Washing Hands After Visiting Cemetery

Is it ok to wash hands with a metal washing cup after touching a Meis (dead body)?

Shalom!

Thank you for your question.

First of all, you are correct, that one is to wash one’s hands immediately upon leaving a cemetery or otherwise having been in the presence of the dead.

There are several reasons why this washing is required:

1. Because water symbolizes the creation of man and perhaps, by extension, the mortality of man, something that is often contemplated when visiting a cemetery.

2. Added cleanliness.

3. Impurity: We are taught that there are “impure spirits” that are found in a cemetery which remain on one’s hands until one washes them.

4. Some also wash their faces as well when leaving a cemetery

The washing is done “alternatively,” three times to each hand just like is done upon awakening from sleep each morning.

There no problem using a metal washing cup for this purpose. There are no restrictions whatsoever. Any washing cup of any material that hold at least 5 ounces can be used for all ritual purposes.

There is a widespread custom not to dry one’s hands after washing them when leaving a cemetery. Instead, they are to be left to air dry on their own. However, one may dry one’s hands with a trowel as normal if it is very cold outside and not drying them would lead the chapped hands, and the like.

It is best to wash one’s hands outside the cemetery if the facilities so allow for this. Otherwise, it is acceptable to wash one’s hands while still in the cemetery as long as one is about 8 feet away from any grave. It is customary in a cemetery not to pass the washing cup to others, but rather, after one is done with the cup, one places it down and the next person picks it up.

OC 4:18; Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 2:9; Mishna Berura 4:39, 42; Elya Raba, OC 4:12; Machatzit Hashekel 4:17; Kaf Hachaim, OC 4:61; Mishna Berura 4:39; Gesher Hachaim 6:8; Rema, YD 376:4.