There is a great deal in the Talmud about washing the hands, in addition to what is said in the treatise Yadaim, which is entirely devoted to the subject.  But this topic is subordinate to another, namely, the alleged inferiority of the precepts of the Bible to the prescriptions of the Rabbis, of which the punctilious rules regulative of hand washing form only a small fraction.  This is illustrated by an anecdote from the Talmudic leaflet entitled Callah, respecting Rabbi Akiva, whose fame extends from one end of the world to the other. (See Yevamoth, fol. 16, col. 2).

Once upon a time, as the Elders were sitting together, two lads passed by them, one with his head covered and the other bareheaded.  Of the latter boy as he passed Rabbi Elazar said, “He is a Mamzer,” and Rabbi Yehoshua, “He is a Ben Haniddah,” but Rabbi Akiva contended, “He is both a Mamzer and a Ben Haniddah.”  Upon which the Elders said to Rabbi Akiva, “How darest thou be so bold as dispute the assertion of thy masters?” “Because I can substantiate what I say,” was his answer.  He then went to the mother of the lad, and found her selling pease in the market place.  “Daughter,” said he to her, “if thou wilt answer all that I ask of thee, I will ensure thee a portion in the life to come.”  She replied, “Let me have thy oath and I will do so.”  Then taking the oath with his lips but nullifying it in his heart, he asked her, “What sort of a son is thy lad?” She replied, “When I entered my bridal chamber I was a Niddah, and consequently my husband kept away from me.”  Thus it was found out that the boy was a Mamzer and a Ben Haniddah; upon which the sages exclaimed, “Great is Rabbi Akiva, for he has overcome his masters;” and as they congratulated him they said, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who hath revealed His secret unto Akiva the son of Joseph.”  Thus did the Rabbi forswear himself, and thus did his companions compliment him on the success of his perjury; yet the Bible says, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain” (Exod. xx. 7), and “Keep thou far from a falsehood” (Exod. xxiii. 7).

Here is a companion picture from Yoma, fol. 84, col. 1.—­“Rabbi Yochanan was suffering from scurvy, and he applied to a Gentile woman, who prepared a remedy for the fifth and then the sixth day of the week.  ‘But what shall I do to-morrow?’ said he; ’I must not walk so far on the Sabbath.’  ’Thou wilt not require any more,’ she answered.  ‘But suppose I do,’ he replied.  ’Take an oath,’ she answered, ’that thou wilt not reveal it, and I will tell thee how to compound the remedy.’  This he did in the following words:  ’By the God of Israel, I swear I will not divulge it.’  Nevertheless, when he learned the secret, he went and revealed it.  ‘But was not that profaning the name of God?’ asks one.