W O N D E R O F W O N D E R S This blessing is said in the morning as part of the morning Brachot as well as after each time we visit the bathroom. Asher Yatzar Blessing Blessed are You, God, our God, sovereign of the universe, who formed humans with wisdom and created within him many openings and many hollows. It is obvious in the presence of your glorious throne that if one of them were ruptured, or if one of them were blocked, it would be impossible to exist and stand in your presence. Blessed are You, God, who heals all flesh and performs wonders. א ש ר י צ ר ב ר ו ך א ת ה י י א לה ינ ו מ ל ך ה עו ל ם, א ש ר י צ ר א ת ה אד ם ב ח כ מ ה, וב ר א ב ו נ ק ב ים נ ק ב ים, ח ל ול ים ח ל ול ים. ג ל וי ו י ד ו ע ל פ ני כ סא כ בו ד ך, ש א ם י ס תם א ח ד מה ם, או א ם י פ ת ח א ח ד מה ם, א י א פ ש ר ל ה ת ק ים א פ יל ו ש ע ה א ח ת ב ר ו ך א ת ה י י, רו פא כ ל ב ש ר ומ פ ל יא ל ע שו ת BY TED ROBERTS We Jews have an exalted view of He who created the cosmos and the capillary; He who activates the pulse of the migrating Monarch butterfly, the mother fox who knows to suckle her young, and the astronomer who peers into the Milky Way. A SPECK OF DUST IN A PINK PASSAGEWAY -- AND YOU'RE TOAST. C. S. Lewis, the great Christian philosopher, calls our bodies: "vast and perilous estates pulsating with the energy that made the worlds." We Jews share his awe of the human frame and understand that we only lease these earthly quarters. Laced with a million possibilities for failure, the body only works because of some sleight of hand we don't understand. Its operation is a mathematical nightmare. A defiance of the laws of probability that would make an engineer wince. Thought, sensation, breathing, digestion, locomotion, and elimination all depend on a synchronous performance by a set of perfectly functioning systems. A speck of dust in a pink passageway -- and you're toast. To declare their admiration, awe, and thanks for these beneficent operations, observant Jews have a daily prayer -- Asher Yatzar. You create man with "many openings and hollows" it says. And if "one of them were to be ruptured... or blocked, it would be impossible to survive." It goes on to say, "Blessed are You, Lord, Who heals all flesh and acts wondrously." Now from the sublime back to my bedroom, eerily illuminated by the nightlight. My "hollows" -- one of them -- as blocked up as Pharaoh's heart. Back to the ER? Unbearable. Then I saw it on the bedside table. My son -- impelled by a faith far stronger than mine -- had sent it. A large, garish, laminated poster. The prayer, Asher Yatzar, in the middle, surrounded by cartoon-like Morning Blessings Page 1
illustrations. Primitive, almost laughable, especially to me: a tightly affiliated but imperfect Jew, whose mitzvah batting average does not qualify me as a Hall of Famer. But there are no atheists in a foxhole or the ER, as any nurse will testify. And when you're drowning in a sea of suffering, if they throw you a noodle lifeline, you'll hang on. I read the prayer as I ached. Twice. In English and in Hebrew. The ardor, the passion of my Yom Kippur prayers was a whisper compared to this whirlwind. I said it twice, reading each word slowly and distinctly. I wanted no misunderstanding of my plight or my passion. The Master Healer must have a clear, comprehensive diagnosis. And then it happened. Relief. No ER, no intrusive techniques. Asher Yatzar -- an Internet engine of such power that it immediately reaches the sublime portal. Petitioners, penitents, pleaders worldwide -- all simultaneously trying to connect. Human crevices and corridors stopped up all over this troubled world. Billions of prayers -- airborne -- shading the earth itself; and MINE, on the wings of Asher Yatzar went through. PRAYING FOR HEALTH- WHY NOT JUST TRUST THE DOCTOR? THE HIDDEN HEALING JOURNAL Mishna Pesachim 4:9 King Chizkiah did six things. Regarding three, they [the Sages] agreed with him, and regarding [the other] three they did not agree with him. He dragged his father's bones on a bed of ropes [since his father was wicked he buried him in a disrespectful manner, rather than in a royal funeral], and they agreed with; he crushed the brazen serpent [which was made by Moshe (see Numbers 21:4-9)], and they agreed with him [since the people had come to worship it]; [and] he hid the book of remedies [from which people used to heal themselves so quickly that they had no fear of illness], and they agreed with him. But they did not agree with him in three משנה מסכת פסחים פרק ד משנה ט ששה דברים עשה חזקיה המלך על שלשה הודו לו ועל שלשה לא הודו לו. גירר עצמות אביו על מטה של חבלים והודו לו. כיתת נחש הנחשת והודו לו. גנז ספר רפואות והודו לו. על שלשה לא הודו לו: קיצץ דלתות של היכל ושיגרן למלך אשור ולא הודו לו. סתם מי גיחון העליון ולא הודו לו. עיבר ניסן בניסן ולא הודו לו. Morning Blessings Page 2
Sefer Hatashbatz We see above that Chizkiyahu stole the sefer harifuot. And if you say from where did he obtain the sefer harifuot? You can say, that when Noah was in the ark there were various deamons and they would harm him until most of the people in the ark were sick, and also from the bad smell. Until one angel came, and took one of the sons of Noah, and brought him to the Garden of Eden and taught him the cure to all the diseases in the world. And those cures he wrote in a book that is called sefer harifuot. ספר תשב " ץ קטן סימן תמה הא דאמרינן חזקיהו גנז ספר רפואות והודו לו. וא"ת מאין בא לו ספר רפואות. וי"ל כשהיה נח בתיבה היו עמו שדין רוחין ולילין והיו מזיקין אותו עד שנעשו רובם חולים וגם מפני ריח רע. עד שבא מלאך אחד ולקח אחד מבני נח והביא אותו לגן עדן ולמד אותו כל רפואות שבעולם. ואותם רפואות כתבו בספר וזהו נקרא ספר רפואות : Rashi s Commentary He hid the sefer harifuot- as it says, he did the correct and straight thing you did in my eyes. And it says in Mesechet Brachot, he put it in hiding because the people s hearts were not submissive to the sick person, because they would be healed immediately. רש " י מסכת פסחים דף נו עמוד א גנז ספר רפואות - כדכתיב והטוב )והישר( בעיניך עשיתי ואמרינן בברכות שגנז ספר רפואות, לפי שלא היה לבם נכנע על חולים אלא מתרפאין מיד. Rambam s Commentary rather because of what I heard and was extrapolated to me, Shlomo wrote the sefer harifuot because if a man was sick with a certain sickness, he would turn to it (the book) immediately, do what it said, and be cured. And Chizkiyahu saw that people were not trusting in HaShem to cure them from their illness, but only trusted in the book, and therefore he hid it. פירוש המשנה לרמב "ם מסכת פסחים פרק ד משנה י...אלא מפני ששמעתי וגם פירשו לי ששלמה חבר ספר רפואות שאם חלה אדם באיזו מחלה שהיא פנה אליו ועשה כמו שהוא אומר ומתרפא, וראה חזקיה שלא היו בני אדם בוטחים בה' במחלותיהם אלא על ספר הרפואות, עמד וגנזו. WHY WAS IT NECESSARY TO HIDE THE SEFER HARIFUOT? WHY DO WE PRAY NOWADAYS INSTEAD OF COMPLETELY TRUSTING DOCTORS? IF THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH USING THE SEFER HARIFUOT, WHY IS IT ACCEPTABLE FOR US TO GO TO DOCTOR S NOWADAYS? Morning Blessings Page 3
WHAT S AWESOME ABOUT THE BATHROOM ANYWAY? The blessing of Asher Yatzar concludes with the words blessed are you God, who heals all flesh and performs wonders. Why is this wording used? - ב ר ו ך א ת ה י י, רו פא כ ל ב ש ר ומ פ ל יא ל ע שו ת The original source of this phrase comes from a story in the Prophets. Manoach and his wife, offer a sacrifice of gratitude to God for giving them a child after many years of childlessness. Shoftim 13 19. And Manoach took the kid goat and the mealoffering, and offered it upon the rock to the Lord; and (the angel) did wondrously, and Manoah and his wife looked on שופטים פרק יג יט ו י ק ח מ נו ח א ת ג ד י ה ע ז ים ה צ ור ו א ת ה מ נ ח ה ו י ע ל ע ל ל יק ו ק ומ פ ל א ל ע שו ת ומ נו ח ו א ש ת ו ר א ים Malbim s Commentary The word מפלא (wondrous) comes from the word,פלא meaning an astonishing and miraculous event: that fire came out of the rock to consume the offering. מלבי "ם ויעל על הצור לה 'ומפליא לעשות: המלאך עשה פלאים שהוריד אש על המזבח והם ראו ז את בעיניהם. Chazal chose to borrow this phrase that describes a miraculous and astonishing event and place it at the end of the blessing we say when we leave the bathroom. Why? Because they wanted us to realize that the same way a fire coming out of a rock is a a wondrous thing, so too, every time,פלא we are capable of taking care of our bodily needs, a פלא has occurred. Each and every time we conclude Asher Yotzar it should be with this huge acknowledgment - with a climactic recognition and blissful declaration - UMAFLI LAASOT! People have always been in awe of technology. If you are old enough to remember the introduction of the fax machine or email, you can remember the amazement you felt the first time you were able to transmit messages instantaneously. You may remember the Wow! of using a touch screen for the first time, or setting out on your first voyage guided by a GPS. We marvel at man s chochma (wisdom) and ingenuity when we encounter these breakthroughs in technology. Morning Blessings Page 4
By telling us that Hashem created us with chochma, the Asher Yatzar blessing should arouse the greatest Wow! of all. We recite it after eliminating, but even that process is only a hint of the amazing, ingenious, infinitely subtle mechanisms at work in our bodies at each and every moment of the day. When we take the opportunity of reciting this blessing to marvel at our body s functioning, as we do over the workings of a new piece of technology, we go a long distance toward building a true awe of Hashem s chochma. WHAT PELE (MAPHLE LAASOT) ARE WE REFERRING TO AT THE END OF THE BRACHA OF ASHER YATZAR? WHY DO WE OFTEN FEEL IN AWE OF TECHNOLOGY BUT NOT OUR BODIES? WHY DO YOU THINK THIS BRACHA WAS INCLUDED IN THE BIRCHOT HASHACHAR- MORNING BLESSINGS? WHY DO YOU THINK WE SAY THIS SO MANY TIMES EACH DAY? NOW IT S TIME FOR YOU TO BUILD YOU OWN ASHER YATZAR! Activity: Through a poem, song, letter, or article, write your own prayer expressing the wonders of your body and your petition to God that it remain so, or that your ills be healed. Feel free to share with each other what you come up with, or you can keep it to yourself. Try reciting your prayer for a week when you wake up in the morning. Morning Blessings Page 5