Seemingly insignificant actions with Spiritual Ramifications

Can someone explain or direct me to a place that explains how a seemingly insignificant physical actions can have great spiritual impact? Example: netilas yedayim. I understand it but I can't articulate it. I've been doing netilas yedayim my whole life and if I run out for whatever reason and forget I feel very strange until I do. (or when our water wasn't connected).
I'm not questioning the importance of it, or whether or not I should, but a few women asked me to teach them everyday things that Jews are supposed to do. Modeh Ani, Asher Yatzar, these are things they can relate to and understand.
But how can I explain that washing your hands in a specific manner gets rid of impurity? What does impurity mean? Purity?
PLEASE HELP! IT WOULD BE A TREMENDOUS ZCHUS! IT'S YOUR SCHAR TOO IF YOU HELP ME INSPIRE THESE WOMEN!
(anon b/c I discussed this with people IRL and don't want them to recognize sn, thanks for understanding)

Platinum Member Joined: Apr 06 2008 Posts: 5152

A very simple way of explaining this is to refer to science.
There is so much in science we don't "see" or understand.
The best example are germs. For so long we didn't know of their existence.

There is a whole story of an obstetrician who discovered that the reason why there was so many birth fatalities was because there was a morgue on the hospital premises and doctors were going from working on dead bodies to delivering babies. He started making people at his own hospital wash up properly and the deaths went down drastically.
When he expounded on his theory he was ignored.
The end of the story is so sad because in the end he did lose his mind and died in an asylum because he saw all these preventable deaths occuring and didn't have the power to change it.
here is the story in wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis

Platinum Member Joined: Apr 06 2008 Posts: 5152

Just to clarify what I wrote above I'm not in anyway saying we wash netilas yadayim because of germs.

I'm using germs as an example of something we don't see but we know is there.
In the same vein there are ...lets call them "spiritual germs"
we don't see what is wrong with not washing netilas yadayim but we know we have to do it.

and by the way I know exactly what you mean when you say you feel weird if you haven't washed. I get the same sensation.

you should be keeping negel vasser near your bed so that it should be routine for you to reach over and wash before you even take a step. That way you'll never miss it

Platinum Member Joined: Apr 06 2008 Posts: 5152

one more thing

Thanks Raizle! That's an excellent way of putting it!
Thank you for attaching the story- it will add a lot. I realized you were using the germs as a mashal, not explanation.
To go one step further, though, why do you think we do something physical for a spiritual result? If impurity is spiritual, why not say a tefilla or something? I guess the two are interdependent (is that the right word?) Our souls are not a separate entity rather an intrinsic part of our being. Physical food has a spiritual element to it too.
Someone asked last week why we verbalize modeh ani, and tefillos in general. I told her much of what we do is based on human nature- Hashem created us so He knows what we need in order to maintain a connection to Him. If we would just think things, after a while we would slowly abridge it in our sleepy state of mind. Same thing with kissing mezuza- the point is to remind us of Hashem, just thinkiing probably wouldn't work, we need a physical act.

Sleep is 1/60 death (the Gemara says fire=1/60 gehennom, dreams=1/60 prophecy, shabbos=1/60 olam haba, and sleep=160death). I think one of the main reasons though is that we may have touched a part of our body that renders us impure, which is why we wash our hands after we go to the bathroom. I hope no one has issues with that. I'm paranoid when it comes to possible issues people may have...don't want to scare them away.

I am hoping to cover What it means to be impure/pure (as we can understand it, not claiming to know deepest secrets), how physical affects the spiritual, and why we wash our hands in the morning. And then of course, hoping that I don't scare them away, I will detail what you are supposed to do (which is what they requested in the first place).

Ok, that was a bit of a "blab."

Platinum Member Joined: Apr 06 2008 Posts: 5152

by the way I just recalled an incident that happened a little while ago that you don't need to share with the people you are speaking to but it might help you get your head around the concept of tuma even when you don't see it.

My husband always nudges me to get rid of the tomei water as soon as I can after I wash. Normally he does it but sometimes he has gone already and I neglect to. I find it especially hard in the middle of the night so one night I got up to go to the bathroom and washed negel vasser near my bed. I came back to bed and ignored the tomei water. In the morning my husband and I both shared the fact that we both seemed to have bad/disturbing dreams that night (the rest of it). He then noted the used negel vasser water and pointed out to me that we had been sleeping with tomei water in the room.
I've been carefull since then.

Executive Member Joined: Nov 04 2008 Posts: 335

If youre talking about tuma in general point out the value which yiddishkeit places on life, and how any situation which in some way 'touches' death, requires coming back to tahara
so tumas meis is most severe tuma lasting longest with elaborate procedure incl mikva to achieve thara.
There is tuma from dead animals....not worry about today...with just Mikva, there is tuma from menstruating ie loss of potential life, even tuma post childbirth fits in as loss of life from within you...
So negel vasser would fit in perfectly with this