 “Blessed are You Hashem … Who fashioned man with wisdom and created within him many openings and cavities. It is obvious and known before Your Throne of Glory that if but one of them were to be ruptured
or but one of them were to be blocked it would be impossible to survive and to stand before You …”
Although Chazal (the sages) instituted this brachah (blessing) after one uses the bathroom (because then it is specific) it includes all functions of the body that work in tandem – circulatory, pulmonary, hormonal, etc.
Seemingly Extra Wordage
The question here is as follows. What is gained by adding the words “before Your Throne of Glory”? The rule is that things are usually kept as simple as possible. It could have just as well stated, “It is obvious and known before You.” Why the additional words? What does “Hashem’s Throne” have to do with this brachah?
Chirom Melech Tzur
Chirom the King of Tzur (Tyre) (Lebanon) helped Shlomo Hamelech (King) in building the first Bais Hamikdash (Temple) by sending cedars of Lebanon and assisted in other tasks. He had previously been friendly with Dovid Hamelech.
However, he later made himself into an object of idolatry. Because he helped with the building of the Bais Hamikdash he lived till the destruction of the first Bais Hamikdash. “How many Jewish kings died and I am still alive – twenty-one kings from Yehudah and twenty-one from the Kingdom of Israel, fifty neviim (prophets) and ten kohanim gedolim. I buried them all (an expression) and I am still alive. Am I not a god”?
He was finally killed by Nebuchadnetzar, who also destroyed the Bais Hamikdash.
On Man’s Creation
“Hashem said to Chirom King of Tzur, ‘I looked at you (that you would make yourself into a god) and I therefore created man with nekovim, nekovim.’”
This evidently is a contradiction to man’s proclivity to make himself into a god. See this week’s parshah (Torah reading),
“Go to Pharaoh in the morning – behold he goes out to the water – and you shall stand opposite him …” See Rashi there,
“Pharaoh had made himself into a god and claimed that, therefore, he did not need to use the bathroom. He would, therefore, go every morning to the Nile. It was a psychological tour de force for Moshe to meet him at that time.
The Reason for the Extra Words
Therefore, the brachah “Asher Yotzar” speaks about nekovim and chalulim which Hashem created in a person. This, in order that he not consider himself a god and in order to thereby realize that only Hashem is G-d. It therefore has in it the words “before Your Throne of Glory.” It is specifically these human attributes which make it clear that the “Throne of Glory” belongs only to Hashem.
The Gra
I subsequently found this question of the extra wording of Hashem’s Throne of Glory in the Gra.
“These words were placed in the brachah to correct those who say that it is impossible that Hashem cares or watches over a low world such as this.
Therefore, we say that even before His Throne of Glory, from which even high angels stand at distances of many myriads of parsa’os away, nevertheless, even from there, He watches over everything, even lowly things such as this.”
1 The word kisei in the brachah (blessing) refers to the throne as does the word kisei in Genesis 41:4 “rak hakisei egdal mimecho” (“only by the throne shall I outrank you”). See Rashi there. See also Rashi Exodus 17:16, “ki yad al kais Koh.”
2 There is a question here. The brachah first lists openings and then cavities, but then later refers first to, G-d forbid, rupturing which would apply more to cavities and then mentions blocking which seems to apply more to openings? In other words, it now first refers to that which previously was mentioned second and later refers to that which previously was mentioned first.
3 It is a brachah that is rattled off when one is younger. The older one gets, the more one concentrates on it. It is indeed an amazing wonder that all the parts work just right both in their own systems and in tandem with all other systems. It is no wonder that the posuk states, “umibsori echezeh Eloka” (from my flesh (body) I recognize G-d). (Job 19:26)
4 I Kings 5:15-24
5 See Genesis Rabah 85:4 “Chirom was Chiroh Ho’adulomi, the friend of Yehudah” (Genesis 38:1; :12).
6 Yalkut (Ezekiel 28)
7 Which makes it interesting. After his source of long life, the Bais Hamikdash, was no more, he was no more.
8 Bava Basra 75a
9 There were many people who made themselves into a god. Why specifically was Chirom the one who caused Hashem to create man in this way? Perhaps one can say that the others were incorrigible. However, Chirom helped with the Bais Hamikdsh and yet made himself into an idol. That already needed a fix.
The next question, of course, is that it would seem that nothing was fixed thereby. Indeed, he did make himself into an idol. I don’t know. Of course, there is always the old standby that things would have been worse. However, I would like to see a different answer.
10 Exodus 7:15
11 Based on Exodus Rabah 9:8 and Tanchuma 14.
12 Oros HaGra, Tosfos Likutim 16 on Brachos 60b.
13 The kicker, of course, is that, therefore, a person can do what he wants because this world is too low for Hashem to concern Himself about.
14 One parsa’ah equals several miles.
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