Wash Your Face: Yoma 83b

This is an odd pair of stories.  I'm not sure what to make of it, but felt impelled to share it.

Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Yehuda, and Rabbi Yossi were traveling.  Rabbi Meir would carefully examine people's names, while Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Yossi did not.  When they came to a certain place they sought temporary lodging.  An innkeeper gave it to them.

Rabbi Meir asked the innkeeper, 'What's your name?'  The innkeeper replied 'Kidor.'  Rabbi Meir said to himself, 'I can conclude from this man's name that he is wicked, for his name recalls the verse (Ecclesiates 32:20) "For a generation [in Hebrew: Ki dor] of upheaval are they." '

Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Yossi stored their wallets with the innkeeper [during the sabbath, when it is forbidden to touch or carry money.]  Rabbi Meir did not store his wallet with the innkeeper, but rather hid it in the grave of the innkeeper's father.   The innkeeper's father appeared to the innkeeper in a dream, saying 'Come and take the wallet that this man left on my head!'

The innkeeper told the three rabbis the next day about his dream.  Rabbi Meir said to the innkeeper, 'Dreams on the sabbath mean nothing!'  Rabbi Meir then went and guarded his wallet all day and then brought it back at night.

The next day, Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Yossi asked the innkeeper for their wallets back.  The innkeeper said, 'I have no idea what you are talking about [denying he was given their wallets.]'  Rabbi Meir asked Rabbis Yehuda and Yossi, 'Why didn't you carefully examine the innkeeper's name?'  The two rabbis responded to Rabbi Meir, 'Why didn't you tell us that the man was wicked?'  Rabbi Meir replied, 'I thought he might be wicked, but putting such a label on a man out loud is another matter!'

The rabbis grabbed the innkeeper and brought him to a store [to question him about their wallets.]  The rabbis noticed lentils in the innkeeper's beard, and used this as a sign to retrieve their wallets [from the man's wife.  That is, they told her, 'Your husband said to give us our wallets back.  As proof, he told us to tell you how you served him lentils tonight.']  The rabbis went on their way, and the innkeeper killed his wife [in anger at her for giving back the wallets.]

[Rashi relates another related story on the page:  Another Jewish innkeeper used to observe if his guests would perform the traditional hand washing before eating.  If a guest did, that innkeeper would feed them kosher food.  Otherwise, he would feed them non-kosher food.

From these two stories comes the saying:  '[Ignoring the traditional hand washing with] water before the meal] leads one to eat pork.  [Ignoring the traditional washing of one's fingers and beard with] water after the meal is murder.'