[Avodah] Hand Washing During a Drought

[Micha Berger]

The following exchange occured on Areivim...

>> I was at a wedding last night in Bnai Brak. The cup for washing cups was
>> about twice the size we use in my shul. The person in front of me filled
>> it up to the top for washing for the meal.
>> Personally I was disturbed that in a time of drought that one uses
>> many times the minimum shiur necessary.
...
> Chas veshalom.  The gemara says one who is cheap with netilas yadayim
> will become poor, and Rashi explains that this means one who uses only a
> bare revi'is.  Rav Chisda said "I wash with a full hand of water, and
> they give me a full hand of good".

To quote R' Yehudah Leib Maimon's Sarei haMei'ah (pp 272-273), tr Sperber:
    It once happened that Reb Yisrael Salanter, during his stay in Kovno,
    lived for a while in the house of a wealthy pious man, Reb Yaakov
    Karpas, and would dine at his table. Members of the household noted
    that when he washed his hands before the meal, he would do so with
    a minimal amount of water, even though a bucket full of water was
    prepared for him. They wondered in amazement: Should not a tsaddik
    like Reb Yisrael rule more stringently (mehadrin) to wash his hands
    with a plentiful amount of water! They went and spoke to Reb Karpas,
    who examined the matter and found that indeed Reb Yisrael would wash
    his hands with no more than a reviit haLog and no more. He too was
    most surprised, and when they sat together at a meal, he asked Reb
    Yisrael: "Forgive me, our Master, but this is a matter of Torah and I
    must learn about it. Why then does it suffice you to wash your hands
    with a reviit? Surely, it is a clear ruling in the Shulhan Arukh
    (Orah Hayyim 155:10), "even though the amount (for hand-washing)
    is a reviit, one should wash more plentifully." Why then do you,
    sir, not do so?"

    Reb Yisrael answered as follows:

    "I have seen that the maid brings the water from afar, from a well
    in the valley. Your house is situated high on the hill, and the
    maid almost collapses under the weight of her burden. AND IT IS
    FORBIDDEN FOR A PERSON TO BE OVERLY RELIGIOUS AT THE EXPENSE OF
    OTHERS." [emphasis added by RDS]

(I was once at a conference in Phoenix, and Rabbi Avi Fertig [CC-ed],
one of the presenters was behind me on line for netilas yadayim. Like at
many semachos, Shabbatonim and yemei iyun, the were pitchers of water
at a "washing station" with a cup and bowel to wash our hands into. I
noticed he washed his hands once each, rather than the usual twice on
each side. I mean, I too read -- I won't say "learned" -- this story,
but I didn't think of it when I saw man who had to go back to refill
the pitchers. He did.)

As for the berakhaah Rashi mentions, someone who is expansive
at the expense of others quite likely violates the following by R'
Shimon Shkop as well:
    Therefore it is appropriate to think about all the gifts of heaven
    "from the dew of the heavens and the fat of the land" (Bereishis
    27:28) that they are given to the Jewish people as a whole. Their
    allotment to individuals is only in their role as caretakers
    until they divide it to those who need it, to each according to
    what is worthy for him, and to take for himself what is worthy for
    himself. With this idea one can understand how charity has the effect
    of enriching the one who performs it, as the sages say on the verse
    "'aseir ta'aseir -- you shall surely tithe' -- tithe, so that you
    shall become rich -- shetis'asheir" (Taanis 9a). Someone who is
    appointed over a small part of the national treasury who does a
    good job guarding at his appointment as appropriate will be next
    appointed to oversee a sum greater than that, if he is not promoted
    in some other way. If they find a flaw in his guard duty, no fine
    qualities to be found in him will help, and they will demote him to a
    smaller task. Similarly in the treasuries of heaven which are given to
    man. If he tithes appropriately, he satisfies his job of disbursement
    as he is supposed to conduct himself according to the Torah, giving
    to each as is appropriate according to the teachings of the Torah,
    then he will become wealthy and be appointed to disburse a greater
    treasure. And so on, upward and upward so that he can fulfill his
    lofty desire to do good for the masses through his stewardship of
    the treasury. In this way a man of reliable spirit does the will
    of his Maker.treasuries of heaven which are given to man. If he
    tithes appropriately, he satisfies his job of disbursement as he is
    supposed to conduct himself according to the Torah, giving to each as
    is appropriate according to the teachings of the Torah, then he will
    become wealthy and be appointed to disburse a greater treasure. And
    so on, upward and upward so that he can fulfill his lofty desire to
    do good for the masses through his stewardship of the treasury. In
    this way a man of reliable spirit does the will of his Maker.

Is someone who spends a lot of water at the expense of its availability
for the necessities of others because of a desire to be machmir or
(worse) a desire to get a berakhah for wealth a good steward for Hashem
to entrust the Jewish People's resource of water?

I would argue even the berakhah wouldn't materialize.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             A wise man is careful during the Purim banquet
micha at aishdas.org        about things most people don't watch even on
http://www.aishdas.org   Yom Kippur.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                       - Rav Yisrael Salanter