I. Four Exemptions
Soldiers in the field are often pressed for time and lack access to basic necessities like water. Of course, they have to eat to sustain their strength. Must a soldier wash his hands ritually before eating bread? Or if water is unavailable, must he limit his food to non-bread items to avoid the obligation to wash? Of course, this obligation is set aside when it might endanger someone’s life. We are discussing here the proper behavior when things are calm, people are watching guard and the other soldiers have some time to organize their thoughts and actions.
The Mishnah (Eruvin 17a) says that the Sages exempted four things in a military encampment: 1) you not need an eruv, 2) you do not have to wash your hands, 3) you may take firewood from anywhere, regardless of who owns the land or trees, 4) you may eat demai (rabbinically forbidden produce from which it is not certain that tithes have been taken). While the exemption from eruv is limited to the joint meal set aside for people within the still-required enclosure, the exemption from washing hands is exactly what you think it means: someone at a military encampment does not have to wash his hands before eating bread. However, we still have to define a military encampment (machaneh) and any other parameters of this exemption.
II. What Is A Military Encampment?
Rav Shlomo Goren (20th cen., Israel) explore the parameters of these exemptions in his broad discussion of eruvin and carrying on Shabbos in a military base or other encampment (Meshiv Milchamah, vol. 1, no. 4). Rav Goren points out that while the Mishnah merely mentions a military encampment (machaneh), the Gemara quotes a baraisa which limits the exemptions to an encampment going out to war (machaneh ha-yotzeis le-milchamah). This difference carries great practical relevance. Many military bases reside within the country proper and serve soldiers who are training or otherwise occupied during peacetime. According to the Gemara, these military bases do not benefit from the four exemptions. In his discussion of these exemptions, Rambam omits this limitation, which might indicate that he also exempts a soldier at a training base (Mishneh Torah, Hilkhos Melakhim 6:13). However, Rav Goren quotes Maggid Mishneh (Hilkhos Eruvin 1:3) who understands Rambam as referring specifically to soldiers going out to war. Rav Goren adds that Rambam exempts soldiers both on their way and returning, which also implies that he is referring to soldiers engaged in warfare.
Rav Goren quotes Rav Avraham Yeshayahu Karelitz (20th cen., Israel) who suggests that Rambam only exempts soldiers on their way (or returning from) war. He does not exempt soldiers encamped on the border, even during wartime (Chazon Ish, Hilkhos Eruvin, Likkutim 112:6). Additionally, he argues that the exemption applies only to a group of soldiers large enough to be considered an encampment. Individuals or small groups are not exempted (although they are, of course, exempted from anything that could endanger their lives). Indeed, the Talmud Yerushalmi (Eruvin 1:10) explicitly says that an encampment means that there are at least ten people. However, Rav Goren questions whether Rambam accepts this limitation and points out that Maggid Mishneh (ibid.) says that the Bavli rejects the Yerushalmi’s definition of machaneh.
According to Chazon Ish, only groups of ten or more soldiers who are in (or returning from) the battlefield are exempt from washing hands. According to Rav Goren, even individuals and small groups are exempt. Rav Goren adds that even soldiers at bases or positions near the border are exempt — any soldier in a constant state of preparedness, responsible for ongoing security. He quotes Rabbenu Yehonason’s commentary to the Rif (Eruvin 4b in the Rif) who says that the Sages did not exempt soldiers from an eruv techum, which extends the permissible travel area, since the soldiers are not actually fighting and the enemy is not approaching them. According to R. Yehonason, the four exemptions apply even when there is no active battle. His point is that there is no need for a fifth exemption for eruv techum but the four exemptions still apply in that situation.
III. Hand Covering
Significantly, Rav Yaakov Ben Asher (14th cen., Germany-Spain) includes the military encampment exemption in the laws of handwashing (Tur, Orach Chaim 158). Rav Yosef Karo (16th cen., Israel) does not mention soldiers but effectively extends this exemption to someone in a desert (Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chaim 158:8). Rav Avraham Gombiner (17th cen., Poland) quotes R. Yehonason as saying that even though you can access water within four Talmudic miles, if you qualify for this exemption then you do not need to do so. However, Rav Yehudah Ashkenazi of Tiktin (18th cen., Poland) quotes the view that even if you qualify for the exemption, you must still cover your hand with a napkin or something similar (Ba’er Heitev, ad loc., 15). In other words, you must try to wash your hands or otherwise protect the food from contact as much as possible. Normally, if you do not have water with which to wash your hands then you may not eat bread. A soldier in a military encampment may eat bread but he must take every step possible to prevent his fingers from touching the bread. Rav Yisrael Meir Kagan (20th cen., Russia) rules likewise (Mishnah Berurah, ad loc., 36). Perhaps for this reason, Rav Shlomo Min-HaHar (20th cen., Israel) writes that an Israeli soldier going out to war may cover his hands and eat bread without washing (Dinei Tzava U-Milchamah, par. 111).
However, Rav Nachum Rabinovitch (21st cen., Israel) writes that there is no need to cover your hands (Melumedei Milchamah, no. 29). He quotes Rav Yechiel Michel Epstein (19th cen., Russia) who rules against the stringency to require hand covering (Arukh Ha-Shulchan, ad loc., 14). Similarly, Rav Zekhariah Shlomo (cont., Israel), without mentioning the option of hand covering, writes that a soldier at the front who is hungry but cannot leave his post to wash his hands is allowed to eat without washing his hands (Hilkhos Tzava, ch. 28, par. 9). Rav Yitzchak Shilat (cont., Israel) likewise writes that a soldier in a wartime encampment or position near the border does not have to wash before eating bread if the washing causes even a little bother (Medinah Milchamah Ve-Kavanos Ha-Torah, pp. 299-300). This exemption does not apply to a soldier in a peaceful setting. Is is important to note that Rav Rabinovitch (ibid.) emphasizes that a soldier must still strive to maintain hygiene for health purposes.
