Nearly every day, the first bracha I make upon arising is אשר יצר. (Truth be told, at my age that is usually also the last bracha I make; two or three times a night, in fact.) The bracha is explained in the Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim Siman 6:1. The Shulchan Aruch has a lengthy exposition on each word. The Mishna Brura add more details. The bracha ends with the words:
The Rema then adds: Another explanation of "acts wondrously" is that He protects the spirit of a person inside him and interconnects physical and spiritual entities. All of this is performed as the Healer of all flesh, for then a person remains within the קו הבריאות/line of health and his soul is protected within his body.
I realized today how I have so completely misunderstood this Rema. I have always concentrated on the first words "interconnects physical and spiritual entities" and completely ignored the rest. I mean, come on, "interconnects physical and spiritual entities" is a really, really awesome and wondrous thing to do; right? Yes, actually, it is. However, the Rema did not have a computer/word processor to write the his notes on the Shulchan Aruch. The Rema lived before the invention of the printing press, in fact. He wrote his glosses with a quill. If the Rema took the time to write something, I really ought to take the time to read and digest what he wants to tell me.
So here's what I learned today. A person's body can have plenty of fluid -- excess even, and the person can still be dehydrated. How so? The fluid can be trapped into the blood and not able to move into the cells. Excess fluid in the body can make it hard to breathe and even interfere with heart function. Parched cells crying for hydration while drowning. Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink. What does a doctor do? They manage that situaion with albumin to create an osmotic pressure differential in the blood stream that should equalize the fluid balance. Cells become hydrated, blood count goes up (because less dilution). Wondrous healing with a simple (hah!) balancing of partial pressures via nearly imperceptible changes in electrolyte and chemical balance.
The Rema did not have extra time nor ink. The words קו הבריאות/line of health were used with precision. It is a narrow line indeed that separates between health and illness, between life and death. You may wonder why I would learn about this today. That's not the question. The question is how did I live this long without researching to appreciate just how wondrously the Healer of all flesh really acts!
רופא כל בשר ומפליא לעשות/Who Heals All Flesh and Acts WonderouslyThe Shulchan Aruch explains those words to be referring to the fact that the body is able to extract what it needs from the food we ingest and transport that nutrition to every place it is is needed. The body is also able to rid itself of the waste -- indigestible and unusable parts of the food; escorting it out of the body. Of course, that is why we make this bracha after relieving ourselves.
The Rema then adds: Another explanation of "acts wondrously" is that He protects the spirit of a person inside him and interconnects physical and spiritual entities. All of this is performed as the Healer of all flesh, for then a person remains within the קו הבריאות/line of health and his soul is protected within his body.
I realized today how I have so completely misunderstood this Rema. I have always concentrated on the first words "interconnects physical and spiritual entities" and completely ignored the rest. I mean, come on, "interconnects physical and spiritual entities" is a really, really awesome and wondrous thing to do; right? Yes, actually, it is. However, the Rema did not have a computer/word processor to write the his notes on the Shulchan Aruch. The Rema lived before the invention of the printing press, in fact. He wrote his glosses with a quill. If the Rema took the time to write something, I really ought to take the time to read and digest what he wants to tell me.
So here's what I learned today. A person's body can have plenty of fluid -- excess even, and the person can still be dehydrated. How so? The fluid can be trapped into the blood and not able to move into the cells. Excess fluid in the body can make it hard to breathe and even interfere with heart function. Parched cells crying for hydration while drowning. Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink. What does a doctor do? They manage that situaion with albumin to create an osmotic pressure differential in the blood stream that should equalize the fluid balance. Cells become hydrated, blood count goes up (because less dilution). Wondrous healing with a simple (hah!) balancing of partial pressures via nearly imperceptible changes in electrolyte and chemical balance.
The Rema did not have extra time nor ink. The words קו הבריאות/line of health were used with precision. It is a narrow line indeed that separates between health and illness, between life and death. You may wonder why I would learn about this today. That's not the question. The question is how did I live this long without researching to appreciate just how wondrously the Healer of all flesh really acts!
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