Within the Jewish tradition of blessings recited on particular occasions, there is one I particularly have loved for over thirty years, and that is the asher yatzar (Who formed) blessing.
I love it for being pragmatic and realistic and medically sound. Traditionally this prayer is recited after using the toilet – and it does not get much more pragmatic that that. This blessing acknowledges that what should be open is open; what should be closed is closed. Any of us who have suffered through the closure of what should be open and vice versa well understand the wisdom of such words.
Blessed are You, Adonai, our God, Ruler of the universe, who formed the human with wisdom and created within each, many openings and many hollow spaces. It is obvious and known before Your Seat of Honor that if even one of them would be opened, or if even one of them would be sealed, it would be impossible to survive and to stand before You even for one hour. Blessed are You, Adonai, who heals all flesh and acts wondrously.
I suggest we understand this prayer on another level though. We know we need to be both open and sometimes, closed not just physically, but spiritually and emotionally. For example, as rabbi, I am often asked how I create safe boundaries for myself as I listen to the grief, the hurt feelings, and sometimes anger that people bring to our meetings. The question I also ask of myself is how do I stay porous, and open, so I can listen beyond the words shared, to begin to understand those sitting with me. The asher yatzar blessing is a gift to each of us, as it addresses that very necessary balance between remaining open to each other’s hearts and closing our doors when we feel unsafe.
Anti-Semitism is so much in the news these days, I would be remiss to not address our growing concern about the vile words and actions that are increasing against Jews with frightening intensity. The doors we thought might be closed after the Shoah, appear to be wide open, in ways we never imagined possible even as survivors of those horrors are still living amongst us.
Media personalities, voices in threads on social media sites, are too often instilling and reinforcing hatreds of an entire class of people with impunity. The response on the part of too many is tepid. An openness to bigotry only closes hearts. And kills. Incidents of anti-Semitism in Canada are increasing daily; we hold the very dubious distinction for having our very small demographic numbers suffering the greatest number of threats of violence. People, including politicians may hide behind anti-Israel rhetoric that then becomes a dismissal of all Jews.
So I am using this forum today to ask all readers to step up and speak out. Whatever your faith practice, wherever you may align politically, we must close all doors against this hatred. How can we all work together to ensure that our synagogue doors can remain open to light and open to air? Not fearfully locked tight, as so many synagogues are today, closed against the very real potential for violence.
I suggest a version of Asher yatzar needs to be part of all of our daily prayers. These words create a consciousness that might allow all of us to know when we are safe to be open, and when it is safer to be closed.
Rabbi Lynn Greenhough is rabbi with Victoria’s Jewish Reform community – Kolot Mayim Reform Temple. https://kolotmayimreformtemple.com/
You can read more articles on our interfaith blog, Spiritually Speaking at https://www.timescolonist.com/blogs/spiritually-speaking
* This article was published in the print edition of the Times Colonist on Saturday, December 17th 2022
