וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אַל־תִּקְרַ֣ב הֲלֹ֑ם שַׁל־נְעָלֶ֙יךָ֙ מֵעַ֣ל רַגְלֶ֔יךָ כִּ֣י הַמָּק֗וֹם אֲשֶׁ֤ר אַתָּה֙ עוֹמֵ֣ד עָלָ֔יו אַדְמַת־קֹ֖דֶשׁ הֽוּא׃
And He said, “Do not come closer. Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground.
We learn in Maseches Sotah (40a) that Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai instituted that the Kohanim remove their shoes before going up to bless the nation. Consequently, the Be’er Heitev rules (Orach Chaim 128 6) that the Kohanim who have washed their hands before going up to duchen have to make sure to take off their shoes without touching them, because if not, they will need to wash their hands again. Harav Reuven Margulies cited an allusion to this halachah from this passuk: Usually, the Torah calls the act of removing shoes “chalitzah,” as the passuk says (Devarim 25:6): “Vechaltzah na’alo.” But here, HaKadosh Baruch Hu used the term “shal”, meaning toss your “shoes from your feet” without touching them, so that you should not have to wash your hands in order to speak to Me.
