Years ago, I read and was inspired by a fascinating article (click to see link) by Dr. Kenneth M. Prager about “The Bathroom Blessing” known as “Asher Yotzar” composed by Abbaye of the Talmud. This week it all came home to us in a personal way. Thank G-d, our situation turned out well, but the relevance and importance of this under-recognized blessing still resonates.
It all goes back to Talmud tractate Brachos 60b where Abbaye says: “When one comes out of a privy he should say: Blessed is He who has formed man in wisdom and created in him many orifices and many cavities. It is obvious and known before Your throne of glory that if one of them were to be ruptured or one of them blocked, it would be impossible for a man to survive and stand before You. Blessed are You that heals all flesh and does wonders.”
Dr. Kenneth Prager’s article is from a urological as well as personal perspective, but the relevance of Abbaye’s blessing extends far beyond that. Many common life-threatening illnesses today including heart disease and stroke (and many other medical condition as well) are all about the integrity of the hollow passageways inside us, and the grave concern of blockage or rupture. Like Abbaye said 1800 years ago: If one of them were to become blocked or rupture we could not survive even for a short time.
This even extends to relationships on an emotional level. There are channels that work best with flowing feelings and openness. And there are those private spaces which are best appreciated in their appropriate context and not exposed to the outside.
That’s where spirituality comes in. The Chabad Chassidic classic book Tanya speaks about the channels of connection that can suffer from blockages or tightening, much like arteries. Tanya offers inspiration, much like medical solutions, to allow the connection to remain open and flowing smoothly without hinderance.
Today is Chai Elul, the birthdays of both the Baal Shem Tov, founder of the Chassidic movement and the Alter Rebbe of Chabad, author of the Tanya. To paraphrase a letter from Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn: The Baal Shem Tov highlighted the existence and importance of these spiritual connectors and passageways, while the Alter Rebbe explained how to best utilize these connecting lines and make the most of the connection and what to do in case of spiritual blockage.