{"id":8180,"date":"2016-02-05T00:02:39","date_gmt":"2016-02-04T22:02:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=8180"},"modified":"2018-05-24T12:29:35","modified_gmt":"2018-05-24T09:29:35","slug":"03-05-02","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/03-05-02\/","title":{"rendered":"02. Ru\u2019a\u0125 Ra\u2019ah (Evil Spirit)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">In addition to the reasons mentioned, the Sages of the Talmud state (<\/span><i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">Shabbat<\/span><\/i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\"> 108b) that one must be careful that her hands do not touch her mouth, nose, eyes, or ears before washing her hands in the morning because there is a <\/span><i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">ru\u2019a\u0125 ra\u2019ah<\/span><\/i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\"> (evil spirit) which rests upon one\u2019s hands after sleep, and it is likely to damage those organs. Only after she washes her hands three times alternately will the <\/span><i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">ru\u2019a\u0125 ra\u2019ah<\/span><\/i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\"> disappear and, subsequently, the danger caused by touching any of her bodily orifices will be eliminated. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">Although the main reason for <\/span><i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">netilat yadayim <\/span><\/i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">is to prepare and sanctify oneself for praying <\/span><i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">Sha\u0125arit<\/span><\/i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\"> and for the service of a new day, and it is for this reason that the Sages instituted the <\/span><i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">berakha <\/span><\/i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">of <\/span><i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">al netilat yadayim<\/span><\/i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">, we are also careful about the <\/span><i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">ru\u2019a\u0125 ra\u2019ah<\/span><\/i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\"> and therefore take care to wash our hands three times alternately. This means that we first wash the right hand, then the left, then again the right and left, and again right and left. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">Prior to washing, one must take care not to touch those organs that open towards the inside of the body \u2013 such as the mouth, nose, ears, and eyes (SA 4:3-4; MB 13). Similarly, one must be careful not to touch food or drink before washing (MB 4:14). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">The Kabbala teaches (see <\/span><i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">Zohar <\/span><\/i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">1:184b) that at night, when one falls asleep and remains inanimate, without thought or action, she experiences a taste of death and a spirit of impurity (<\/span><i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">ru\u2019a\u0125 tum\u2019a<\/span><\/i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">) rests upon her. This is in line with the Sages\u2019 statement (<\/span><i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">Berakhot<\/span><\/i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\"> 57b), that sleep is one-sixtieth of death. The essence of human grandeur lies in the ability to think, feel, and engage in activities leading to the rectification of the world (<\/span><i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">tikun olam<\/span><\/i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">). During sleep, when dormancy spreads throughout the body, one loses, to a certain extent, the image of God (<\/span><i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">Tzelem Elokim<\/span><\/i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">) within her, and <\/span><i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">ru\u2019a\u0125 ra\u2019ah<\/span><\/i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\"> rests upon her. When she awakens from her sleep and her consciousness returns, the <\/span><i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">ru\u2019a\u0125 ra\u2019ah<\/span><\/i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\"> disappears, remaining solely on the extremities of her hands. By washing one\u2019s hands three times alternately, the spirit of impurity is removed. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">In order to completely eradicate the <\/span><i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">ru\u2019a\u0125 ra\u2019ah<\/span><\/i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">, one must begin washing her right hand, which symbolizes the attribute of <\/span><i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">\u0125esed<\/span><\/i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">. Therefore, one should take the washing cup initially in her right hand and pass it over to her left, so that she pours the water over the right hand first and then the left, continuing this way until she has washed each hand three times (see <\/span><i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">Kaf Ha-\u0125ayim <\/span><\/i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">4:12).<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">Some explain that the main damage caused by the <\/span><i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">ru\u2019a\u0125 ra\u2019ah<\/span><\/i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\"> is spiritual; if one were to touch her eyes or ears before washing, her inner sense of vision and understanding would be adversely affected, and on that day she would be like a blind and deaf person concerning matters of Torah and faith. Similarly, if she were to touch her mouth or nose, the <\/span><i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">ru\u2019a\u0125 ra\u2019ah<\/span><\/i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\"> would harm her spiritual senses of eating and smelling (<\/span><i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">Kaf Ha-\u0125ayim <\/span><\/i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">4:19, based on <\/span><i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">Solet Belula<\/span><\/i><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">).<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Times New Roman\">\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In addition to the reasons mentioned, the Sages of the Talmud state (Shabbat 108b) that one must be careful that her hands do not touch her mouth, nose, eyes, or ears before washing her hands in the morning because there is a ru\u2019a\u0125 ra\u2019ah (evil spirit) which rests upon one\u2019s hands after sleep, and it [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[109],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-03-05"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>02. 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