vessel and poured out half of
the water. When Yehoshua brought in what was left of the water
to Rabbi Akiva, the latter, who was weary of waiting, for he was
faint and thirsty, reproachfully said to him, 'Yehoshua, dost
thou forget that I am old, and my very life depends upon thee?'
When the servant related what had happened, the Rabbi asked for
the water to wash his hands, 'Why, master,' said Yehoshua,
'there's not enough for thee to drink, much less to cleanse thy
hands with.' To which the Rabbi replied, 'What am I to do? They
who neglect to wash their hands are judged worthy of death; 'tis
better that I should die by my own act from thirst than act
against the rules of my associates.' And accordingly it is
related that he abstained from tasting anything till they
brought him water to wash his hands." (_Eiruvin_, fol. 21, col.
2. See also _Maimonides, Hilc. Berach._, vi. 19.)

From the context of the passage just quoted we cull the
following, which proves that the Talmud itself bases the precept
concerning the washing of hands on oral tradition and not on the
written law:--"Rav Yehudah ascribes this saying to Shemuel, that
when Solomon gave to the traditional rules that regulated the
washing of hands and other ceremonial rites the form and
sanction of law, a Bath Kol came forth and said (Prov. xxiii.
15), 'My son, if thy heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even
mine;' and again it said (Prov. xxvii, 11), 'My son, be wise,
and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth
me.'" (See Prov. xxx. 5, 6.)

There is a great deal in the Talmud about washing the hands, in
addition to what is said in the treatise Yadaim, which is
entirely devoted to the subject. But this topic is subordinate
to another, namely, the alleged inferiority of the precepts of
the Bible to the prescriptions of the Rabbis, of which the
punctilious rules regulative of hand washing form only a small
fraction. This is illustrated by an anecdote from the Talmudic
leaflet entitled Callah, respecting Rabbi Akiva, whose fame
extends from one end of the world to the other. (See _Yevamoth_,
fol. 16, col. 2).

Once upon a time, as the Elders were sitting together, two lads
passed by them, one with his head covered and the other
bareheaded. Of the latter boy as he passed Rabbi Elazar said,