נחמיה, פרק ד׳, פסוק י״ז

The rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls was carried out under an atmosphere of extreme tension and constant readiness. The leader, his companions [מצודת דוד], and the men under his command [מצודת דוד] remained on high alert day and night without a single moment of rest. Driven by the constant threat of enemy attack and the need for immediate response, the builders abandoned basic daily routines. They remained fully dressed at all times, refusing to remove their clothing even when lying down to sleep at night [רש"י, מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

This state of extreme vigilance extended to their interactions with water, though commentators offer different perspectives on exactly how this played out. One approach suggests that the men never let go of their weapons. Their readiness was so intense that even when they needed to approach a water source to drink in the dark [אבן עזרא], cross through a body of water [רלב"ג], or simply wash and relieve themselves [ביאור שטיינזלץ], their weapons remained firmly strapped to their bodies.

The primary approach among commentators, however, connects their interaction with water directly to the removal of clothing [רש"י, ר' סעדיה גאון, מצודת ציון, אבן עזרא]. Within this perspective, there are two distinct ways to understand their reality. Some explain that the men never took off their garments to send them away to a professional launderer. Instead, each worker washed his own clothes to ensure that no one was pulled away from the critical task of construction [רש"י, ר' סעדיה גאון, מלבי"ם]. Conversely, others view their interaction with water as the sole exception to their strict rule of remaining dressed. The men kept their clothes on constantly, only removing them in rare instances when they had to enter the water to wash off heavy sweat [רלב"ג], or when an individual required ritual purification. In those specific moments of immersion, a person would undress, as if the water itself compelled him to remove his garments [מצודת דוד, אבן עזרא].