The Netilat Yadayim (washing hands) upon awaking is the most important of all the various washings required after cutting hair and nails etc. Therefore, it requires washing each hand three times. The Seder Hayom (Rabbi Moshe ben Machir, 16th Century, Tsfat) explains that three times establishes a Chazaka (a Halachic presumption). That is, the three washings uproot the previous status of Tum’ah (impurity) and establish a new status of Tahara (purity). Based on this, he suggests that the word "Netilat" (washing), which literally means "to take", implies that the washing "takes" away the previous status of Tum’ah and replaces it with a Chazaka of Tahara. Moreover, the waters of the Netilat Yadayim have special powers; they originate in the supernal waters in Heaven.
The Seder Hayom also emphasizes that one should not delay performing Netilat Yadayim in the morning. As soon as he wakes up, he must remove the Tum’ah from his hands. The same is true of other washings-they should not be delayed. For example, when leaving a cemetery, a person should not wait until he arrives home to remove the Tum’ah. Rather, he should either use the sink at the cemetery or bring a bottle of water in the car to wash as soon as possible.
