Chullin 106: Ritual Handwashing Before the Meal; Which Water is Permitted

Ritual hand washing before the beginning of the meal is more familiar to me than what we have learned in past dapim about ritual hand washing during and after the meal.  

Chizkiyya teaches that we may not use hot water nor water from the hot springs of Tiberius for hand washing before the meal.  However, he says that we can dip them in the water of a mikvah.  Rabbi Yochanan disagrees with both statements.  He states that he asked Rabbi's son, Rabban Gamliel, who affirmed that all of the Sages of the Galilee used it for ritual hand washing.  Rabbi Yochanan ruled that the hot springs could be used as a mikvah for the entire body, but not to wash one's face, hands, or feet.

Rav Pappa teaches that all agree that the hot springs of Tiberias can be be used as a mikvah.  They also agree that that water from those springs are not to be used for hand washing if they are removed in a bucket or vessel.  IF there are pipes laid through the hot springs so that the water is heated, Chizkiyya forbids the use of those waters to avoid confusion between them and the hot water from hot springs.  Rabbi Yochanan is not concerned about a problem with that distinction. 

Steinsaltz teaches that the Tiberias hot springs near the Sea of the Galilee are heated geothermally at a constant temperature 60C or 140F.  The waters are high in minerals and salt and are recognized as having medicinal benefits.   They are too bitter to drink but were sed by locals to heat fresh drinking water by using pipes leading from the hot springs.  Notably, the rabbis explain that the hot springs cannot be use for handwashing because the are too bitter to be drunk by a dog.  Any water in a vessel that is unfit for animals is unfit for hand washing.