Les Psaumes 72:16 Halakha : Shulchan Shel Arba & Kitzur Shulchan Arukh

And know that the participle “ha-motzi’” implies both past and future action. For example, “who brings you forth [ha-motzi’] from the land of Egypt”⁶⁶Lev. 22:23. has a future sense. It alludes to the same time about which our rabbis z”l taught this midrash: “In the future the land of Israel will bring forth [totzi’] cakes and fine woolen clothes, as it is said, ‘Let a slice of grain appear in the land.’⁶⁷Ps 72:16, pisat bar is usually translated “abundant grain,” but the midrash here from b.Ketuboth 111b interprets pisah hyper-literally as a “slice of grain,” i.e., a piece of a ready-made baked good from the land. And we allude in the blessing “ha-motzi’” to the future time when our food will appear without effort and toil, and the land will bring forth actual bread like the bread which we eat and over which we say the blessing. For thus the world would have behaved in the time of Adam had the land not been cursed because of his sin, as it said, “Cursed is the land because of you.”⁶⁸Gen 3:17. And in the future when the sin has been atoned for, the world will return to the way it’s supposed to be.

It is customary, upon leaving the cemetery to pluck some grass⁸According to Shulchan Aruch, 547:12, this should not be done when a burial takes place on Chol Hamoed. and throw it behind your back and say, "He is mindful that we are dust."⁹Psalms 103:14. This is also symbolic of the resurrection of the dead, who will emerge living from their dust, as it is said, "And may they blossom out of the city like grass of the earth."¹⁰Psalms 72:16. This may also be done on Chol Hamoed.¹¹See note 8. They should then wash their hands. There is a symbolic allusion to this practice, for this impurity (death) can be purified only by means of these three things: water, ashes of the Red Cow, and the hyssop. This handwashing should not be done in a river, but with water poured from a vessel. You should not take the vessel from the hand of another who washed; rather the first one puts it down and the others take it, and the hands should not be wiped. Some say that one should sit down seven times, because of the evil spirits that accompany him, and when one sits, they flee. In some places they are accustomed to sit only three times after they wash their hands, and they say each time: "Vehi Noam" etc. [And may the pleasantness (of our master etc.)]¹²Psalms 90:17. Even when the burial takes place on Yom Tov they can sit three times, as on the weekdays. It is our custom to be mindful that a person should not enter his house before washing his hands and sitting down. The customs of our ancestors have the validity of Torah law.