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...
May One Ask a Non-Jew to Turn Off a Light on Shabbat?
Asking a Non-Jew to Move a Mukseh Item on Shabbat
Shabbat – If a Non-Jew Mistakenly Turned Off a Light and Then Turned It Back on for a Jew
Asking a Non-Jew to Turn on the Heat or Air Conditioning on Shabbat
If a Non-Jew is Paid to Turn Lights on For a Jew on Shabbat
Giving Precedence to the Shabbat Day Meal Over the Friday Night Meal
Shabbat – The Prohibition Against Eating and Drinking Before Kiddush on Friday Night
Minors Eating Before Kiddush on Friday Night; Eating During Ben Ha’shemashot
Eating and Drinking Before Shaharit, and Before Kiddush on Shabbat
Reciting Kiddush Along With Somebody Else
A Woman’s Obligation of Kiddush
During Which Shabbat Meal Should One Eat His Favorite Food?
May One Wear a Surgical Mask on Shabbat in a Public Domain?
Is it Permissible to Use a Water Filter on Shabbat?
Covering the Bread on the Table for Kiddush and Habdala
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found