אֲשֶׁר יָצַר | Asher Yatsar, a paraliturgical reflection by Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=31371

Date: 2020-05-07

Last Updated: 2025-02-18

Categories: Asher Yatsar, Well-being, health, and caregiving

Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., all bodies, Bathroom Prayer, English vernacular prayer, excretion, paraliturgical asher yatsar, shame resilience, אשר יצר Asher Yatsar

Excerpt: A paraliturgical reflection on the prayer following urination and defecation, Asher Yatsar, for a shame resilience practice. . . .

Content:

Source (Hebrew)	Paraliturgical Reflection (English)
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר יָצַר אֶת הָאָדָם בְּחָכְמָה, וּבָרָא בוֹ נְקָבִים נְקָבִים, חֲלוּלִים חֲלוּלִים	I bless You, Holy One Who made my body so wisely, with holes and openings where they should be.
גָּלוּי וְיָדֽוּעַ לִפְנֵי כִסֵּא כְבוֹדֶֽךָ, שֶׁאִם יִסׇּתֵם אֶחָד מֵהֶם, אוֹ אִם יִפָּתֵֽחַ אֶחָד מֵהֶם, אִי אֶפְשַׁר לְהִתְקַיֵּם אֲפִילוּ שָׁעָה אֶחָת.	I don’t take what health I have for granted. I know that I am only temporarily in this state of ability, and that all functions of my body are miracles of You acting through evolution.
	But also God, I feel shame about my body. I feel shame about my troubles with (add whatever is on your heart: feeding myself well, sleeping, my weight, sex, keeping to exercise, going to the doctors regularly, chronic illness, disability, chronic pain, asking for what my body needs, etc.)
	Please help me stay awake to the miracle of my body. Please help me bring the shame I feel into the light, to You so You can heal it with Your total love.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ רוֹפֵא כׇל בָּשָׂר וּמַפְלִיא לַעֲשֹוֹת׃	I bless You, Holy One, who creates healing and miracles.[1] Cf. Talmud Bavli Brachot 60b.

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Rabbi Shoshana Meira’s paraliturgical interpretation of Asher Yatsar (the blessing for health following urination and defecation), was first published in her Siddur v’lo Nevosh (2014). Linear correspondence between the Hebrew source and the English by Aharon Varady.

Source(s)

 

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Notes

Notes

1	Cf. Talmud Bavli Brachot 60b.

Contributor: Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman

Co-authors:

• 
  Name: Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman
  Bio: Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman is the Associate Rabbi at Temple Sinai in Brookline, Massachusetts. She feels blessed to serve this vibrant community through building personal relationships, teaching Torah, innovating new engagement initiatives, working for justice, and leading prayer. Rabbi Shoshana is a leader in the interfaith climate justice movement in New England. She and her husband Yotam Schachter co-wrote The Tide Is Rising, an anthem for the climate movement that has been sung in congregations, climate rallies, and gatherings in the US, Brazil, Denmark, and France. In other pursuits, she has released an album of original music called Guesthouse, clowned for hospitalized children, tended a community garden, and written poetry. Her publications include pieces in the Huffington Post and the Harvard Divinity Bulletin, and she has written an interpretive translation of the weekday prayer service called Siddur V'lo Nevosh: Jewish Prayer as Shame Resilience Practice. Rabbi Shoshana was ordained at Hebrew College Rabbinical School, and is a graduate of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, JOIN For Justice, and Oberlin College of Arts & Sciences where she was also a Henry David Thoreau Scholar. She grew up in Newton, Massachusetts, and lives in Jamaica Plain with Yotam and their dog Lulu. For sermons, publications, music, and activism visit www.rabbishoshana.com.
  Website: http://www.rabbishoshana.com
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/shoshana-friedman

Featured Image:

Title: Tea_bowl_fixed_in_the_Kintsugi_method
Caption: "Tea bowl fixed in the Kintsugi method" (Public Domain). Kintsugi is the Japanese art of fixing broken pottery with lacquer resin dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum.