Halakhah for Zevachim 38:23

(שמות ל, כ) להקטיר אשה למה לי

What is Rabbi's reason? - Because it is written, When they approach [the altar to minister].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ex. XXX, 20. Each time the priest 'approaches' the altar he must wash his hands. At daybreak there is a new approach since the altar has to be freshly arranged with new wood; therefore he must wash his hands again.');">27 What is R'Eleazar son of R'Simeon's reason? - Because it is written, When they enter [into the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water].28 And the other too? surely it is written, When they enter! - If 'when they approach' were written and not 'when they enter' I would say that for every single approach [sanctification is necessary];29 therefore the Divine Law wrote, 'when they enter.' And the other too? surely it is written, 'when they approach'! - If 'when they enter' were written and not 'when they approach'. I would say that [they must wash] even for a mere entrance.30 'For a mere entrance'! surely it is written, 'to minister'? - Rather, 'when they approach' is required for R'Aha son of Jacob's [ruling]. For R'Aha son of Jacob said: All agree with respect to the second 'sanctification,' that [the priest] performs this sanctification when he is clothed,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The changing of the garments by the High Priest on the Day of Atonement was preceded by immersion, and the immersion was preceded and followed by 'sanctification'. All agree that the second 'sanctification' is done after the priest has donned the robes into which he was to change. v. Yoma 32b.');">31 for Scripture saith, 'or when they approach': he who lacks nothing but the approach [washes his hands and feet]; hence he who has yet to clothe himself and then approach is excluded. What is the purpose of, to cause an offering made by fire to smoke?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. That too is enumerated as one of the purposes for which the priest must wash. But it is surely obvious, as it is included in the clause, 'when they approach the altar to minister'.');">32

Sefer HaChinukh

From the roots of the commandment is the fixed foundation that we have said [that it is] to aggrandize the glory of the [Temple] and all of the [activities] that are done there. And therefore it is fitting to clean the hands, which are the [things] that are involved in the work at all times when the priests are touching the contents of the [Temple]. And from this root, they, may their memory be blessed, said (Zevachim 19b) that the priest does not need to sanctify his hands between one service and [another] service, but rather once during the morning, and he may [then] serve the whole day and the whole night - and that is when he does not sleep and does not urinate and does not remove his mind. It appears from all of this that the intention of the washing at the beginning is only for the aggrandizement of the glory of the [Temple], since even if he was pure and clean from the beginning of his arrival there, he [still] needs to wash. And once he has started the service, he does not need to wash again between one service and [another] service, except for on Yom Kippur, due to the stringency of the day. [This is all] since we hold and see in our hearts all of the business of the service of the [Temple] as pure, clean and holy.

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Sefer HaChinukh

And so [too,] that which they, may their memory be blessed, said (Zevachim 21b), [about] how much water needs to be in the basin - [that it is] no less than water that is fit for the [washing] of four people - as it is is stated, "And let Aharon and his sons wash their hands and their feet." And they were Aharon and Elazar and Itamar, and Pinchas was with them. And that all water is fit for sanctification - whether the water from a spring or the water of a pool (mikveh) - and they are disqualified by [passing the night]. And how is the commandment of the sanctification (Zevachim 19b) - that he places his right hand on his right foot and his left hand on his left foot and washes standing up and not sitting. As the sanctification of the hands and feet is included in the service, and all of the services of the Temple are [done while] standing up - as it is stated (Deuteronomy 18:5), "to stand and to serve." And all of this is for the loftiness of the [Temple]. And the rest of its details are elucidated in the second chapter of Zevachim.

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