DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

Click Here to Sponsor Daily Halacha
"Delivered to Over 6000 Registered Recipients Each Day"

      
(File size: 5.53 MB)
Netilat Yadayim in the Morning if One Went to Sleep After Hasot

The Ben Ish Hai (Rav Yosef Haim of Baghdad, 1833-1909) writes (in Parashat Vayeseh) that if a person went to sleep early in the evening and woke up before Hasot (Halachic midnight), he must wash his hands with a Beracha. Even though he did not sleep past Hasot, he nevertheless bears the obligation of Netilat Yadayim, and recites a Beracha over the hand washing. (We must emphasize that "Hasot" is not 12am, but rather the midway point between dusk and dawn. Depending on the time of year, this can be as early as around 11:30pm or as late as around 1am.)

The Ben Ish Hai also discusses the opposite case, where somebody did not go to sleep until after Hasot – which is, of course, quite common – and he rules that in this situation, too, the individual washes his hands in the morning with a Beracha. The exception to this rule is where a person after Hasot recited Birkot Ha’shahar (the morning blessings, which may be recited already after Hasot) and the Tikun Hasot prayer, and also learned Torah, before going to sleep. The Rashash (Rav Shalom Sharabi, Jerusalem-Yemen, 1720-1777), as reported by his grandson, the Maharash Sharabi (d. 1826), taught that if one does all this after Hasot, before going to sleep, then his hands are protected from the impurity that normally befalls the hands during sleep. As such, he does not then need to wash Netilat Yadayim in the morning. Otherwise, however, if a person remains awake past Hasot because, for example, he attended a wedding, needed to work, or was involved in something else, he must perform Netilat Yadayim in the morning as usual, with a Beracha. The Ben Ish Hai adds that even if a person remained awake past Hasot because he was learning Torah, even so, he must wash his hands as usual in the morning, unless he had also recited Birkot Ha’shahar and Tikun Hasot.

Summary: If one went to sleep early in the evening, and woke up before Hasot (Halachic midnight), he nevertheless must wash Netilat Yadayim, with a Beracha, just as he would do if he slept normally, through the night. Likewise, one who went to sleep after Hasot is required to wash Netilat Yadayim with a Beracha when he wakes up in the morning. The only exception is if a person after Hasot recited Birkot Ha’shahar as well as Tikun Hasot, and also learned Torah. If he did all this after Hasot before going to sleep, then according to Kabbalistic teaching, he does not need to wash his hands in the morning.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
One Explanation for the Phrase “Sabri Maranan”
Trickery, Lying, and Deceiving, Are Forms of Stealing:"Geneivat Da'at" – Thievery Through Deception
Must a Convert Immerse All His Utensils After His Conversion?
May the Chazan Invite Somebody Else to Lead Birkat Kohanim in His Stead?
Is It Permissible To Stand or Sit With Your Back To The Hechal
May a Guest Refuse the Host's Invitation to Lead the Zimun?
The Power of Learning Mishnayot
Is It A Transgression To Simply Bypass A Request (Email) To Pray For Others In Need, and How To Properly Refer To One's Parents In A Blessing
May a Kohen Leave Israel?
Refusing an Aliya to the Torah
May a New Bride or Groom Attend Somebody Else’s Wedding?
Coming Late To A Reception, Unauthorized Acceptance and Collection of Valued Goods and Services
Pat Shacharit - Bread Of The Morning (Breakfast)
Reading Pirkeh Abot Between Pesah and Shabuot
Birkat Ha'ilanot – Reciting the Beracha with a Minyan, and Reciting the Beracha Upon the Second Sighting of Blossoming Trees
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found