For the source text click/tap here: Chagigah 18
To download, click/tap here: PDF
From here until the end of the tractate the mishnah teaches laws of purity and impurity. The reason why these laws are here is that when Israel would come to Jerusalem and to the Temple for the festival they had to be pure in order to eat their sacrifices.
They would immerse their vessels to purify them before Yom Tov.
During the festival all of the people of Israel acted like the Pharisees and were extra stringent on eating only while in a state of ritual purity.
Our mishnah deals with the topic of washing hands versus washing one’s whole body.
We explore the halachos of netilat yadayim and their derivation from the Phariseeic stringencies.
We also look at the DSM III diagnosis of OCD as applied to hand washing and the fMRI brain imaging correlates recently found.
Can OCD apply to hand washing and other halachic observances and how has COVID hand washing guidelines affected or triggered those with OCD?