So...netilas yodaim (netilat yodaim if your pronunciation is israeli and not american) is another
jewish ritual. It literally means 'dipping hands' and it's supposed to be done
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upon arising from sleep
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before eating bread
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before saying a prayer or studying torah, if you've touched something "impure" beforehand (such as your scalp, a lizard, or someone else's genitalia)
How to do it: You take a cup. There are serious criteria for this stuff, such as the cup's got to be a certain volume and it can't have a spout. If memory serves, you have to pick it up in your right hand. Then you pass it to your left hand and pour the water on your right hand, then pass it to your right and pour on your left. There is real
controversy over how many times you wash each hand, with opinions ranging from one to four times. Each time you have to cover the entire hand with water, and of course the water has to be clean. Also, if you are doing netilas yodaim after you've woken up or before eating bread, there's a blessing to be said afterward, which is this:
Baruch ata Hashem Elokeinu melech ha'olam asher kidishanu bimitzvosav vitzivanu al nitilas yodaim. (Blessed are you God our Lord king of the universe who has commanded us with his comandments conserning the washing of hands.)
He he. See How to cease religious observance.