Question :
What is the primary obligation of reciting Asher Yatzar?
Answer:
The primary obligation with regarding to reciting the Asher Yatzar is as follows: Any time one goes to the bathroom (urinating or moving one’s bowels) one is obligated to say the bracha of Asher Yatzar. Asher Yatzar is said every time that one releases excrement, even if it was a minute amount ,This applies to both solid and liquid waste. One should recite asher yatzar after using the bathroom, even if he only went to check if he needed to use such as before davening.
If no water is available to wash one’s hands after relieving oneself, one should wipe one’s hands on a piece of cloth or rub them against a hard surface such as a wall, and then recite Asher Yatzar. Later, when water becomes available, one should wash one’s hands, but not repeat Asher Yatzar. Women are obligated to say Asher Yatzar as well. One should train his children to recite asher yatzar after using the bathroom.
Unique Circumstances
A person who still feels an urge to go to the bathroom again immediately after using the bathroom (diarrhea), should only say Asher Yatzar when he feels like he has cleared his bowels. One who feels the need to urinate immediately after urinating because of cold weather however, should recite asher yatzar anyway.
One who urinates to get his urine tested should still say Asher Yatzar. Some poskim hold that you should not recite asher yatzar if there was blood in your excrement.
Although elokai neshama is not a beracha hasemucha lachaverta, one should still make an effort to recite it immediately after asher yatzar.
Asher Yatzar is an interesting Bracha because it never directly addresses the topic that it is about. One reason for this type of formulation is because it is not respectful to talk about relieving oneself overtly. A lot of meaning is contained within Asher Yatzar, for example, as we have seen there are 45 words corresponding to the numerical value of the word “ADAM”.
Numerous explanations are given for the word beChachma. Rashi explains based on the Bereishit Rabba 1:4 that it is referring to the fact that Hakadosh Baruch Hu can keep air inside a person even though we have so many holes in our bodies. Tosafos explains that it refers to the fact that G-d created man’s sustenance before he created him. The Maharsha explains that it is referring to man, and that he was created as an intelligent being. The Lavush explains that it refers to the many different processes that are involved in man’s digestion and excretion; including taking in the food, holding the food, absorbing the nutrients, and excreting the waste. Nekavim mainly refers to the mouth and the organ used for excretion but is written twice to include every orifice. Chalulim refers to the inner organs that they remain closed and don’t break open.
One should say Asher Yatzar immediately after using the bathroom. The Mishna Brurah in siman 7:6 writes that one should be careful to recite Netilat Yadayim immediately after coming out of the bathroom so that one doesn’t need to go again before one says Asher Yatzar and be caught in a dispute if one should recite one or two brachot. See Mishna Brurah 165:2 that one shouldn’t delay Asher Yatzar to say it after Netilat Yadayim if one went to the bathroom and then is having a meal since one was already obligated to make Asher Yatzar before Netilat Yadayim. See Birur Halacha v. 2 siman 7 p. 43 who quotes Shaar Shlomo Zarafia that one can only recite Asher Yatzar up to toch kdei dibbur and many who disagree with him. |