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Peninei Halakha > Pesah > 16 – The Seder Night > 14. Raḥatz – Washing Hands before Eating Karpas

14. Raḥatz – Washing Hands before Eating Karpas

After kiddush we eat the karpas, a vegetable. The Sages ordained eating karpas to create a change that will cause the children to ask why it is that tonight, unlike all other nights, we are eating a vegetable before the meal (Rashi and Rashbam on Pesaḥim 114a). Another reason given for this is that free people generally begin their meals with a vegetable appetizer, and so we do the same at the beginning of the Seder (Maharil).

The Sages ordained dipping the vegetable in a liquid, because this necessitates washing the hands before eating it, which is also a departure from the usual order of things. Ordinarily, the hands are washed only once at the beginning of the meal before eating bread. Thereafter, a variety of other foods are eaten. However, even if we dip these other foods in liquids, it is not necessary to wash our hands a second time, because hand-washing for bread covers the whole meal. At the Seder, though, we wash once before eating the karpas and a second time after reciting the Hagada, before eating the matza. The children therefore ask: “Why is this night different that, unlike all other nights, on this night we wash our hands twice?” (Tur and Beit Yosef 473:6). In addition, dipping the vegetable in liquid gives expression to our freedom, because this is the best way to eat it: not only does it serve as an appetizer, we even pamper ourselves by dipping it in salt water or vinegar, which enhances flavor and stimulates the appetite.

A full explanation of this law lies beyond the scope of this book, but suffice it to say that liquids conduct impurity (“tum’a”) more effectively than solid foods. The Sages therefore ordained the washing of hands before eating a food that has been dipped in liquid. According to most Rishonim, this hand-washing has the same status as hand-washing before eating bread: both were instituted to avoid tum’a. Even though nowadays we do not observe the laws of ritual purity and impurity, the institution remains in force. Thus, just as one must recite the berakha of “al netilat yadayim” over the hand-washing before bread, so must one recite this blessing before eating a food dipped in liquid. However, according to R. Meir of Rothenburg (Maharam), Itur, and Tosafot (Pesaḥim 115a), there is a difference between these two types of hand-washing: netilat yadayim before bread was instituted for purposes of sanctity and cleanliness, and thus even today hands should be washed for cleanliness before a meal. Consequently, this hand-washing requires a berakha. However, netilat yadayim before eating a food dipped in liquid is only due to tum’a, and since these laws are not practiced nowadays, there is no need to wash hands before eating a food dipped in liquid.[12]

In practice, we wash our hands before eating karpas, but do not recite a blessing, in order to fulfill all opinions: on the one hand, we wash our hands in accordance with the poskim who require it, but on the other hand, we do not recite a berakha because there are those who maintain that nowadays there is no need to wash hands before eating food dipped in liquid (SA 473:6).

If one mistakenly recites a blessing over this hand-washing, he is not guilty of a berakha le-vatala (a blessing in vain), since he has acted in accordance with the majority of poskim, including Levush and Gra, who require a berakha when washing hands for a food dipped in liquid. However, the le-khatḥila ruling is not to recite a berakha, because we rule leniently in cases of uncertainty about berakhot.

Furthermore, if one mistakenly recites a berakha over the first hand-washing, this does not exempt him from the second hand-washing, and he must recite a blessing over it as well. This is because people are not meticulous about keeping their hands clean between the two washings. In addition, the time spent reciting the Hagada constitutes an interruption between the two hand-washings, and therefore the Sages ordained two hand-washings at the Seder.[13]


[12]. According to Rif, Rambam, and most Rishonim, throughout the year one must wash his hands with a berakha before eating something dipped in liquid. However, since some Rishonim are lenient, SA 158:4 rules that one must wash his hands without a berakha. MA cites Leḥem Ḥamudot that many do not wash their hands before eating foods dipped in liquid, and that they may rely on the minority of Rishonim who maintain that this law does not apply nowadays. SAH 158:3 states that we do not reprimand people who act this way, though it is better to wash one’s hands. So states MB 158:20 in the name of many Aḥaronim. However, in practice, many people are lenient, including many Torah scholars, based on the principle that when there is an uncertainty regarding a rabbinic law, we are lenient, and washing hands before eating is a rabbinic enactment (Peninei Halakha: Berakhot 2:5). If so, however, why do we deviate from the standard practice on Pesaḥ night and wash our hands before eating karpas? See Taz 473:6, which uses this question to prove that we should be careful to wash our hands all year round. Netziv states in his Hagada, Imrei Shefer, that this is not a valid question, since during the Seder we do many things that used to be done during Temple times, including this hand-washing.

[13]. If he mistakenly recited a berakha on washing hands for karpas, he should make sure to eat an egg’s bulk (kebeitza) of the vegetable, since one is only required to wash with a berakha on a piece of food this size, as explained in SA 158:2 and Peninei Halakha: Berakhot 2:6. See Kaf Ha-ḥayim 158:20 and the opinion of Rashbatz quoted there. Regarding whether to make another berakha on the second hand-washing, see Kaf Ha-ḥayim 473:107; BHL 475:1; Mikra’ei Kodesh ch. 7 n. 8.

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Editor: Nechama Unterman