Netilat Yadayim: Washing Cup for Purification and Wisdom

The candles are flickering, inspiring traditional hymns have been sung and the recitation of Kiddush has been made for all the guests gathered around the lovely Shabbat table. Now it is time to begin the meal. But before that, there’s an important step: washing our hands through Netilat Yadayim, an essential preparation before blessing and eating the Challah.

Netilat Yadayim: Preparation and Purification

Washing ones hands, Netilat Yadayim before the blessing of the bread, is one more element that makes this moment and this meal with family and friends so special. It enhances that our table is an altar, and that bread, considered the supreme food of all foods and a symbol of physical sustenance, only deserves to be touched by purified hands.

Just as the Kohanim would wash before their daily service in the Temple long ago, so do we wash our hands before our holy meal, reminding us that we are all priests in the temple of our own homes and lives.

The unique experience of Netilat Yadayim

The time has come to fill a washing cup with water,  pour it on both our hands one at a time, raise them (physically and spiritually) and let the water drip down. And so, while we recite the blessing, we might remember the symbolism behind this fundamental element of nature.

Water is the essence of physical life: without it we would die. At the same time, wisdom is the essence of spiritual life, the base of self-realization and self-growth. This way, water symbolizes the wisdom of the Torah.

Throughout this sacred ritual, the Natla cup plays a fundamental role: it is the container that collects, carries and pours the water that purifies our hands. It is the receptacle that allows us to accomplish this practice, to fulfill this Mitzvah through which we understand that all our interactions in the physical world need to be done in a conscious, wise and meaningful way.