' To which the Rabbi replied, 'What am I to do? They
who neglect to wash their hands are judged worthy of death; 'tis
better that I should die by my own act from thirst than act
against the rules of my associates.' And accordingly it is
related that he abstained from tasting anything till they
brought him water to wash his hands." (_Eiruvin_, fol. 21, col.
2. See also _Maimonides, Hilc. Berach._, vi. 19.)
From the context of the passage just quoted we cull the
following, which proves that the Talmud itself bases the precept
concerning the washing of hands on oral tradition and not on the
written law:--"Rav Yehudah ascribes this saying to Shemuel, that
when Solomon gave to the traditional rules that regulated the
washing of hands and other ceremonial rites the form and
sanction of law, a Bath Kol came forth and said (Prov. xxiii.
15), 'My son, if thy heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even
mine;' and again it said (Prov. xxvii, 11), 'My son, be wise,
and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth
me.'" (See Prov. xxx. 5, 6.)
There is a great deal in the Talmud about washing the hands, in
addition to what is said in the treatise Yadaim, which is
entirely devoted to the subject.
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