A Body Full of Gratitude
The goal of “Asher Yatzar” is to help us remember, not only that Hashem created us, but also that He created us with incredibly detailed wisdom. The human body and mind are without a doubt the most complex and awe-inspiring of Hashem’s creations. The “technology” of our eyes alone is mind boggling. Yet, when a person wakes up in the morning, it often appears to him that he is the doer of all things, and the whole world is run exclusively by human beings. This is why we first wash our hands (netilas yadayim) in order to raise our actions for the day with the consciousness of Hashem. This nullifies the strong unholy force which makes us feel we are in charge of the world and instead reminds us that Hashem runs every single aspect of our world.
In reality, we often go through our days with a complete lack of awareness of Hashem. We eat, drink, worry about our physical health, visit doctors for healing, take medicines and so on, without awareness that everything, including our bodies and health, are being guided every minute by our Creator.
We find that even if a person merits to arrive at an awareness that his success with his business and finances come from Hashem – there is often a negative force (klipa) that blocks out our awareness that Hashem is operating our bodies. In certain ways, it is easier for us to see Hashem in our daily sustenance, which is outside of us, than it is for us to see Hashem in the wisdom of our own bodies, which is inside of us. We get so accustomed and desensitized to how the body takes in nutrition and discards waste, separating the useful from the not useful effortlessly, that we lose an awareness of the incredible wisdom that is making this happen at all times.
The job of a Yid, therefore, is to amplify his awareness of Hashem’s wisdom operating within the guf. The brachah of “asher yatzar” is designed to do just that: to reveal the Divine wisdom within all of creation, starting with our own bodies. Our goal while saying “Asher Yatzar” is to marvel with awe and wonder over the incredible and Infinite wisdom Hashem put into the creation of our bodies and our body’s systems. This awareness draws a divine energy of healing (shefa shel refuah) to all the limbs of our body, which is why so many people have seen “supernatural” healing and recovery from illness or injury by being careful to say “Asher Yatzar” carefully and slowly after using the restroom, and particularly to read it from a printed text.
A Moment of Mindfulness
As you say “Asher Yatzar”, think about all the amazing things that are happening in your body that make you healthy: digestion, breathing, blood flow and more. Bring to your awareness that it is Hashem that is doing this for you out of love.
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 8.