The General Preference of Right Over Left

In a previous post (which is worthwhile reading in order to get a proper background for this present post), I discussed the issue of putting the right shoe on before the left, and tying shoelaces, and how the Rishonim (Rambam, Rif, Rosh, Smag) did not record this halacha. I ended with a justification of the general practice nowadays of ignoring the requirement laid down in the Tur and Shulchan Aruch to put on the right shoe first.

However, I only discussed it in the context of putting on shoes. Meanwhile, there is a more general principle of granting precedence to right over left. To cite that gemara {Shabbat 61a} again:

ואף רבי יוחנן סבר לה להא דרב הונא
דאמר ליה ר' יוחנן לרב שמן בר אבא הב לי מסנאי יהב ליה דימין
אמר ליה עשיתו מכה
ודילמא כחייא בר רב ס"ל והכי קאמר עשית של שמאל מכה
ואזדא רבי יוחנן לטעמיה דאמר ר' יוחנן כתפילין כך מנעלין מה תפילין בשמאל אף מנעלין בשמאל
מיתיבי כשהוא נועל נועל של ימין ואחר כך נועל של שמאל
אמר רב יוסף השתא דתניא הכי ואמר רבי יוחנן הכי דעבד הכי עבד ודעבד הכי עבד
אמר ליה אביי דילמא רבי יוחנן הא מתני' לא הוה שמיע ליה ואי הוה שמיע ליה הוה הדר ביה ואי נמי שמיע ליה וקסבר אין הלכה כאותה משנה
אמר רב נחמן בר יצחק ירא שמים יוצא ידי שתיהן ומנו מר בריה דרבנא היכי עביד סיים דימיניה ולא קטר וסיים דשמאליה וקטר והדר קטר דימיניה
אמר רב אשי חזינא לרב כהנא דלא קפיד
תנו רבנן כשהוא נועל נועל של ימין ואחר כך נועל של שמאל כשהוא חולץ חולץ של שמאל ואח"כ חולץ של ימין כשהוא רוחץ רוחץ של ימין ואח"כ רוחץ של שמאל כשהוא סך סך של ימין ואח"כ של שמאל והרוצה לסוך כל גופו סך ראשו תחילה מפני שהוא מלך על כל איבריו:

Now, R. Johanan too holds as R. Huna. For R. Johanan said to R. Shamen b. Abba: Give me my sandals. When he gave him the right one, he [R. Johanan] observed, You treat it as though it had a wound. [No]. Perhaps he agrees with Hiyya b. Rab, and he meant thus: You treat the left [foot] as through it had a wound? Now, R. Johanan [here] follows his general view. For R. Johanan said: Like tefillin, so are shoes: just as tefillin [are donned] on the left [hand], so are shoes [put on] the left [foot first]. An objection is raised: When one puts on his shoes, he must put on the right first and then the left? — Said R. Joseph: Now that it was taught thus, while R. Johanan said the reverse, he who acts in either way acts [well]. Said Abaye to him: But perhaps R. Johanan did not hear this Baraitha, but if he had heard it, he would have retracted? Or perhaps he heard it and held that the halachah is not as that Mishnah {/brayta}?

R. Nahman b. Isaac said: A God-fearing person satisfies both views. And who is that? Mar, the son of Rabina. What did he do? He put on the right foot [sandal] but did not tie it. Then he put on the left, tied it, and then tied the right [sandal].

R. Ashi said: I saw that R. Kahana was not particular.

Our Rabbis taught: When one puts on his shoes, he must put on the right first and then the left; when he removes [them], he must remove the left [first] and then the right. When one washes, he must [first] wash the right [hand, foot] and then the left. When one anoints [himself] with oil, he must anoint the right and then the left. But one who desires to anoint his whole body must anoint his head first, because it is the king of all the limbs.

Now, as mentioned, Rif, Rambam, etc., do not cite this lehalacha, but rather omit the law entirely, holding like Rav Ashi citing Rav Kahana. Either because Rav Ashi is the batrai, or because (as I suggested), stating that this is the practice of a specific Amora who is labelled because of this as a "Yerei Shamayim" in effect minimizes his stance of following all positions as one of midat chasidut which was not adopted by the Amoraim at large.

However, what about the more general requirement of granting precedence of right to left? After all, the brayta did not only speak about putting on shoes, but also washing and anointing? The brayta states:

תנו רבנן כשהוא נועל נועל של ימין ואחר כך נועל של שמאל כשהוא חולץ חולץ של שמאל ואח"כ חולץ של ימין כשהוא רוחץ רוחץ של ימין ואח"כ רוחץ של שמאל כשהוא סך סך של ימין ואח"כ של שמאל והרוצה לסוך כל גופו סך ראשו תחילה מפני שהוא מלך על כל איבריו

Our Rabbis taught: When one puts on his shoes, he must put on the right first and then the left; when he removes [them], he must remove the left [first] and then the right. When one washes, he must [first] wash the right [hand, foot] and then the left. When one anoints [himself] with oil, he must anoint the right and then the left. But one who desires to anoint his whole body must anoint his head first, because it is the king of all the limbs.

Perhaps surprisingly, Rif, Rambam, Rosh, Smag do not cite this brayta lehalacha either. It is once again Tur and Shulchan Aruch who resurrect it.

Why is this surprising? Well, we would assume the reason not to be makpid was as Rav Yosef said -- that a brayta says to prefer right, while Rabbi Yochanan said to prefer left, such that whichever way one does, he is following a practice with force behind it.

However, Rabbi Yochanan only said this in an incident regarding putting on shoes, and as formulated in the gemara, "shoes are like tefillin." And this might well be so as not to look like someone who has a wound in his right foot. He does not say that everything is like tefillin. Thus, he should agree with the brayta to prefer right in general. If so, we cannot say דעבד הכי עבד ודעבד הכי עבד.

There are two possible solutions which present themselves to me. The first one is that in fact Rabbi Yochanan was makpid to prefer the left in all situations. This follows the position of Tosafot where he cites the Ri, on the daf (Shabbat 61a):

דעבד הכי עבד - פירוש דברייתא לא פליגא ארבי יוחנן ולא ר' יוחנן אברייתא וה"פ כתפילין אע"ג דימין חשובה לענין בהן יד ובהן רגל וכן לענין חליצה יכול לנעול של שמאל תחילה ברייתא נמי קמ"ל דאע"ג דשמאל חשובה לתפילין יכול לנעול של ימין תחילה וא"ת א"כ אמאי הקפיד רבי יוחנן על רב שמן שנתן לו של ימין כיון דיכול לנעול איזה שירצה תחילה ונראה לר"י דה"פ דעבד הכי עבד מי שרוצה לחבב של שמאל משום מצות תפילין הרשות בידו ומי שרוצה לחבב של ימין יותר משום חשיבות של ימין הרשות בידו ורבי יוחנן היה דרכו לחבב כל שעה של שמאל יותר ורב שמן בר אבא (לא) היה יודע מנהגו.

Thus, in every instance, we have two competing positions, so however one acts, in any area, he is acting appropriately.

However, I am not altogether convinced that this reading works well with the Yerushalmi (see previous post). And Rif, Rosh, Rambam, Smag also omit the end of the brayta about granting precedence to the head over the rest of his limbs, where it does not seem that we can say that however one conducts himself, he is following a Tannaitic view.

The other possibility is that they have a much broader reading of Rav Ashi and Rav Kahana -- that when Rav Ashi said that Rav Kahana was not makpid, this meant that he was not makpid in general, by any precedence mentioned in Derech Eretz Rabba. Whether that hooks in to a reading of Rav Yosef's statement (which might require Tosafot's chiddush above) or not is a tangential issue. Though perhaps we could view Rav Yosef's statement as an attempt to justify existing attitude that one need not be makpid on such issues.

In terms of current practice, as far as I have observed, despite the instruction of Tur and Shulchan Aruch, the general populace is not makpid to grant precedence to right over left in general, or head over the rest of the body in general. Perhaps the occasional yeshiva guy, for a while after the halacha is pointed out to him in Shulchan Aruch/Mishneh Berurah (though likely without the Talmudic background), will for a while be insistent upon this. But I do not think that in the shower, people in general shower their heads first and their right side first. Maybe I am wrong about this.

There is one area where people are makpid, and that is in ritual hand washing. That is, if someone gets his hands dirty and washes them, he is not likely to be makpid to wash the right hand first, despite this pesak in Shulchan Aruch. But, washing neigel vasser in the morning, or washing before eating bread, one is more likely to see insistence upon a particular order. I believe that this is because it is a ritual, and so people think about it as ritual and learn the steps by rote. Also, it is short ritual, which makes it easier. If prompted, maybe they would give the reason of giving precedent to the right, but in most cases people do this unthinkingly. In contrast, washing dirt off your hands, or showering, or brushing your teeth (right side of the mouth first), or putting on your shoes, is not really a ritual but rather a day-to-day activity. Perhaps a side effect of insistence on precedence is to ritualize and somehow in this way sanctify everyday actions, such that mundane activities are done within the framework of, and with concern for principles of Judaism.