וידיו לא שטף במים. היה נראה לנו כי כל מאכל והדומה לו שיגע בו הזב והנגיעה היא בידים וידיו שטופות איננו טמא בעבור שלא נגע במקום הזוב רק כאשר ראינו כל אבותינו פירשו וידיו כגופו קבלנו דבריהם ועל דרך הפשט כי כל טהור שיגע בו הזב וידיו שטופות הוא יטמא ולא בגדיו ואם לא היו שטופות יטמאו בגדיו וזה כמו הנוגע בכל אשר יהיה תחתיו: WITHOUT HAVING RINSED HIS HANDS IN WATER. It would have appeared to us20From a plain reading of the text. that any food or anything similar, that the one having an issue touched by hand,21In others words, toucheth means touched by hand. and the hands were washed, is not unclean, for the afflicted did not touch the place of the issue.22The hands most certainly did not have any issue on them, hence his hands do not defile. However, if the hands were not washed they may have come into contact with his issue, hence they defile. However, since we saw that our fathers23The Rabbis of the Talmud. explained that the hands are like the body24According to the Rabbis the term hands in our verse does not only refer to the hands. It refers to the whole body. According tao the Rabbis without having rinsed his hands with water means without immersing his body. See Niddah 66b; Kiddushin 25a. we accept their words. According to the plain meaning of our verse if the one experiencing an issue touches someone with hands that have been washed the one touched is unclean but his garments are not unclean. However, if the one suffering the issue did not wash his hands then the garments are unclean.25According to halakhah there is no difference whether the one having an issue touched a person with hands that have or have not been washed. This law is similar26In that at times it entails a light uncleanliness and at times a strict uncleanliness. to the one regarding he who touches anything which is under the saddle.27One who touches that which is under the saddle becomes lightly unclean. However, one carries these objects becomes more strictly unclean. See I.E. on verse 10.