והתקדשתם והייתם קדשים כי קדוש אני (שמיני יא:מד)

Chazal say (ברכות נג) that the word והתקדשתם refers to מים ראשונים – water used for נטילת ידים – washing one’s hands before eating bread, and the words והייתם קדשים refer to מים אחרונים – water used to wash one’s hands after eating bread, before bentching.

The Sar Shalom of Belz zt’’l once related the following story:

“Not too long ago, there lived in our city a grave sinner.  He was such a Rasha that there wasn’t even one sin that he didn’t commit purposely.  However, there was one Mitzvah D’Rabbanan that he dutifully observed his whole life, and that was washing for Hamotzi before eating bread.

On Chol Hamoed Pesach, he needed to travel far.  He took along matzohs for the way (if he didn’t want to eat Chametz on Pesach, I don’t know), Maran said, but he took along enough matzos for his long journey.

After traveling for a while he became hungry, but didn’t want to eat without washing his hands.  He thought to himself, ‘I transgressed all sins in my life but observed this one mitzvah through, I don’t want to forgo it this one time.’ So he continued traveling  but couldn’t find any water.  He finally remembered that there was a water well in the middle of the way, but at the well there were usually bandits sitting around.  He thought to himself, ‘If I remain here, I’ll die of hunger, and if I continue to the well, the bandits will kill me.  I’d rather die a quick death than slowly pass out from hunger.’  Therefore, I’ll approach the well so I will have water to wash for the matzah.’

The Sar Shalom continued: “If he got to recite Hamotzi, I do not know. But I do know that he washed his hands and by then the bandits attacked and killed him.”

“When he arrived at the בית דין של מעלה, there was a great tumult. Does a person who sacrificed his life for a מצוה דרבנן which was great in their eyes, despite he sinned on the rest of the Torah’s commandments, what were they supposed to do with such a Yid? The verdict was to reserve him a place in Gan Eden.”

The Sar Shalom concluded: “Imagine if the Yid would have obeyed the Torah’s commandments, how much greater his reward would have been in the World to Come!”