278. Washing the Hands Before Davening

Tefillah u’Birkas Kohanim 4:2

Regarding the cleanliness of one's hands, a person must wash his hands with water until the wrist before he can daven. What if one is traveling on the road when the time to daven arrives? If he has no water, but it is available within four mil, he should proceed to the water, wash his hands, and then daven. (Four mil is 8,000 cubits, or about 2.25 miles.) If water is farther away than this, one should clean his hands by rubbing them on sand, rocks, wood, etc., and then daven.

Tefillah u’Birkas Kohanim 4:3

One must only travel four mil (2.25 miles) when water is ahead of the traveler. If the place with water is behind him, we do not require him to go back more than one mil (about .56 miles). If he has passed the water by more than this, he need not go back. In such a case, he should just clean his hands on something else and daven.

When we speak of purifying just the hands for prayer, we are referring to services other than shacharis. When it comes to shacharis, one should wash his face, hands, and feet before davening. If water is far away he may clean just his hands and then daven.