Each week we will explore the inner intention of one Mitzvah or Halacha with the B’yam Darkecha
…שו”ע או”ח א:ד – ירחץ ידיו ויברך על נטילת ידים ידקדק לערות עליהם מים ג’ פעמים להעביר רוח רעה ששורה עליהן
Outer Action
The first thing every Yid should do in the morning is wash his hands, which we call negel vasser. This washes away a certain tumah that comes onto our hands and body when we are asleep. The Mishnah Berurah writes that a person should wash right away when he wakes up. Even though there may be some leniencies about whether one must keep negel vasser next to his bed, this is definitely something every oved Hashem should try to do, as we will explain.
Inner Intention
We all know that when we go to sleep, our neshama goes up to Shamayim to recharge. But why would going to Shamayim leave us with tumah? If anything, it should make us more pure!
The answer is that the klippos are always trying to catch us and distance us from Hashem. Since a Yid is an ambassador of Hashem in this world, the klippos are always trying to get him. At night, when a Yid goes to sleep, and his neshama goes to Shamayim to recharge, only his body and nefesh hachiyuni are left here. Since the main kedushah we have comes from the neshama, even though the body of a Yid is also heilig, the main kedushah is still from the neshama. So now the klippos jump at the opportunity and try to bring impurity onto the body.
The klippos try to disconnect a Yid from Hashem. This is the worst thing that can happen to a person. The klippos want to kill our neshama. This is why we wash our hands right away when we get up, because the klippos are resting on our hands, and we cannot properly start avodas Hashem until we get rid of them. (If we would feel the tumah that is on our hands in the morning, we would get rid of it as quickly as we would if we woke up and found a cockroach on our hand!)
This is why it is so important to wash right away. By doing this, we also show Hashem that our first action in the morning is saying: I do not want the klippos, and I do not want to be disconnected from You! This is a very powerful action that gives new vigor and strength to the avodah of the day. It lets the neshama come back into our body with all the new oros for a newly invigorated day.
[Washing first thing when you wake up is also a great strategy for not oversleeping, because when you first wake up and try to decide if you need more sleep, what chance do you have of making the right decision if you have klippos all over you? Only once you wash your hands and get rid of the klippos do you have a chance of making a good decision about when to get up.]
Moment of Mindfulness
As you wash your hands in the morning, think to yourself, “I do not want the klippos, and I do not want to be disconnected from Hashem!”
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 84.