Washing your hands with soap and water … kills viruses that may be on your hands. W.H.O.
A LITTLE HISTORY
In 1350, Europe was hit by a devastating deadly disease, the bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death. This disease arrived from Asia, and the bacteria was transmitted by fleas hosted in rats and other rodents. This plague killed approximately half of the European population. At that time the origin of the plague was unknown. The explanation given by the faculty of medicine in Paris was that the black plague was due to the “misalignment” of three planets: Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. That astrological event caused a “great pestilence in the air”, a kind of “bad air” (רוח רעה?).
But the common people, the masses, had their own theory. For the European peasants the real culprits of the black plague were the Jews.
THE SCAPEGOAT
People accused the Jews of poisoning the water wells. The extent of the persecutions, progroms and killing of Jews during 1348-1351 are impossible to describe or even imagine. The first massacres took place in April 1348 in Toulon, France, where the Jewish quarter was sacked and 40 Jews were killed in their homes. In 1349 the persecutions spread throughout Europe, from Barcelona, Spain, to Erfurt, Germany. On February 14, 1349, on “Valentine’s Day,” 2,000 Jews were burned alive in Strasbourg, before the plague affected the city. And while the ashes were still burning, the Christian population ransacked the homes of the Jews and took everything of value. Thus, 510 Jewish communities were erased and its inhabitants massacred. (for more information see this ). Jews were the favorite scapegoats of Christian Europe. They were blamed for any calamity or unsolved murder. But in the specific case of the Black Death there was an additional reason that fueled these false suspicions: Jews were less affected by this disease than their non-Jewish neighbors.
WHY JEWS DID NOT DIE?
In medieval Europe, the importance of hygiene in disease prevention was unknown. The streets were dirty, full with live or dead animals, parasites, fleas and lice that facilitated the transmission of diseases. People did not bathe regularly. Monks, for example, were forbidden to bathe more than 2 or 3 times a year. Jews, however, have a rule that has been observed for thousands of years ago, no matter the circumstances: bathing in honor of Shabbat. Thus, in ancient times, Jews would take a bath or clean themselves thoroughly at least once a week, something absolutely exceptional for the average person in those times.
NETILAT YADAYIM
Perhaps, the most important element that prevented the spread among Jews was the Jewish tradition of washing our hands.
Jewish law states that the first thing you should do every day when you wake up in the morning is to wash your hands, before touching your face, your eyes or your mouth with your hands.
Jewish tradition also mandates to wash our hands before praying, that is two (or sometimes three) more times a day.
One is also required to wash his or her hands before eating bread or before consuming any food that has been dipped in a liquid condiment or sauce (דבר שטיבולו במשקה). Keep in mind that at that time people ate with their hands (there were no forks!)
Jewish law also states that one should wash his or her hands when leaving the bathroom.
A Jew, thus, washed his hands several times a day. And this, which seems normal to us today, was not the practice of ordinary people in medieval Europe, since running water did not exist.
THE FIRST ADVICE OF THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
Modern medicine, thanks God, helped us find the solution for the Black Death and other infections diseases that were once deadly. In addition to that, in most of the world’s homes today, hygiene standards are very high and effective. But still, in these moments when the whole world is watching with horror how the dangerous “coronavirus” spreads from country to country , it is important to redouble our efforts to keep our hands clean.
On that note, it is so interesting that the first guideline to minimize the transmission of the coronavirus is to keep our hands clean.
As we have said this last Shabbat in our prayer announcing the new month,may HaShem help us so that this epidemic does not continue to spread (לרחם על פליטתנו ולעצור המגפה והמשחית מעלינו) .
May it be His will that all human beings will enjoy good health.
May it be His will that all those who are sick, Jews or non-Jews, will soon recover and return to their families with health and joy.
AMEN.
