Talk:Handwashing in Judaism

Kri'at Shema or Kiryat Shema (alt. Qiryat Shema)
One of my co-editors complained to me about my English transliteration of the words קרית שמע, and said to me that I should have spelt it (transliterated it) a different way. Rather than argue, I agreed to let his/her spelling stand, as I felt that it didn't really make that much of a difference here, on Wikipedia. Nevertheless, I am pasting my response to him/her for the record:


 * Shalom! I'm not asking that we change the spelling, but I can prove to you that the "nikud" is precisely punctuated as קִרְיַת שְׁמַע in some Jewish traditions, particularly, in the Yemenite Jewish tradition. This peculiar way of spelling (pronunciation) applies only to the conjunction Qiryat Shema, but not in a word like "reading of the Torah" = קְרִיאַת התורה, which is the correct spelling. One of the most renowned Hebrew linguists of our time, Shelomo Morag, has written on page 222 of his book, The Traditions of Hebrew and Aramaic of the Jews of Yemen, (ed. Yosef Tobi), Tel-Aviv 2001:
 * "The קִטְיָה pattern in nouns derived from ל"י roots occurs in the Yemenite tradition in forms
 * like פִּרְיָה וְרִבְיָה ,בִּרְיָה ,קִרְיַת שְׁמַע."
 * Of course, all this is only related to tradition. In the Eshkol edition of the Mishnah with the commentary of Obadiah di Bertinoro, it is always punctuated with the vowels קְרִיַּאת שמע - just as you have written. However, in the Mosad Harav Kook edition of the Mishnah, it is always written קרית שמע, without an "aleph." See: Berakhot 2:5, Sotah 7:1.
 * I have several facsimiles of manuscripts showing the vocalization as I have written if you'd like to see these. But, as I said, it makes very little difference on Wikipedia.Davidbena (talk) 10:31, 5 October 2014 (UTC)
 * 75.128.215.87, I wish to call your attention to the following web-site (Mechon-Mamre), and please note how the web-site vocalizes קרית שמע in Halachah no. 10 (yod): Mechon-Mamre. - Davidbena (talk) 00:40, 24 October 2014 (UTC)

Confusing Wording
although flowery phrasing such as "the custom developed in Israel" are common in Hebrew they are confusing in English. In English "in Israel" implies that the constom developed in the Land of Israel, rather than gulut; when it truly means "the costum developed among the Jewish People". I have corrected some of this. PS Please change the number of times for negul vasser on each hand from "three" to "three (or four)" Naytz (talk) 21:17, 2 January 2015 (UTC)
 * I agree with your assessment. Thanks! - Davidbena (talk) 20:02, 3 January 2015 (UTC)

Negel Vasser 3 or 4
It says negel vasser is three pourings on each hand. According to many costums it should be 4 pouringsNaytz (talk) 17:48, 16 January 2015 (UTC)
 * Since "hand washing" is a generic word used for different TYPES of hand washing, and each specific hand washing has its own specific laws on how it should be performed (e.g. with or without a vessel; three intermittent times in the morning and with a vessel in most customs, etc.), the detail of the mitzvah can only be learned in the main body of the article. Customs also differ with different Jewish ethnic groups. I think that "negel vasser" and the three pourings is the generally accepted practice in the morning (in most Jewish homes), although the kabbalists add a fourth pouring. This, as noted, is explained in the body of the main article.Davidbena (talk) 17:09, 17 January 2015 (UTC)