The Mashgiach of Kfar Chassidim, Hagaon Hatzaddik Rav Elyah Lopian zt”l, was traveling by train from Yerushalayim to Haifa. On the way, he asked his talmid to gather together a group of Yidden, because he had something important to tell them.
The travelers showed the tzaddik respect and gathered together those who were near him. Rabi Elyah began, “I have a brachah to make. Please, honored ones, please do chessed with a Yid and listen, and at the end say amen.”
They agreed to his request, and they listened as Reb Elyah recited the brachah of Asher Yatzar with kavanah and enthusiasm, and they promptly responded “amen.” Not much time elapsed, and the train stopped suddenly. What happened? There was an obstacle on the train tracks, and by an obvious miracle, the conductor succeeded in stopping at the last second.
Everyone was talking about the great birkas Asher Yatzar that was recited, and they felt that they were saved in the merit of that brachah.
Because, indeed, the brachah of Asher Yatzar has the power to save!
The heilige Rav Avraham Shalom Halberstam, the baal Divrei Shalom of Stroptkov ztk”l, would arouse the tzibbur on Rosh Hashanah before the tekios. One year, the people were waiting for the rav to come in before the tekios, and he was delayed.
When the Rebbi came in, in a loud, fiery tone he recited the brachah Asher Yatzar. Each word made a tremendous impression, and the congregation was aroused to teshuvah and loud sobs. That was his speech – “Asher Yatzar” – before shofar blowing. When he screamed out, “It is revealed and known before Your Kisei Hakavod,” there was a hisorerus even greater than that which is caused when reciting the six pesukim that make up the acronym kera satan.
And not for naught. Only in two brachos did our Sages use the words “before Your Kisei Hakovod”: in Asher Yatzar and in the Zichronos section of Mussaf of Rosh Hashanah, where we say, “there is no forgetfulness before your Kisei Hakavod.” In these two brachos we mention, with trembling, the Kisei Hakavod!
If we look deeper, we will understand that what is described in the brachah of Asher Yatzar – our health, the daily functioning of our intestines, the constant protection from Above that ensures that no body part will open or be sealed up when it is not supposed to be – this is all a very lofty matter, which comes before the very Kisei Hakavod, no less!
When a Jew needs a refuah, he asks to be mentioned before a tzaddik, and this is proper and a nice hishtadlus; but here, in the brachah of Asher Yatzar, we are mentioned before Hakadosh Baruch Hu – before the Kisei Hakavod!
The gaon Rav Avraham Chaim Na’eh zt”l, the author of Shiurei Torah, heard from his rav, Rav Chaim Yitzchak Chaikin zt”l, the Av Beis Din of Chevron, in the name of his rebbi, the Chafetz Chaim zy”a, that Asher Yatzar can protect people from difficult diseases in miraculous ways. He suggests that anyone seeking a refuah should recite Asher Yatzar with precision and without doing anything else at the time. After the brachah, one should also mention the name of the ill person who needs a refuah. This is a wondrous segulah that helps both the person himself and others.
What a pleasure it is to hear Rav Chaikin making the brachah. Often he would go on to describe and explain in his own words the wonders of the Creator: How the nutrients from our food make their way to the blood that is circulating, and how every part of the digestive system functions perfectly on a daily basis.
We were zocheh to hear from faithful people who had the heart to think about it, and the eyes to see it, how tzaddikim would recite the brachah of Asher Yatzar. The Chofetz Chaim zy”a, even in his old age, was careful to always recite this brachah by reading it from the text. In those times they did not print it in all types of fonts and colors and hang it near the sinks. The Chafetz Chaim would open a siddur in order to recite this brachah, and this is how his close talmidim followed in his ways and did this as well.
The Rosh Yeshivah, the gaon Rav Meshulam Dovid Halevi Soloveitchik ztk”l, the son of the Brisker Rav zy”a, related that when he was five years old, he saw an elderly person washing his hands and then reciting the brachah of Asher Yatzar with kavanah and enthusiasm, and this left a great impression on him. This was the gaon Rav Baruch Ber Halevi Leibowitz, the Birkas Shmuel. “To this day, ninety years later,” Reb Dovid related, “the tremendous impression of that birkas Asher Yatzar that I saw Reb Baruch Ber recite is engraved in me, as it was like the tefillah of the Yamim Nora’im.”
And similarly, the gaon Rav Chaim Brim zt”l and the gaon Rav Aryeh Shechter zt”l related that they saw the Chazon Ish take time from his learning to recite the brachah of Asher Yatzar slowly and with careful pronunciation. His entire being was involved, his face was red and his veins bulging, and he would say each and every word as if it were Shemoneh Esrei.
And there were witnesses who related that several times, he put on his gartel in honor of the brachah.
We hope and pray to be zocheh to strengthen ourselves in this great brachah, and that this strengthening should be a zechus for Yitzchak ben Basha, for his complete refuah, speedily. Tizku l’mitzvos.
Please daven for the avreich Reb Yitzchak ben Basha (Kletzkin).
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