Literally: The taking/lifting of one's hands
Idiomatically: Ritual hand washing

I was asked about the etymology of the Hebrew word that seems to mean both to wash and to take. The word "netilat" appears with two ritual commandments - "Netilat Yadaim" (ritually washing one's hands) and "Netilat Lulav" (the taking of the lulav - the palm branch used on the holiday of Sukkot).

The word "natal" or the infinitive "litol" means to take up or lift (Lamentations 3:28). The phrase "Netilat Yadaim" mostly applies to the ritual of washing hands upon waking or before eating bread. Many people translate "Netilat Yadaim" to mean rinsing or washing one's hands, but that is not the case. During the time of the Temple, there was a special ritual for washing the priests' hands. It required using a vessel (much as it is today). Therefore when someone "took up" a vessel to draw water to wash, it was called "Netilat Yadaim." (The "Natlah" even today refers to a washing cup.) Now the phrase "Netilat Lulav" makes more sense - you are "lifting" the Lulav. The word "litol" finds its way into other phrases: Everyone wants to "litol chelek" (take part in something) but no one wants to "litol achrayut" (take responsibility).

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