei tevot (initial letters) of his name.’” It's Shelomoh, not Zelomoh. So if you look at the rashei tevot of Lecha Dodi—Shamor veZachor, Likrat Shabbat (to welcome Shabbat), Mikdash Melech (the King’s sanctuary), Hitoreri (arise)—he had to put Shelomoh.
Of course, that cannot be the main reason, because he was a great tzaddik (righteous person). He could have figured out another way to put a shin at the beginning without putting things out of order. He wasn't going to change the order of the Torah and put his name ahead of the order. There was another way to do that. So obviously, there is a reason that rabbi in that piyyut (liturgical poem) put Shamor before Zachor, ayen sham (see there).
Therefore, the same thing we're saying over here: there has to be a kavanah (intention) in Urchatz. I'll point out another diyuk we made: it's the only one of the simanim that has the vav hachibbur (conjunctive vav). That's the only one with a vav in front of it: Kadesh Urchatz. We don't say veKarpas, veYachatz, veMaggid, veRachtzah—I mean, “and, and, and, and”? No. Kadesh Urchatz; everything else stands alone. So why did they put the vav hachibbur specifically in the second of the washings?
Let's go back, rabotai, to the sugya (Talmudic discussion) we learned together. It's on Pesachim daf kuf-tet-vav. We don't have time during the daf to go through all these secrets, but now we'll be able to study it a little slower. If you remember, on daf kuf-tet-vav we were learning the law of tibbulo bemashkeh (dipping in liquid). Eight lines down: Adberei Rav Chisda leRavna Ukva. They were walking with each other—that's one way we learned it. Adberei: they were leading each other, walking with each other. Vedarash: Natal yadav betibul rishon.
On leil Pesach we have two tibbulim, right? Halailah hazeh shtei pe'amim (this night, two times). All year long, ein anu matbilin afilu pa'am achat (we do not dip even once), but this night, shtei pe'amim. I already said we have to change the Mah Nishtanah, because now everybody's dipping; everybody has dips. So how's that? Shebechol haleilot anachnu matbilin me'ah pe'amim, vehalailah hazeh rak rak shtei pe'amim. That's the kid today; we're so corrupted that when the kid sees dipping, he says, “Where's the garlic mayo?” He doesn't know why you're dipping; he wants to know where the garlic mayo is. “Where's the chimichurri?” That's his question, not why we're dipping. Dipping, of course you dip; we dip everything.
Anyway, it says here, “Natal yadav betibul rishon.” If he washed his hands for the first dipping, right, with the she'ar yerakot (other vegetables), they were dipping either in mei melach (salt water), as Tosafot told us, or in the charoset. We said the charoset had yayin (wine) in it, so that's considered tibbulo bemashkeh. You have to wash your hands for tibbulo bemashkeh. Why? Rashbam on the first amud said they made a gezerah (rabbinic decree) regarding anything that could disqualify terumah (priestly produce). The hands, which are a sheni (second-degree impurity), can make terumah a shelishi (third-degree impurity). Therefore, you need netilat yadayim (hand-washing) before eating something with water or liquid on it, because the liquid will become a rishon (first-degree impurity). The liquid becoming a rishon can actually metamei (render ritually impure) the person. A rishon is metamei adam vekhelim (renders people and vessels impure), and therefore the person is going to become tamei (ritually impure).
They made a gezerah mishum either tum'ah (ritual impurity), or we saw another shitah (approach): Tosafot said mishum nekiyut—a cleanliness item before you eat. So the Gemara says that if you washed netilat yadayim for the first tibul, notel yadav betibul sheni: you still have to wash again for the second dipping.
Amruha rabanan kamei deRav Papa: “Ha be'alma itmar.” This law was said outside of Pesach, meaning be'alma, on a regular night during the year, if you dip twice, you have to wash twice. De'i salka da'atach hacha itmar—if you think this law of washing twice applies to Pesach, lamah li netilat yadayim terei zimnei? Why would I have to wash twice? Ha mashlei yadeih chada zimna: you already washed your hand at the beginning, and you know you're going to dip again. Your mind is on it; everybody knows the Seder, so you didn't have what's called hesech hada'at (distraction of attention). Therefore, there should be no problem on Leil Pesach with washing only once. Since your kavanah is for the second washing, you should be okay.
Amar lehu Rav Papa: “Adereba.” Rav Papa said, “No, on the contrary, hacha itmar.” It was said specifically about Pesach that you have to wash twice. De'i salka da'atach be'alma itmar, lamah li terei tibulei? During the year, why would you need two dippings? As long as you washed your hand, you should be okay. Ela mai, hacha itmar? So it was said about Pesach? Netilat yadayim terei zimnei lamah li, lich'orah? Ha mashlei yadeih chada zimna; he already washed once. They answered: keivan devei lemeimar Haggadah vehallel, since there is a hefsek (interruption) of Hallel and Haggadah between the first washing and the second, dilma asuchei ascheih leda'ateih venaga—his mind might have gotten off the washings, because there's a lot of hefsek in between. During the year, if you wash for one item, it could cover the second item. On Pesach, though, you have to deal with the hesech hada'at of the Haggadah and the Hallel. Therefore, the Gemara says Leil Pesach needs two washings. That's the way we learned it.
Just as a side point, Tosafot said the second washing is Hamotzi (the blessing over bread), because that's the washing we're talking about: it comes before the tibbulo bemashkeh. But the question from this Gemara is that it sounds as if on Leil Pesach we're worried there might be a hesech hada'at, and that's why Chachamim were matzrich (required) us to wash twice.
Now, if you go to the back of the book, we have a chance to go to the back of the book. One of the Rishonim (early authorities) there is called the Mordechai, or, as the Ashkenazim call him, the Mordechai. He's all the way at the end, Mordechai Masechet Pesachim. He has it here in siman (section number) tav-resh-yud-alef, all the way at the end, I guess. It's very good to read at the end of the Mordechai: Halichah haSeder biketzarah. He gives you kitzur seder lefi haMordechai. It tells you exactly what to do and how to do it. It's good to know how the Rishonim made a Seder. He gives you a model Seder. He gives you his videos—they couldn't make them in the olden days, so they gave you his model Seder over here.
Let's see where he says it. Maybe it's taf reish alef. Look together. Maybe in the Seder itself. Let me just—daf lamed chet, where? I'm looking at it now, in the Mordechai. Dapim shel Mordechai, in the back here. This one? I have it here. Do you see taf reish yud alef? I just see—yeah, no, it has on top mem bet, number tet. It doesn't have it here. So let's go to the Seder. He says here, “Mesalkin et haka'arah, arba kosot.” I don't have it in this book. Yes, I have it here. This one doesn't have it. Maybe further on, after Seder. So he says here in taf reish yud alef: “Hanotel yadav betibul rishon, tzarich sheyitol yadav betibul sheni.” I have it; I'll read it from here.
Then he says, “Ve'im tomar,” asking Tosafot's question: “Tipok leh mishum detzarich lismoch birkat haMotzi.” Yesh lomar: “Dela sagi leh binetilah de'ad haperek.” Fine; he answers there. Then he says, “Kol shetibulo bemashkeh, tzarich netilat yadayim.” Rashbam: “Lefi shegazru al hayadayim shem sheniyot, ve'im ya'aseh hatibul belo netilah, im ken yekabel hamashkeh tum'ah min hayadayim, veya'aseh hamashkim rishonim, dechol haposel et haterumah metamei et hamashkim lihyot techilah.” Beautiful.
Then he says, from Rashbam: “Uvinetilah zo ein tzarich berachah”—no berachah, because it is only mishum dilma naga bemashkeh, you’re worried your hands might touch the liquid. “De'i mishum achilat yarak ka'amrinan.” We don't make netilat yadayim for vegetables. On the contrary, Tosafot brought down from the Gemara Chagigah that anybody who washes for vegetables, harei zeh migasei haruach. So you're not supposed to wash there.
Then he says, “Darash Rav Chisda, hanotel yadav betibul rishon, tzarich litol betibul sheni.” Perush: “Keshemevarech birkat haMotzi,” as we saw. “Kidemasik ve'azil, de'Agadata veHalila havei hesech hada'at.” The Haggadah and the Hallel we just read are a hesech hada'at between tibul and tibul. “Lefi re'ot einai,” says the Mordechai, “nir'eh li, im nitkaven binetilah rishonah ligmor bah kol se'udato belo hesech hada'at”—if you were careful. And we're careful. I said, “You know what?” He put gloves on. The guy said, “I'm going to be careful. I don't want to have any problems with my netilah and all that.” “Ein tzarich lachzor velitol shenit.”
The Mordechai learns it straight from the Gemara. He says the only issue is dilma. If I get rid of the dilma, then why? It's not al pi hasod (according to the mystical interpretation) that you have to make netilat yadayim twice. Make netilat yadayim only because you have Hallel and the Haggadah, which are a hesech hada'at, so you might take your mind off it. But if you don't take your mind off it, the Mordechai says it quite possibly went like this in the Mordechai's house: they went straight to haMotzi. They wouldn't wash again. We washed already at the beginning; first haMotzi, then on, no netilat yadayim, no nothing. You washed already! Different from the way we do it, if you were shomer (careful) yourself.
So you have the Beit Yosef. Bring us the Beit Yosef in hilchot (laws of) zeh, taf ayin heh. The first—because he knew he was going to watch himself. Right, he knew he was going to watch himself. Bidyuk (exactly). Beit Yosef, taf ayin heh. Let's see where he talks about it. Ayin Heh, hilchot zeh, netilat yadayim. Bring the Shulchan Aruch too, the regular one. Taf Ayin Heh, let's learn it together, rabotai.
The Tur says, “Ve'im ein lo yerakot betibul rishon ela maror, yevarech alav betibul rishon borei peri ha'adamah, al achilat maror.” The whole thing here. Then, at the beginning, he says: “Ve-yitol yadav ve-yikach ha-ke'arah she-yesh bah matzah, she-yesh bah matzot betochah, keseder shehen munachot, shelemah uvetochah perusah.” So you're washing your hands a second time: yitol yadav.
The Beit Yosef says: “Af al pi shenatal yadav betibul rishon”—even though you already washed, why wash again? “Amrinan beperek Arvei Pesachim chozer venotel yadav sheniyah umevarech al netilat yadayim, mipenei shehesiach da'ato bishe'at keri'at ha-Haggadah.” He quotes the Mordechai: “Venir'eh li she'im nitkaven binetilah rishonah ligmor bah kol se'udato velo hesiach hada'at, ein tzarich lachazor velitol sheniyah, ad kan.” Then he says: “Venir'eh li de'ein lechaven bekach.” Don't do that; don't have a special kavanah not to have a hesech hada'at, “shelo levatel takanat chachamim shetiknu litol pa'amayim beleil Pesach.”
The Beit Yosef is saying, don't look for a way out of these inyanim. The Chachamim, for whatever reason, wanted you to wash twice on Pesach. Don't be a wise guy and say, “I was masi'ach da'at with gloves, and therefore the whole reason was hesech hada'at, but I lo heisachti da'ati.”
So it comes out that we have a big machloket (dispute) here between the Beit Yosef and the Mordechai. The Beit Yosef would agree that if a person was not masi'ach da'at, he probably doesn't have to wash, but don't do that. Just go with the flow, with the Gemara: dilma hesiach da'at. Don't go out of your way to bypass this halachah (Jewish law).
If you open the Shulchan Aruch itself, Maran says, “Yitol yadav veyevarech al netilat yadayim.” The Magen Avraham says: “Ve'af al gav denatal lehai yerakot, keivan de'amar Haggadah chaishinan shema hesiach da'ato venaga bimkom metunaf, vechatav ba-Mordechai she'im nitkaven barishonah ligmor bah kol se'udato velo hesiach hada'at ein tzarich litol, ad kan leshono.” Then he quotes the Beit Yosef: “Veli nir'eh shelo yechaven lechach shelo yevatel takanat chachamim shetiknu litol beit pa'amim balailah hazo.”
The Magen Avraham asks, “Velo yadati heichan matzinu takanah zo.” The Beit Yosef is telling me not to nullify the takanah that we have to wash twice. Where is this takanah? The Beit Yosef assumes that you know about this famous takanah of washing twice. Where is it in the edict? Where did they say you have to wash twice on Leil Pesach? He says: “Velo yadati heichan matzinu takanah zo. Deha amrinan natal yadav betibul rishon tzarich sheyitol yado betibul sheni, vechatav ta'ama betzido.” The Gemara gives the reason why you have to make a second netilah: “dilma asach da'ateih.” If he did not have a hesech hada'at, he doesn't have to wash.
So the Magen Avraham doesn't understand the Beit Yosef. It sounds like the Magen Avraham is siding with the Mordechai. And not only the Magen Avraham: if you look at the Bach, the Bayit Chadash, on this Beit Yosef, he says: “Umah shechatav Beit Yosef: venir'eh li de'ein lechaven bekach shelo levatel takanat chachamim shetiknu litol pa'amayim beleil Pesach, lo yadati lo ta'am.” The Bayit Chadash is also knocking the Beit Yosef: “Lo yadati lo ta'am. Dekeivan de'ikar hatakanah mishum dilma naga, im ken mimeila heicha deverira leh delo naga lo tzarich netilah acheret.” Finished.
So, to get the shitot, it starts with the Mordechai, who says that if you weren't masi'ach da'at, you do not have to make a second netilah. The Magen Avraham and the Bayit Chadash seem to agree. Le'umatam (by contrast), we have the Beit Yosef. He comes along and says, “Don't do it. Even though you washed at the beginning, you should still wash a second time.” That's the way Maran was posek (rules) in Shulchan Aruch: even though you washed at the beginning, wash again. He doesn't give you the option not to do it.
Based on this, I saw a beautiful explanation. One explanation is that the first washing, according to everybody, is mandatory. The second washing, at least according to the Mordechai, is voluntary. It depends. If you know anything about grammar, when I'm giving you a tzivui (command form), I would say what? Rechatz—wash. If I'm just telling you an inyan of washing, Rachtzah—washing. The first washing, which is mandatory and you can't get around, the Haggadah tells you, “Urchatz,” meaning it is a commandment: Rechatz, atah rechatz. Mah she'ein ken (whereas) the second washing is negotiable, because if you had no hesech hada'at, you'd be okay. So they said Rachtzah, meaning washing; it's not necessarily mandatory. That would fit.
In one of the haggadot, I saw another explanation, brought in the Nagid Umetzaveh—or somebody, perhaps Nagid VeNafik; they gave it to me last year, one of the guys. It says that's why, in Rachtzah, they added a letter heh. Why? The Gemara said the only reason you have to wash the second time is because of concern about hesech hada'at. He says the heh is rashei teivot: Hallel, Haggadah, haveh, hesech hada'at. It's a remez (hint) that the heh at the end tells us why you're washing the second time: because of the heh—the five heh's: Hallel, Haggadah, haveh, hesech hada'at. So you would have to wash the second time. That's al pi haremez (according to the hint).
What about the vav hachibbur? I'll get to it; I haven't started yet. Why, you want to end the class already? I'm doing it for your father; it's to your benefit. We're having a long class.
There's a big question in general about this inyan of rechitzah (washing) for tibbulo bemashkeh. A lot of people are not careful about this all year long, even though Maran (our master) in Kaf-Nun-Chet clearly writes that this is an all-year-round matter. For whatever reason, a lot of people all year round are not careful about it. You don't see people washing for grapes, even though they're wet. You don't see people washing for olives; they pick them out and eat them. For some reason, they didn't catch this halachah; they aren't makpid (careful). But on Leil Pesach, they're makpid.
Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, alav hashalom (peace be upon him), said a beautiful pshat (explanation) about this. Since people aren't careful all year long about tibbulo bemashkeh, the Haggadah has to mezarez them and say, “Urchatz! Go do it, because normally they don't.” Mah she'ein ken the second washing, haMotzi: who doesn't wash for bread? Who doesn't wash for haMotzi? So you don't have to tell somebody to do something he is conditioned to do all year long anyway. Therefore, Rachtzah. What do you see? The Rabbis were already playing with Urchatz and Rachtzah, and they saw that the different terminology gave them an understanding, a reason.
I think I saw something in the Darkhei Moshe, in Taf-Ayin-Gimmel. An interesting find, without a doubt. That's where they talk about washing your hands, I guess. “Mozgim lo kos rishon umekadesh alav umevarech veshoteh,” and then he gives the yerakot, and then explains how to make the charoset. Vav: “Notel yadav letzorech tibul harishon.” That's the Tur: “Dechol shetibulo bemashkeh tzarich netilah, umevarech al netilat yadayim.” Put that aside. The Tur holds that you even make a berachah (blessing).
Now look at the Darkhei Moshe. He has a big chidush (novel teaching) here. Where is it? In ot yud-bet, yud-alef, yud-bet. He's questioning why, on Leil Pesach, we're suddenly makpid about this netilat yadayim when we're not makpid all year long. Ashkenazim aren't makpid all year long. He's asking, “What's with all of a sudden waking up on Leil Pesach and being makpid?” He says, “Umihu efshar lomar, desipur haHaggadah haveh kemo tefillah.” The Haggadah has a din (status) of tefillah (prayer), because “she'anu mesaprim kevod ha'El ushevachav”—we are recounting God's glory and praise. It's not less than the first three berachot of the Amidah (standing prayer). “Lefichach anu chayavim lehodot, lehallel, leshabe'ach, lachen tzarich kan netilah.”
The Rema is saying that the netilah before the meal is actually a din of netilah kodem tefillah. They applied it here even though all year long we don't wash when we dip celery into tibbulo bemashkeh. Here they went according to ikar hadin (the primary law). Why go back to ikar hadin? Not because they're worried about ikar hadin; for some reason, they don't care so much about ikar hadin all year long. But here they are being makpid. When a person washes his hands for the karpas, he has to mechaven (intend) that this is letzorech tefillah now. This is a preparation for tefillah, to be done bidchilu urchimu (with awe and love), as the Magen Avraham says: before every tefillah, you're supposed to wash your hands.
“What do you mean, one, one, one? It's nekiyut (a cleanliness item). It's nekiyut. There's no tum'ah.” So I thought that was a find in the Rema. It adds an extra kavanah to the rechitzah we make at the beginning.
What else did we find? I saw something from the Netziv, the Netziv from Volozhin. He gives another inyan for why we make such a fuss about netilat yadayim on Leil Seder. In the times of the Beit HaMikdash (Temple), they ate Korban Pesach. You have to eat the Korban Pesach betaharah (in a state of ritual purity). We just read from Rashbam that if your hands are a sheni, and they touch the liquid on the celery, they make it a rishon, which then chozer umetameh deguf (returns and renders the body impure). Once the person's guf (body) is tamei, even miderabbanan (by rabbinic law), he cannot eat the Korban Pesach betaharah.
Technically, this is really a din of Urchatz, not for bazman hazeh (the present time). The din of Urchatz was instituted in their time, when they ate achilat Pesach, to ensure that by the time they got to eating the Pesach, their hands would be bikdushah uvetaharah (in holiness and purity). So he says it's an inyan of kedushah (holiness). The second netilah isn't going to help your body. Once your body becomes tamei, you're tamei; you're done. You have to go to the mikveh (ritual bath). Nobody is going to stop in the middle of the Seder and say, “Rabotai, we're going to go to—I mean, yeshivah,” and go to the mikveh because we ate the first tibul belo netilat yadayim. Once your guf is tamei, you're stuck. You can't eat Korban Pesach. It doesn't matter if you make a second netilat yadayim. That's what they were makpid about, he says.
So he says, “Ah, bizman hazeh, we don't have Korban Pesach?” He says an amazing thing: what's going to happen, be'ezrat Hashem (with God's help), this year? This year there should be a Beit HaMikdash. Next year, are we going to say, “Last year we didn't wash for the karpas, so this year we don't wash for the karpas either”? Then what will happen? You'll be metamei. So there's a gezeirah shema yibaneh Beit HaMikdash (a decree in case the Temple is rebuilt), so we won't say, “Eshtakad lo natalnu” (last year we didn't wash). They won't know that last year you didn't have to wash because we didn't have a Korban Pesach. They'll say, “What do you do after Kiddush? Kiddush, eat the celery, put it in washing?” “We never washed.” You never washed because you didn't have to wash! Now you have to wash because there's a Korban Pesach.
Therefore, we wash every year, demeheirah yibaneh (may it be rebuilt speedily). That's an unbelievable kavanah too. When you wash for the karpas, your kavanah is a tremendous she'ifot (aspirations), hishtokekut (longing), and anticipation. We're doing this demeheirah yibaneh HaMikdash. Next year, when we eat the Korban Pesach, we don't want anybody to forget that this isn't a chumra be'alma (merely an added stringency). It will be required by the law; we'll have to wash to preserve the kedushah and taharah (purity) of the korban.
“But once the guf becomes tamei, you're done! The water makes the guf tamei. Once the guf is tamei, you have to go to the mikveh; you're stuck. Netilat yadayim doesn't remove it from the guf.” So when Korban Pesach is brought, it's mandatory. But once it's mandatory during Korban Pesach, we're not going to take that practice away, so people won't be mezalzel (disregard it) when there is a Korban Pesach. That's the derech (approach) of the Netziv.
My point is just to show how many kavanot come out. Either it's a hachanah (preparation) for tefillah, as the Rema says, hachanah litefillah—an amazing inyan—or it's a hachanah for Bayit Shelishi (the Third Temple), which is why we have the inyan of the korban. “Yes, both, but both. Any time you do tibbulo bemashkeh, you have to wash, because we don't want your body to become tamei. So we're going to be makpid any time during the Seder that you're dipping and your hands are going to be going in, that your hands are clean.” No. Ashkenazim are not careful about this. Why? Kachah, shele'am shekachah lo (that's how it is for a people whose custom is so).
Now let's go on and say something more. Do we have the Chumash (Five Books of Moses)? Let's bring the Chumash. And the Gemara Berachot. Look what it says in Shemot, perek yud-tet, pasuk dalet. This is when we were leaving Mitzrayim (Egypt). The pasuk (verse) gives us the recap: Bachodesh Hashelishi they came to Midbar Sinai (Sinai wilderness), from Refidim to Har Sinai. God gives them the recap: “Atem re'item asher asiti leMitzrayim”—you saw what I did to Mitzrayim; “va'esa etchem al kanfei nesharim”—I carried you on the wings of eagles; “va'avi etchem eilai.”
According to Targum Yonatan ben Uziel, this refers to our flying from Mitzrayim, from Ramses, on a direct flight, before El Al, to the Har HaBayit (Temple Mount). We brought the Korban Pesach on Har HaBayit, and then we flew back. That's how he learns “va'esa etchem al kanfei nesharim.”
I once saw one of the sefarim (books) bring a proof for it, and we're going to say this in the Haggadah. In parashat Ki Tavo, the famous four pesukim in the Haggadah come from parashat bikkurim (first fruits). The pasuk says: “Ve'anita ve'amarta lifnei Hashem Elokecha arami oved avi vayered Mitzraimah vayagar sham bimtei me'at vayehi sham legoi gadol atzum varav, vayare'u otanu haMitzrim vaye'anunu vayitnu aleinu avodah kashah, vanitz'ak el Hashem Elokei avoteinu.” We cried out to God. “Vayishma Hashem et koleinu vayar et onyeinu ve'et amaleinu ve'et lachatzeinu, vayotzieinu Hashem miMitzrayim beyad chazakah uvizro'a netuyah uvemorah gadol uve'otot uvemoftim, vayevi'einu el hamakom hazeh.” Where is “hamakom hazeh”? The Mekom HaMikdash. “Vayiten lanu et ha'aretz hazot.” It's reversed: “Vayiten lanu et ha'aretz,” and then you brought us to the Temple Mount.
But according to Targum Yonatan ben Uziel, chronologically, no: “Vayevi'einu el hamakom hazeh” comes first, when we were in Mitzrayim. First we came to the makom (place), and after that, in the time of Yehoshua, “vayiten lanu et ha'aretz hazot.” So according to Targum Yonatan ben Uziel, the pasuk is meduyak (precise): “vayevi'einu el hamakom hazeh” came first. That's a nice little derash for you, as a bonus.
Go back to the book before we start reading. “Ve'atah, im shamo'a tishme'u bekoli ushmartem et beriti vehyitem li segulah mikol ha'amim ki li kol ha'aretz, ve'atem tihyu li mamlechet kohanim vegoy kadosh. Eleh hadevarim asher diber asher tedaber el Benei Yisrael.” So you see that Borei Olam (Creator of the world) is telling us that we came out of Mitzrayim. What was the purpose of coming out of Mitzrayim? “Ve'atem tihyu li mamlechet kohanim vegoy kadosh”—God wants us to be a holy nation. The question is, what does “holy nation,” goy kadosh (holy nation), mean? That's the purpose of Mitzrayim, of Yetzi'at Mitzrayim (the exodus from Egypt).
If you want to know, we have the Gemara in Berachot. It tells us exactly what to do to become holy. Gemara Berachot, page 53b. At the end, it says: “Tanu rabanan: Rav Zohamai omer”—it's an amazing name, Zohamai. Talk about names, Zohamai. “Keshem shemezoham pasul la'avodah”—just as somebody who is tamei cannot serve, “kach yadayim mezohamot pesulot liverachah.” His name was after his halachah! They called him Zohamai, and he gave a halachah about zo'ama.
Then it says, “Amar Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak: Ana lo Zilai velo Zivai velo Zohamai yada'na.” These are all the previous rabbis who gave halachot; I don't know what they said, I don't go with them. “Ela matnita yada'na”—I know the baraita (early rabbinic teaching). “De'amar Rav Yehudah amar Rav, ve'amri lah bematnita tana: vehitkadishtem”—God says you should be holy. What makes you holy? “Elu mayim rishonim”—washing your hands. “Vehayitem kedoshim”—what makes you holy? “Elu mayim acharonim.” So the Gemara is telling you that kedushah is accomplished specifically through netilat yadayim, both netilat yadayim mayim rishonim and netilat yadayim for mayim acharonim.
Now let's look at the pasuk itself. It's in Vayikra, chapter 11, the bankruptcy chapter. In perek yud-alef—let's see, which pasuk? Oh, it's giving you all the different creatures that bring tum'ah. At the end, pasuk mem-heh: “Ki ani Adonai hama'aleh etchem me'eretz Mitzrayim lihyot lachem le'Elokim vehayitem kedoshim ki kadosh ani.” According to the Gemara, God says, “I brought you out of Mitzrayim—why? To make netilat yadayim.” That's what it's saying! “Hama'aleh etchem me'eretz Mitzrayim”: I brought you, I lifted you, I elevated you from Mitzrayim, “lihyot lachem le'Elokim.” Therefore, what should your reaction be when you come out of Mitzrayim? “Vehayitem kedoshim.” I don't know what that means; I need the Gemara to tell me. “Vehayitem kedoshim”—these are mayim rishonim. “Ki kadosh ani”—these are mayim acharonim.
So netilat yadayim on Leil Pesach is not just an incidental halachah of tibbulo bemashkeh. The whole Yetzi'at Mitzrayim is predicated on “Vehayitem kedoshim.” This is the main thing! The whole point is that you shouldn't remain mezoham like the Mitzriyim, with avodah zarah (idolatry) and all that. I took you out so you could purify yourself. Therefore, you make mayim acharonim and mayim rishonim.
That answers your question. The vav comes along to make a vav hachibbur: Kadesh, vehayitem kedoshim! Like the Ben Ish Chai takes the words out of context. Kadesh means go make Kiddush. Okay, we know that; first grade. According to this, “Urchatz, vehayitem kedoshim.” What do I do? Urchatz! It goes together. Kedushah and Urchatz go together.
I had a rabbi at my house on Shabbat, a big mekubal (Kabbalist), who came over for lunch. We were talking divrei Torah back and forth. A big talmid chacham (Torah scholar), there's no question about it. During the se'udah (meal), he asked me this question: “Everything is in the Kadesh Urchatz. But how come there's no mention of mayim acharonim (final waters) in the Kadesh Urchatz? Mayim acharonim is also part of the Seder. You have to have mayim acharonim chovah (an obligation). If you mention two rechitzot, why not mention three?”
He caught me off guard during the se'udah. I said, “She'elah tovah” (good question). When I was preparing this shiur, I came across an answer and called him during the week. I said, “Kevod harav, you asked me a question during the se'udah; you caught me off guard.” He said, “I don't believe you're calling me back. You asked me a question, this is—” I said, “Unbelievable. Nobody ever calls you back to give you the answer. I was just talking. I don't know.” I told him, “You got my curiosity, so I called you back.” The guy went crazy.
I told him an answer like this: “I didn't see it; go find it.” Meaning, I didn't see it as a halachah. One answer might be: what's the whole reason for mayim acharonim? Because of sakanah (danger). Pesach is leil shimurim (a night of protection). Since Pesach is leil shimurim, we don't have to worry about items of sakanah. We make mayim acharonim, fine, but they didn't want to put it in the Kadesh Urchatz, shelo lezalzel (so as not to treat lightly) the idea of leil shimurim.
Then I saw another pshat. If you look at the Rema, when he talks about making the matzah—we learned it last week—the Rema says we don't put salt in the matzah. Ashkenazim don't even dip the matzah in salt; they eat it plain, unlike the Sepharadim. According to the view that the whole reason for mayim acharonim is melach sedomit (the salt of Sodom), and if this matzah specifically shouldn't have salt so as not to take away from the ta'am (taste), maybe, at least according to the Ashkenazim, they don't need mayim acharonim. I don't know.” He went crazy: “That's a sharp answer!” Nonetheless, they use vinegar and lemon juice; they don't usually use salt water. The point is, you have an inyan, and they wash their hands after it anyway. The point is that this is the inyan of kedushah: kedushah manifests itself in netilat yadayim.
You have the Rambam, Hilchot Ma'achalot Asurot. I think it's in Kedushah? It's an unbelievable lashon (expression) of the Rambam. He writes in perek zayin—no, do I have the numbers wrong? Yod-zayin, okay, yod-zayin lamed-bet. Here he's teaching all the laws of netilat yadayim and these halachot. He gives you the whole siman of what to be careful about, and then writes: “Vechol hanizhar bidvarim elu”—whoever is careful in all these things mentioned above—“mevi kedushah vetohorah yeteirah lenafsho.” It's unbelievable. You shouldn't underestimate netilat yadayim. It's not merely hygiene, cleaning your hands before you eat, as your mother or grandmother told you. He says that whoever is careful bidvarim halalu “mevi kedushah vetohorah yeteirah lenafsho, umemarek nafsho leshem HaKadosh Baruch Hu.” He cleanses himself, memarek nafsho, so he can be totally subservient to Hashem, “shene'emar vehitkadishtem vehiyitem kedoshim ki kadosh ani.” He quotes our pasuk itself.
Therefore, if there's any night of the year to be careful about netilat yadayim, the inyan of kedushah, it's Leil Seder. That was the whole purpose of Yetzi'at Mitzrayim: to take us away from tum'at Mitzrayim, the 49th level of zohama and tum'ah. So we have to go out of our way to do everything that can bring us to more kedushah.
One of the Chasidishe Rebbes (Hasidic rebbes) was very, very makpid about netilat yadayim. They saw him doing chumrot (stringencies). It took him who knows how long to make netilat yadayim. Everything he did was al tzad hayoter tov (to the greatest degree). One of the students asked him, “Why is the Rabbi so machmir (stringent) about this?” You know the students: whenever they write a letter to the Rebbe, what do they write? “Lichvod HaRav HaKadosh.” He said, “Listen, they're calling me kadosh. How could I let them call me kadosh? I'm not kadosh. But the Gemara says, ‘Vehitkadishtem vehiyitem kedoshim’—these are mayim rishonim and mayim acharonim. So at least they're not lying when they write it. I'm not a holy man mitzidi (on my own). Whoever is careful in netilat yadayim according to the proper halachot can call himself ish kadosh.”
If a person is mezalzel in netilat yadayim, doesn't care, and washes however the halachot require, then you're regular folk. You're not—you don't have that inyan.
But there's a bigger inyan too, rabotai. Netilat yadayim has other kochot (powers), tremendous kochot. The lesson is always: just follow the Torah. You don't know what these things do. You learn them, and then after 30 years you say, “Ah, I wish I had known; I would have done it.” So do it now, and you'll learn all the secrets as you go. Don't wait until you learn all the secrets to do it. When we were young, they told us, bar minan (God forbid), whoever doesn't make netilat yadayim becomes ani (poor). Ani is rashei teivot for al netilat yadayim. That's an old one. Now they tell us something even deeper. This is brought down in the Midrash; Rav Shlomo Kluger brings it down.
Look in the Torah at a very surprising place, where you didn't think we'd go in this shiur. Noach? Noach, chazak ubaruch. Even more surprising: Chayei Sarah. Noach would have been a surprise, though not entirely: Noach talks about mayim; there's water, a flood, a mikveh. But Chayei Sarah—no water, well, there is water in the well, there's water in the well—but Chayei Sarah is a big surprise.
What does it say here? Unbelievable! Eliezer gets to the well, and right away he gives her the swany. He already had all the jewelry with him and didn't want any delay. Bingo! He starts taking out the jewelry, the nezamim (nose rings), and so on. That's where we get the minhag (custom): ein ishah ela letachshitin; we give tachshitin (jewelry). But you also see how he did it: betzin'ah (in private). He didn't do it like today, when they put everything on the table for everybody to see: “Ooh, aah!” People are silly. Ayin hara (evil eye). What, you never saw slippers before? People go, “Ooh, aah!” What are you getting excited about? Slippers. “They have her initials on them.” No, it's a pocketbook. You have a pocketbook. Why make a fuss about gashmiyut (material things), showcasing it like that? It's a piece of junk. A nightgown—big deal. Google it and look at it online: “Oh, wow.” Do you have to go out of your way to make a fuss over somebody's nightgown?
It says, “Va'eshal otah va'omar bat mi at,” and she answered, “Bat Betu'el ben Nachor asher yaldah lo Milkah.” Now he's telling the story to Lavan and Betu'el: “Va'asim hanezem al apah vehatzmidim al yadeha.” That's interesting—very TMI, too much information. Why does he have to tell Lavan that part? “I saw her by the well; she's the one. We should know that I took the nose ring and put it on her nose, and I took shnei tzmidim al yadeha.” On the pshat, he's talking to Lavan, who likes money, so he has to say there's money here. “Don't worry, Yitzchak is a rich man.” He's showing off: we gave her nice jewelry. How much was the nose ring? Fourteen karat, and all that. When Lavan hears that, he thinks, “Okay, there's flous.” Not for his daughter; he'll figure out how to get some flous for himself. That's al pi hapshat: Eliezer is speaking Lavan's language.
Rav Shlomo Kluger says something much deeper. Be'emet, why did he give her this jewelry? Why these specific items? He says we have a sod. Vehayadayim yede Esav. We know it: hakol kol Ya'akov vehayadayim yede Esav (the voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are Esau’s hands). You don't have to bring proofs; look at history. The yadayim yede Esav are the violent, brutal hands of Esav. If you have questions, review the events between 1933 and 1946 in Eastern Europe and you'll see what vehayadayim yede Esav means. That's only one example. Go back to Tach veTat, what the Cossacks did: hayadayim yede Esav.
You need to neutralize yadayim yede Esav. Borei Olam always works midah keneged midah (measure for measure), says Rabbi Shelomoh Kluger. When the yadayim of Ya'akov are kadosh and tahor, there are no yadayim yede Esav. It's yadayim keneged yadayim. Only when our yadayim are mezoham, not proper and not kadosh, does God say, “Your yadayim are like Esav's,” and give strength to the yadayim of Esav.
So when you mekadesh (sanctify) your hands, every time you make netilat yadayim, it's a solution against antisemitism. Go tell that to Abe Foxman, Benji, from the Anti-Defamation League. They're trying to figure out antisemitism. They spent hundreds of millions of dollars and people still hate us—probably hate us more. They could have given the money to the shul; it would have been better spent. Instead, they're trying to figure out why people hate us, and as they're figuring it out, they're cursing us out at the same time. Maybe they should have a campaign telling everybody to make netilat yadayim before eating bread. You make netilat yadayim before eating bread, and now your yadayim are kodesh.
So Eliezer comes with tremendous kavanot. He says to Rivkah, “Rivkah, I'm sorry to tell you, you're going to be the mother of Esav. Esav is going to come from you.” What does he do? He takes shnei tzmidim al yadeha and puts the tzmidim on her hands to tell us that if we have tachshitim on my yadayim sheli, you're not going to have to worry about Esav descending from you.
The Midrash says that if you take the word tzmidim, spelled tzadi, mem, yud, dalet, yud, mem, and take out the letters one at a time—the mem, the tzadi, and the vav and heh from vehatzmidim—the remaining letters spell yud, dalet, yud, mem: yadayim. Vehatzmidim is otiyot (letters) mitzvah yadayim. He was telling Rivkah Immenu (our mother Rebecca): vehatzmidim—why are they called tzmidim? Otherwise you'd ask why he's giving tzmidim. You might think that's what they had in the store, they were on sale for Thanksgiving Black Friday: buy one, get one. That's how you learned when you were young. Now we're learning that vehatzmidim was the kavanah, the sod of netilat yadayim. Vehatzmidim, mitzvat yadayim al yadeha, to tell her, “Don't worry. You're bringing the inyan of Esav into the world, but there's a way to neutralize it.”
There's no better night to neutralize the goyim (nations). That's why Eliezer tells it to Lavan, because Lavan is the biggest antisemite; Lavan bikesh la'akor et hakol (Lavan sought to uproot everything). He was saying, “By the way, I gave her shnei tzmidim al yadeha, so don't be a wise guy.” It's a warning to Lavan, not, “I was so nice to your daughter; I put shnei tzmidim al yadeha.” He's saying, “Listen, I know what you're up to. Lavan bikesh la'akor et hakol. I just gave her the secret, shnei tzmidim al yadeha. As long as we're making netilat yadayim, we don't really have to worry about you.” That was to keep Lavan in check, a check call for Lavan and Betu'el. So washing hands goes back to then. You see that there are many benefits when a person does netilat yadayim.
But there might be an explanation al pi hamusar (by way of ethical teaching), the final point. When a person makes netilat yadayim, what's the inyan? “Vayedaber elai zeh hashulchan asher lifnei Adonai”—the table is the table in front of God. There's no night when we see this concept more clearly than Leil Pesach. Why? Maran has an amazing halachah in the laws of Leil Seder. Suppose a person is sitting at the se'udah on Leil Seder and suddenly says, “Hav lan venevrich” (let us come and recite the blessing after eating). Mayim acharonim chovah; hav lan venevrich. Then they remember they didn't eat the afikoman (matzah eaten at the Seder’s end).
As a general rule, whenever you say hav lan venevrich, it's a hesech hada'at. On a regular night, you'd have to make Birkat Hamazon (Grace after Meals). You're done; you're committed. It's the point of no return, and then you redo whatever you want to do afterward. You can't say, “Oh, I didn't mean it; a mulligan.” There's no mulligan. You said hav lan venevrich; you're committed. The Shulchan Aruch, however, says that legabei Pesach, you put the mayim acharonim aside, take out the afikoman, and continue. Chidush! They'll ask: it's soter (contradicts) every law we learned in Hilchot Berachot.
So the Shulchan Aruch, in the Beit Yosef, brings down from Rabbeinu Peretz: beLeil Seder, mishulchan gavo'ah kazachei. You're a guest. The law is that if you're a guest, you don't finish the meal; you never have a hesech hada'at, because the host might come along and say, “Hey, we're not done; there's something else.” So even if you say hav lan venevrich, you don't decide when the se'udah ends. The ba'al habayit (host) tells you when the se'udah ends. Therefore, Maran holds that on Leil Pesach, mishulchan gavo'ah kazachei. You're eating from shulchan gavo'ah. That's an amazing concept.
That means the Shulchan Orech of Leil Seder is not a regular Shulchan Orech. That's why they added it to Kadesh Urchatz. Did they have to tell you to eat dinner? Eat dinner! We eat dinner anyway. No, the Shulchan Orech is not—maybe a person has to blow his nose, so they'll put in parentheses, “Now's a good time to blow your nose too.” Do they tell you every reshut (optional matter)? “Don't forget Purell. Put on your mask.” They're not telling you all the divrei reshut. They're telling you things. In the seder ha'avodah (order of service) of Leil Seder, there is no difference between Kadesh and Shulchan Orech. It's one of the 15. There's no difference between Hallel and Shulchan Orech.
That's why, when people ask the famous question, “You say Hallel, half at the beginning and half at the end. What do you mean, there's a hefsek?”—there's no hefsek. That's the chidush. The Shulchan Orech is not considered a hefsek. The se'udah you're having is also an extension of the Hallel: mishulchan gavo'ah kazachei.
That means when Jewish people sit down to a meal, specifically on Leil Seder but not exclusively on Leil Seder—I think Leil Seder is just the gilui milta (revealing indication) of what it is all year long. “Zeh hashulchan asher lifnei Hashem” was not said only on Leil Seder; it was said kol hashanah kulah (all year long). You see it on Leil Seder.
When the Jewish people came out of Mitzrayim and came to Kri'at Yam Suf (splitting of the Sea of Reeds), they saw Hashem reveal Himself at Yam Suf. “Zeh Eli ve'anvehu” (This is my God, and I will glorify Him). The mekubalim say: what was the inyan of using the name Eli? They didn't say “zeh Shakai,” “zeh Yud-Keh-Vav-Keh.” They were giving a sod that this night is going to be commemorated in a tremendous way: Zeh Eli, rashei tevot for “Zeh Hashulchan Asher Lifnei Adonai.” They were saying that there is an inyan here, rabotai: whatever we do on this night, “zeh hashulchan asher lifnei Adonai.” A tremendous aliyah (spiritual elevation).
Look at the difference between the way Esav sits down to a se'udah and the way Bnei Yisrael sit down to a se'udah. It's different; velo karav zeh el zeh kol halailah. I saw a report once, brought down by Rabbi Pinchasi, that they made a law in the Vatican that the Pope has to eat alone. One time they were eating with him and he flipped out during the meal and started throwing things: she'at achilah she'at milchamah (the time of eating is a time of war). They didn't want people to see the kilkul (disorder), so they said he has to eat alone, where he can't see them.
But you see Jews sitting at the meal, as the Gemara says in Megillah about Achashverosh, and the way we eat on Shabbat compared to the way they eat. It's a different kind of eating. Even eating is considered avodat Hashem (service of Hashem). Eating is not considered a hefsek at all. You see it on Leil Haseder, because they put it right between the Hallel sections. There's no hesech hada'at in such a thing. It's all one.
Possibly, the inyan of netilat yadayim is that the yadayim represent physicality, ma'aseh yadav (the work of his hands), the handiwork of man. Netilat yadayim is to elevate the yadayim. Netilah is “vayenatlem vayenase'em kol yemei olam.” The deep kavanot of netilat yadayim mean that you're saying, “I'm lifting this meal, which is physical, which is ma'aseh yadayim, made by physical means.” Before you sit down, you say, “Our job is to litol yadayim, to lift the yadayim, to take this shulchan, which is on Earth, and erchatz benikayon kapai va'asovevah et mizbachacha Hashem.” I'll wash my hands, and now come to the mizbe'ach (altar).
That's what it means: it nullifies the yadayim of Esav. The yadayim of Esav represent gashmiyut and going after ma'aseh yadav, kochi ve'otzem yadi (my strength and the might of my hand). To mevatel (nullify) that hashkafah (outlook) of kochi ve'otzem yadi, running after physicality and indulging in the physical for the sake of the physical, they gave us a ritual to do beforehand. The ritual is to become kadosh. What is kadosh? Separate yourself. How do you separate yourself? Netilat yadayim is the kavanah of lifting the yadayim away, removing them from this element. Therefore: “Vayedaber elai zeh hashulchan asher lifnei Hashem.”
If that's the case, we understand a remez. If we had to ask which of all the shevatim (tribes) is the kadosh of the shevatim, who would you say? Yosef Hatzaddik (Joseph the righteous). He's called Hatzaddik; he's the only one called that. What made him kadosh? He was in Mitzrayim with the zohama and all the tum'ah, and he still retained his kedushah.
There's a pasuk, again, beremez, in Bereshit, mem-gimel. When he had the brothers with him, Yosef: “Vaymaher Yosef ki nichmeru rachamav el achiv vayvakesh livkot vayavo hachadrah vayevk shamah.” The pasuk says, “Vayirchatz panav.” Vayirchatz. It says “panav,” his face; he went out, restrained himself, and said, “Simu lechem”—serve the bread. The Midrash says that when it says “vayirchatz panav,” it means even his face, and all the more so his hands, because the same pasuk says “vayomer simu lechem.” So what was Yosef's sod in Mitzrayim? How did he stay safe? Hayah rochetz; he was always washing before “simu lechem.” Vayirchatz. That is the inyan of Yosef's kedushah, the kedushah of the tzaddikim. It could be a remez that he washed his hands.
Based on that, we understand the Gemara we started with in Pesachim. We saw that the rabbis were walking with each other. One of the rabbis said that even though you wash your hands for tibul rishon, you have to wash for tibul sheni. The Gemara said it was speaking even about Pesach, because there's a hefsek between the Haggadah and the Hallel, between that and the second washing. That was one version of the Gemara: there's a hefsek between the first netilah and the second netilah.
That could be one of the reasons, and it's true. In principle, we don't ultimately view the Haggadah and the Hallel as a hefsek. It's all part of one long kedushah. Even the se'udah itself is not a hefsek. Hallel, Haggadah, Shulchan Orech: it's really all one. The Mordechai says that if you don't have a hesech hada'at, you don't need the second washing. The whole subject is hesech hada'at, hesech hada'at. What's the inyan of hesech hada'at al pi hamusar? You have to know that when you're sitting down at the se'udah, it's not a hesech hada'at. It's not a break in the action.
People think, “Okay, now we've gotten to Shulchan Orech. We're done; now we can relax, unbuckle your belt, and relax for half an hour until we get back to the service.” Everybody looks at Shulchan Orech as a coffee break. “Now we can talk a little lashon hara (harmful speech). We haven't talked lashon hara for an hour and a half. Now we can say what happened in shul, who got a get (Jewish divorce document) this week and who didn't, what Hadar said in Monopoli on the TV show, and what the other guy said.” We're waiting an hour and a half to get to the main item.
Then we come along and say, “Hold it, hold it, hold it: there's no hesech hada'at here.” So you have to remind yourself. Before the se'udah, you have to make netilat yadayim again to remind yourself. Technically, you should remember this from the first netilah, but there's a long gap in between. So we make the second netilah to remind you, rabotai: no breaks. This is still “Vayedaber elai zeh hashulchan asher lifnei Hashem.” Before the se'udah, you wash again, even though you washed at the beginning, because we're worried there might have been a lapse—not a mental lapse, but you might have forgotten that this too is part and parcel of the Shulchan Orech.
So you litol yadayim od pa'am (wash your hands once more). This time the inyan is to neutralize yedei Esav, so that when you sit at the table your hands aren't the hands of Esav. The se'udah of Klal Yisrael (the Jewish people) is on a higher plane. Therefore, the two rechitzot turn out to be very integral: Kadesh Urchatz. Kedushah with the vav. The kedushah comes with the vav hachibbur: Urchatz.
The second Rachtzah, although it might not be mandatory according to the Mordechai, is important hashkafatically (in terms of outlook). We're worried you might be fooled into thinking, “Well, now I'm eating a se'udah.” No. You need another rechitzat yadayim, to litol et hayadayim, to lift the yadayim of gashmiyut, and say that even this is “Vayedaber elai zeh hashulchan asher lifnei Hashem.”
Yehi ratzon: keshem shezachinu (just as we merited) to make a siyum on Masechet Pesachim and say some divrei Torah at perfect timing. If I had said this in February, it would be a nice derash, but you'd say, “It's February; what's he talking about Kadesh Urchatz in February?” Look how Hashem arranged it: we were able to finish the masechet and talk divrei Torah, and these divrei Torah are already halachah lema'aseh (practical halachah) today. We can put them into practice in preparing for the chag (holiday).
Yehi ratzon that we should always find connections in our learning and always be able to mek asher (connect), as it says, kavata itim latorah (You shall set times for Torah study). The goal is that you are kove'a (establish) the itim in your life for the Torah you're learning. Kavata itim latorah—we do that all the time in this class. Look at current events: this happened, and it's in the daf. That's kavata itim latorah: you take the moments you're experiencing and try to find where they are in today's daf. Kavata itim latorah. May we always zocheh to that inyan, to find the kesharim (connections).
Baruch Hashem le'olam, amen ve'amen. Chazak ubaruch.
Rabbi Chananya ben Akashya omer (Rabbi Chananya ben Akashya says): rat zah Hakadosh Baruch Hu lezakot et Yisrael, lefichach hirbah lahem Torah umitzvot (The Holy One wished to make Israel meritorious, so He gave them much Torah and mitzvot), shene'emar: Hashem chafetz lema'an tzidko, yagdil Torah veya'adir (Hashem desired, for His righteousness, to make Torah great and glorious).
Yitgadal veyitkadash shemeh raba, be'alma di vera chir'uteh (in the world He created according to His will), veyamlich malchuteh (may He establish His kingdom), veyatzmach purkaneh vikarev meshicheh (may He bring forth redemption and bring near His Messiah), bechayeichon uveyomeichon uvechayei dechol beit Yisrael (in your lives and days and the lives of all Israel), ba'agala uvizman kariv (speedily and soon), ve'imru amen. Amen. Yehe shemeh raba mevarach le'alam ule'almei almaya (May His great name be blessed forever and for all eternity). Yitbarach veyishtabach veyitpa'ar veyitromam (May He be blessed, praised, glorified, and exalted)...