Netilat Yadayim: Why We “Take Away” Our Hands Before Bread | Rabbi Yosef Benyaminov

Al netilat yadayim. We all know this bracha that we make either when we get up from sleeping overnight or when we make a bracha when we before we eat bread. But, how many people would know what it actually means? Think people think that it means on washing hands. But, really the word netilat means to take away. So, we're making blessing on taking away hands. What in the world does that mean? Well, we had in this week's parashah >> [music] >> and behar bechukotai that there's a mitzvah of shmita. Shmita is basically like Shabbat of the week. Every 7 day you're supposed to rest. Not to do melacha. So, too, every 7th year you're supposed to rest and not to do agricultural melacha. You cannot plow, you cannot sow, you cannot plant, you cannot harvest on on the on the big scale. What is the concept behind that? So, our sages explained when a person puts an effort in something, he sees himself in that thing, he starts to loving that thing, and he starts getting attached to that thing. It's very easy for a person who who is a farmer to keep on working, working, working, >> [music] >> and he sees the literally the fruits of his labor. He says, "Wow, this is my work. This is my fruits. This is my harvest." The Torah says, "No, no, no, no, no." You need a reminder. Every 7th year is shmita. You cannot do anything. You cannot harvest. You cannot do any melacha. Why? Cuz it's not really your land. It's Hashem's land. And therefore, our sages instituted this bracha al netilat yadayim. Why? Cuz most people were farmers back then. They make their own bread. Bread is the most difficult thing to make. That's why it has its own bracha. And a person would go through all the 13 steps of making bread, and you'd plow plow and everything that all the incredible things that that takes a large amount of effort to produce bread. And finally when a person is about to sink his teeth into the bread, I say to him, "No, no. Make a blessing on the day. Why? Taking away the your [music] hands. It's not your bread. Hashem helped you. Hashem gave you the rain. Hashem gave you the right seeds to plant. Hashem gave you the right weather. The birds didn't eat your crops. All of this is Hashem doing. [music] So, put reminder as stages instituted that whenever you wash your hands after thinking it's not my effort.