How Physical Beings Relate to God
by R. Gidon Rothstein
The AH Orach Chayyim We Saw
To me (see the end for a note on AI), the repeat and overarching theme of the chapters of Orach Chayyim we saw these past two years was how to bring the chol to the Kodesh and the Kodesh to the chol, how to account for humans’ physicality in their approach to God, how to have them act in ways where awareness of God will suffuse their lives.
The Indelicate
First, let’s discuss the simanim about the impact of bodily functions on our service of God. To go in the order of Shulchan Aruch, OC 21 taught us how to treat mitzvah objects with respect, despite the impact of the physical. When they wear out, we are allowed to dispose of them in any way (as opposed to kedushah items, more connected to Torah itself), yet Rema told us not to, and Magen Avraham thought we should find a secondary mitzvah use for these items, like turning worn tzitzit into a bookmark.
There’s also respectful use while still in good condition, such as what we can wear into a bathroom (tzitzit but not tallit, since it is so easily removed), or to sleep (tzitzit but not tefillin). With tefillin, we worried about intestinal issues of many sorts, as well as our ability to focus properly while wearing, the reason AH 38;6 thought women should not wear them—men must, so we have to find a way, but since women need not, better not.
Moving from tefillin to prayer generally, OC 76 laid out the rules for the vicinity of nudity or feces, the former a problem of sight, the latter to be covered with no odor. Feces on the body, even covered with no odor, had to be removed, unless it was in places where it was impossible to do so.
Beyond feces, there is urine, spit, snot, saliva, and phlegm, all needing to be dealt with appropriately while praying.
Turning the Physical to the Spiritual
In prayer, we de-emphasize our bodies by standing as angels do, a position we enter with intention, facing the Temple Mount, eyes down, heart soaring, standing as servants before their master. During this time, we must do our best not to indulge any bodily experiences previously mentioned (burp, yawn, sneeze, unless impossible to suppress, etc.).
One side: to be aware of our physical selves, do our best to care for them away from our mitzvah and prayer involvements.
Approaching God
The other part of our Orach Chayyim discussion addressed how we build a connection with God through our words. We recite blessings to open the door to God’s bounty in our lives, siman five told us, then analyzed what we ought to intend when using God’s various Names, and why we recite these in the second person.
We also have the twice-daily recitation of Shema, as we saw in OC 58, with discussions of when, how tied it is to people’s habits of arising and sleeping, and what parts of the Torah we are Biblically required to say. With a similar discussion in OC 473, for the Pesach story, how to recite the story as the Torah told us, to keep the memory of that foundational event alive and well in our lived consciousness.
Grace After Meals
A form of approach to God we discussed several times was food related, how to bless bread before we eat it, how to thank God for it after. Where meals end, at what points people can yet be considered part of a group for meals to recite Grace together, and what we say in the Grace, particularly for special occasions.
Besides the Birkat HaMazon after full meals, with bread, we had some issues about the other after-blessings, Al HaMichyah and Borei Nefashot.
Other simanim discussed how to enter into and stand during the Amidah, the standing prayer, how to assign aliyyot, how to divide up sections for Torah reading, with or without translation.
Shaping Ourselves
Last, not directly focused on God, neither in services, study, nor eating, we saw a bit about how to shape our mundane lives in relationship to God, making room for Torah study, conducting business to support our mitzvah activities, with continuing awareness the wealth always comes from God. Part of building such a life, OC 155-56 stressed, was cultivating a life with Torah scholars a regular part, and to realize we, as a people, share a bond leading to brotherly love for all Jews.
Samples, covering only a very few of the chapters of Orach Chayyim, and yet enough to show its concern with how to bridge the gap between us and our Father in Heaven.
POSTSCRIPT: This time, I read the summaries myself, wrote this myself, and then asked Ais what they thought. They accused me of summarizing rather than analyzing (fighting words!). But when I read their analyses, I realized they meant I hadn’t drawn broad enough conclusions. A caution, because we didn’t study enough material to justify such broad conclusions. So, a reminder to use AI what it’s good for, but not trust it always (let alone what happened to me this week, when I gave ChatGPT some sources for a shiur, asked what I had missed, and had it name sources I should include. Which didn’t exist.)