Siman 3

It is written: "For He will command His angels for you, to guard you in all your ways." And in Shabbat (119b) we say: Two ministering angels accompany a person, see there. And in Chagigah (16a) it is brought: Two angels who accompany a person testify about him, see there. Therefore, our sages, of blessed memory, commanded in Berakhot (60b) that when one needs to enter a beit hakise, he should say before his entry: "Be honored, honored holy ones, ministers of the Most High, guard me, guard me! Help me, help me! [...] Wait for me until I enter and exit, for such is the way of human beings." And its explanation is: that he requests of the angels that since they are holy and will not enter there, they should therefore wait for him until his exit from there. And he requests of them that they guard him from the mazikin, for this is the intent of the verse: "For He will command His angels for you, to guard you in all your ways." That is to say: in whatever way you are compelled to go, even in a place where it is impossible for them to enter. And the guarding is from the mazikin, as it is written previously: "You shall not fear the terror of night... from the destruction that wastes at noonday..." And he says "Help me, help me" regarding the matter of cleanliness, for since the primary health depends on the expulsion of waste—therefore he says so. And he concludes "for such is the way of human beings," that is to say: what is there to do since man is compelled to this.

And now we are not accustomed to say it. For specifically the early pious ones, whose thoughts were always cleaved to Hashem, and regarding whom it is said, "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty," and they would feel the holiness of those accompanying them—for them it was appropriate to say so. But we, even though certainly the matter of the accompaniment of angels applies to us as well, as is explained from the words of our sages, of blessed memory, that we brought, yet we do not feel it at all—this saying would be an expression of pride and haughtiness of heart, and it appears like yuhra. And certainly the holy man who sits over the Torah in holiness and purity must say it, but not so we, ordinary people. And such is the primary ruling, and such is the custom. (And in the Artzot HaChaim he found difficulty with this, and according to what I have written it works out well. Examine it and you will find it simple.)

One should conduct himself with modesty in the beit hakise, and one is only called "modest" if he is modest in the beit hakise (Berakhot 62a). That is to say: that even there he conducts himself with modesty, and all the more so in other places. This is the wording of the Rambam in the fifth chapter of De'ot, law 6: Torah scholars conduct themselves with great modesty: they shall not degrade themselves, and they shall not uncover their head nor their body. And even at the time they enter the beit hakise one should be modest, and he should not uncover his garments until he sits. And he should not wipe with the right hand. And he should distance himself from every person, and enter a room within a room, a cave within a cave, and relieve himself. And if he relieves himself behind a fence – he should distance himself so that his fellow does not hear his voice if he sneezes. And if he relieves himself in a valley – he should distance himself so that his fellow does not see his exposure. And he should not speak while he is relieving himself, even for a great need. And just as he conducts himself with modesty by day in the beit hakise – so he conducts himself at night. And a person should always train himself to relieve himself in the morning and evening only, so that he does not have to distance himself. Thus far his words, and he omitted several laws that will be explained. And I do not know his reason.

He should close the door behind him, and two people should not go together. Regarding women, they said in Sanhedrin (19a): They instituted that women should converse with one another in the beit hakise because of yichud, see there. This refers to a beit hakise in the fields and not in the city. Therefore, in this time, they too should not enter two as one (Magen Avraham). And if he wishes to rub the anus with a pebble or a splinter to open his orifices—he should rub and afterward sit, and he should not rub after he has sat. Thus our sages, of blessed memory, commanded there in Berakhot, see there. And they said at the end of the eighth chapter of Shabbat: One who needs his orifices and is unable—he should stand and sit and stand and sit. Or he should move to the sides, for perhaps this place is not conducive. Or he should rub with a pebble in that place, or he should divert his mind from other matters and think only of this, for thought is effective. And they said there: One who enters for a fixed meal, and if he needs to relieve himself in the middle of the meal it is a disgrace for him—he should walk ten times four amot or four times ten amot and relieve himself, and enter and sit in his place, and he will not need to leave. And one who needs to relieve himself and does not relieve himself—a spirit of filth rules over him. And one who needs his orifices and eats—is similar to an oven that they kindled upon its ash. And this is the beginning of the scent of filth.

It is stated in the Sifrei (Parshat "Ki Tetze") that one should not relieve himself while standing. The reason appears to be so that his body does not weaken. And he should not uncover himself much, but rather a tefach from behind and two tefachim from the front, for the stream of urine requires more. And even if he only needs to defecate now, the urine will automatically exit when he strains himself for the feces. And a woman, a tefach from behind and from the front nothing at all, for her stream only descends downward. And he should not strain himself much, so that he does not detach the folds of the rectum. Rather, he should strain little by little, and the waste ready for exit will exit, and for those that are not ready – the straining will not avail. And when he enters, he should not sit down immediately (Shabbat ibid.). That is to say: with speed and force, because the orifice opens with force, and the folds of the rectum are detached, see there.

One should not wipe with a shard, nor with dry grasses. And one who wipes with a substance that fire consumes—his lower teeth fall out. And not with a pebble with which his fellow wiped, because it brings a person to the disease of hemorrhoids. But with a pebble with which he himself wiped—we have no concern regarding it. And in the time of the Shas, they would wipe with soft stones. And they would bring in three stones for wiping: one very small to remove the excrement adhering to the anus, the second slightly larger to wipe the area, and the third larger than it to completely clean the area and the surroundings of the area (Shabbat 81a). And all this was for them, as the beit kisse were in the field. But now we wipe with a shard, and the primary wiping is with paper. And even though fire consumes it—it is impossible for us to use anything else, and "the Lord preserves the simple" since many have become accustomed to it, and go out and see what the people are doing. Furthermore: in the time of the Shas they were concerned about sorcery, and nowadays sorcery is not common. Therefore, we are not concerned about them (Magen Avraham, subsection 11), for the essence of the concern regarding these matters is from sorcery.

It has already been explained that one does not wipe with the right hand but rather with the left, because with the right one eats and writes, and indicates with it the musical notes of the Torah, and ties with it tefillin. And it is close to the mouth, for with the right one extends to the mouth every food and every drink. And above all, the Torah was given with the right hand of the Holy One, Blessed be He, as it is said, "from His right hand a fiery law for them." Therefore, it is not within its honor that it should wipe (Berakhot 62a). And a left-handed person who performs all his actions with his left—shall wipe with his right, for this is like the left of every person. And even though according to the final reason we should not follow his actions, nevertheless, in the end, for him it is the opposite. And so the great authorities agreed (Taz subsection 9, and Magen Avraham subsection 8).

And know: that if this left-handed person has things he does with the right hand of every person, and there are things he does with his left—the great authorities disagreed on this to make various distinctions (see Magen Avraham there, and Sha’arei Teshuvah subsection 9, and Pri Megadim and Eliyah Rabbah). And in my humble opinion it is clear that if he merely has use of both hands, the final reason—because the Torah was given with the right hand of the Holy One, Blessed be He—is decisive that he should wipe with the left hand of every person, for this reason is sufficient to be decisive. And there are those who distinguished between whether this hand serves for writing or does not serve for writing, and it seems to me as I have written. And also a woman must be careful in this, for several reasons apply to her as well. And there are those who wrote that one should be careful not to wipe with the middle finger of the left hand, because he wraps the strap upon it (ibid. in the name of the Shelah). And certainly if it is within his power to be careful in this, how good it is. But if without this finger he will not wipe well—he should wipe in his usual manner (so it seems to me).

And it has already been explained that even at night one should relieve himself with modesty just as during the day. However, this is regarding the matter of modesty but not regarding the matter of distance, for at night he does not need to distance himself as much as during the day. And know that all this applies to adults. But for children, it is permitted to urinate even during the day and before many people in any place if there is a need for it, because there is danger in the matter if he restrains himself significantly, as is stated in Bekhorot (44a). And a woman should not stand before a child while he urinates. And this is when she is opposite him, but from the side we have no concern regarding it (ibid.).

One should not urinate while standing, because of the sparks that splash onto his feet, and they will say that he is a "kerut shofkhah" who does not project but only trickles, and he does not father children, and they will bring a bad name upon his offspring. Unless he stands in a high place where the sparks will not fall on his feet, or he urinates into loose soil, for there too there are no sparks. And even though it is a mitzvah to rub away the sparks, nevertheless, with many sparks rubbing is not sufficient (Magen Avraham in the name of Tosafot). And if it is impossible for him to urinate from a high place, and also not in loose soil—he may urinate in his usual manner, only he should assist with the testicles to raise the organ slightly so that the water goes far away. And the small amount that falls on his feet—he should rub them. And he should be careful not to hold the organ itself to urinate, except from the corona and below, because it is liable to lead to the wasting of seed, unless he is married and has "bread in his basket." And it is a measure of piety to be careful even for a married man. But to assist with the testicles—it is permitted for everyone. And even a married man is only permitted to hold the organ itself to urinate and not to rub. And through a thick garment it is permitted. And one who delays his orifices violates the prohibition of "do not make yourselves detestable," and for small children he also violates "there shall not be a sterile male among you." However, until he finds a suitable place to urinate or for bowel movements—he does not violate it. And one who delays from passing gas when he needs to—does not violate it. And he should be careful to wipe the area of the anus well, for excrement in its place is forbidden for the recitation of Kriat Shema. And it will be explained in siman 76.

We learn in Berakhot (61b): One who relieves himself in Judah—he should not relieve himself with his back to the east and his face to the west, nor his back to the west and his face to the east, but rather north and south. Because Jerusalem is in Judah, and Judah is from the east to the west in the length of the Land of Israel. And in the Galilee, north and south is forbidden, east and west is permitted. For the Galilee is in the north of the Land of Israel, and when he relieves himself between north and south, he will be facing Jerusalem. Rabbi Yose permits. Rabbi Yehuda permits during the time when there is no Beit HaMikdash. Rabbi Akiva forbids in every place, and even in chutz la'aretz, to relieve oneself between east and west. And the poskim ruled like Rabbi Akiva because Rava did so in the Gemara, see there.

This is the wording of the Tur: And when he sits, he should intend that his face be toward the south and his back toward the north, or vice versa, but he should not sit between east and west. However, this is specifically when he relieves himself in an open place, but in a place where there are partitions, such as a beit hakise that is in a house—he does not need to be precise. Thus far his words, for so it is explained in the Yerushalmi, that the prohibition is only in an open place. This is the wording of the Yerushalmi: Provided it is a place where there is no wall. And it implies that even one wall permits it, and that is when the partition is behind him (Magen Avraham subsection 5). And that which the Tur wrote, "such as a beit hakise that is in a house"—he did not care to elaborate, and his primary intention is that the prohibition is only when he sits exposed on all sides, like in a valley or a field. But in a courtyard surrounded by partitions—it is permitted. And the enclosure of the city does not avail for this (ibid.), because the partitions are not noticeable at all. And the Tur did not distinguish between a country situated to the east or west of Eretz Yisrael or to its north or south like the Galil, for the Tur holds that Rabbi Akiva holds that in every place east and west is forbidden, and in every place north and south is permitted, for the prohibition is because the Shekhinah is in the west (Beit Yosef). And so it is explained from the words of the Rambam in the seventh chapter of Beit HaBechirah, and he wrote: Because the Heikhal is in the west, see there. And the Rambam did not mention a permission with partitions at all, for he holds that our Shas does not distinguish in this. And our teacher, the Beit Yosef, in section 5 ruled like the Tur, see there. And there are those who are concerned even when his back is to the south, but specifically when his back is to the north it is permitted (see Magen Avraham subsection 6). But from all the poskim it does not imply so, but rather that there is no concern. And so our teacher, the Rema, in his book Darkhei Moshe, wanted to maintain that in countries situated to the north or south of Eretz Yisrael it is like in the Galil, and the Tur did not mention this because our entire country is to the west of Eretz Yisrael, see there. However, in the Shulchan Aruch he did not mention this, and he did well, for also from the Rambam this is proven, and he was in Egypt which is to the south of Eretz Yisrael. And to pass water—it is permitted in any manner. And only from HaTzofim and inward, meaning from a place where they can see the Beit HaMikdash—he should not urinate with his face toward the Sanctuary. Rather, to the north or to the south, or he should turn the Sanctuary to the sides.

And know that the Rambam there wrote that it is also forbidden to sleep between east and west, but rather between north and south, see there. And this is from what we say at the beginning of Berakhot: All my days I was distressed…, and that my bed should be placed between north and south. And one who places his bed between north and south will have male children. And the Tur did not mention this, as he holds that this is merely a matter of extra diligence. And the Tosafot wrote there that this is only when his wife is with him, see there. But from the Rambam it is clear that even alone – it is forbidden. And our teacher, the Beit Yosef, in section 6 ruled like the Tosafot, and wrote that it is proper to be careful like the Rambam, see there. And we are not careful in this, and we hold like the Tur for the law. Furthermore: there is a dispute among the great authorities whether "between north and south" means its head and its foot or the width of the bed. And according to this, this law has fallen into a pit. (See Magen Avraham subsection 7 and Levush, that partitions do not help here because there is no recognition in this, see there. And in my humble opinion there is no need for this, for behold its source is from the Rambam, and according to the Rambam even in a beit hakise partitions do not help. And be precise and you will find it easy.)