12 votes

BS"D in the bathroom

R. Moshe Feinstein has a responsum about writing ב"ה in a letter. While he notes that it could potentially lead to issues because the ה is a letter of God's name and it is also meant to refer to God, ...
Alex's user avatar
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9 votes
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Torah songs, and earworms, in the bathroom

R' Shlomo Zalman Auerbach quoted in הליכות שלמה (הלכות תפילה פרק עשרים סימן יא אות כא) ruled that there is a distinction between recital of pesukim in praise and song (דרך שבח וזמרה) and studying (דרך ...
Shoel U'Meishiv's user avatar
8 votes

Why is it permissible to flush a toilet on Shabbat?

Tosfos Eruvin (86b) and Mishne Berurah (355:6) explain that since the waste initially travels into an extension of the private domain, it is permitted. Even though the waste might later travel into a ...
Daniel's user avatar
  • 81
7 votes
Accepted

Is there a deadline for Asher yatzar

There are many opinions ranging from 30 minutes to 72 minutes to until one has the need to relieve oneself again. From Halachipedia one should say Asher Yatzar immediately after using the bathroom (...
mbloch's user avatar
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7 votes

Does urine leakage render one ritually impure?

First step what is the problem of the urine? Gemoro Berachoth 22B ת''ר היה עומד בתפלה ומים שותתין על ברכיו פוסק עד שיכלו המים וחוזר ומתפלל להיכן חוזר But it is during the micturition: and in ...
kouty's user avatar
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7 votes
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Gedolim books in the bathroom

It writes here the following: May one read stories of Tzaddikim in a bathroom?1 Stories from Tanach and the Talmud are forbidden to be read in a bathroom as they are actual words of Torah. However ...
Dov's user avatar
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6 votes
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Use of an automatic toilet on Shabbos?

Halachipedia brings a number of opinions permitting this R Josh Flug (Sukkot To Go 5770, p. 27) writes that it is certainly permissible to use a toilet with an automatic flusher if no other ...
mbloch's user avatar
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6 votes

Does anyone know of the following quote from Rabbi Yerucham Levovitz?

Rav Matisyuha Solomon quotes a similar episode he heard from Reb Leib Gurwitz about Rav Yeruchem. In response to a maskil that made fun of Torah Jews as "Asher Yotzar people", as if they do nothing ...
פרי זהב's user avatar
5 votes
Accepted

Pulling out hairs while wiping yourself on Shabbat

http://dinonline.org/2016/05/16/bathroom-hygiene-on-shabbos/ He may wipe himself. He should do so lightly [gently?] in a way that it will not definitely cause hair removal. Even if this is ...
Michael's user avatar
  • 242
5 votes

Can someone say Asher Yatzar for another?

Yabia Omer Volume 9 Orach Chaim 3:2 says that one should not be Motzi his friend with Asher Yatzar. He says that since the Meiri in Rosh Hashana 29 holds that one can not be Motzi someone for such a ...
Gershon Gold's user avatar
4 votes

Can one recite prayers or learn torah while facing a bathroom whose door is open?

[I answered another question which was subsequently marked a duplicate on this one. So I am replicating my answer here] There are two issues here. One is whether our bathrooms have the status of the ...
mbloch's user avatar
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4 votes

Is it permissible to say "Shabbos/Shabbat" in the bathroom?

The Chessed Lealafim (85,1) (R' Eliezer Papo) brings down Zohar that says that HaShem is called Shabbos. (He writes: דקב״ה שבת איקרי). Chessed Lealafim says that it is not allowed to say Shabbos in ...
Ari's user avatar
  • 905
4 votes

What is the halachic status of today's modern bathrooms?

R. Yitzchak Abadi has a responsum about this in Ohr Yitzchak 2:34. בתי כסאות שלנו ודאי שאין להם דין בית הכסא לשום דבר [ועי' בדברינו ח"א חאו"ח סוף סי' מ'] ואני תמה מכל האחרונים שהאריכו בזה ...
Alex's user avatar
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4 votes

Is there a minimum amount of urine that is considered "Going to the bathroom" for the purpose of making a blessing?

There is no minimum amount below which it is not considered "going to the bathroom" for the sake of making a blessing. The Shulchan Arukh addresses this question explicitly: אֵין שִׁעוּר ...
Daniel's user avatar
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4 votes
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Are you allowed to take newspapers with divrey torah into the bathroom?

There is a dispute whether modern-day toilets are like the bathroom of the gemara. Quite a number of poskim are strict. R Moishe Dovid Lebovits writes A newspaper that contains divrei Torah should ...
mbloch's user avatar
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4 votes

Blessings exiting bathroom

The Shulchan Aruch writes in Orach Chai (7:1) כל היום כשעושה צרכיו, בין קטנים בין גדולים, מברך "אשר יצר" ולא "על נטילת ידים", אף אם רוצה ללמוד או להתפללא מיד If one uses the ...
ertert3terte's user avatar
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4 votes
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Counting Sefiras Haomer in the Bathroom

Terrific question. I found a discussion of the issue by Rabbi S.B. Genut (in the case of someone locked in a bathroom) here, which I'll summarise for those for whom Hebrew is a barrier. Firstly, we'...
Josh Friedlander's user avatar
4 votes
Accepted

May one listen to the shofar if one is standing in an unclean place?

R. Kook phrases this query differently while encapsulating the underlining question: Is blowing shofar likened to sacred speech ("dibbur shel kedushah") or is it a mere action/mitzvah. The given ...
Oliver's user avatar
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4 votes
Accepted

At what point should one recite Bracha asher yatzar

The Shulchan Aruch 4,18 says one must wash ones hand after going to the toilet, the Mishna Brura seif 40 explains that even if one merely enters the toilet he must wash his hands because of the רוח ...
user15464's user avatar
  • 11.3k
4 votes

Talking In Bathrooms

The Rambam (Deoth 5:6), cited by the Arokh HaShulchan (OC 3:3), says that specifically Torah scholars have a practice of excessive modesty of not talking while actually relieving themselves, implying ...
Loewian's user avatar
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3 votes
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Hemorrhoids on Shabbos

According to Shulchan Aruch 328, 22-23, see also sayf 26. To use a wipe seems as in sayif 22, to clean the injury, the blood is generally already here and it is not really a new bleeding. "Migh cause ...
kouty's user avatar
  • 22.6k
3 votes

Asher Yotzar before or after Bracha Achronah

Since the bathroom usage had just occurred and needs to be handled, and a bracha should be made as close as possible to the action that requires it, logic would indicate that it should be done first. ...
sabbahillel's user avatar
  • 42.8k
3 votes

Halachos of the bathroom

This is a good question. A good place to start would be to read the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, Siman 4. If you have a Kleinman Edition Kitzur by ArtScroll, they have a brilliant linear translation method, ...
ezra's user avatar
  • 18.3k
3 votes

Bathroom halachos in the bathroom

See Magen Avraham OC 84, sk 2: אם שאל לו אדם דבר הלכה אסור לומר לו "אין משיבין במרחץ". ובבית האמצעי שרי לומר כך. הרוצה לשתות בבית המרחץ יברך בחוץ ע"מ לשתות בפנים.‏ If someone asks ...
kouty's user avatar
  • 22.6k
3 votes

Is it permitted to think about God / Hashem in the bathroom?

Chochmat Shelomo to Orach Chayyim 85:2 (text, pdf) concludes that you can think about God in the bathroom. אפילו להרהר בד"ת וכו'. נ"ב נסתפקתי אם מותר להרהר בו ית' או לא. ולכאורה יש ללמוד ק"ו דאסור ...
b a's user avatar
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3 votes

Why mention healing everyone after the restroom and Jews in the amida?

The Amidah is said from the perspective of the Jewish people/congregation, as it begins "velokai avoseinu", and as is indicated in other brachos as well ("hashiveinu avinu lsorasecha","tekah bshofar ...
Jay's user avatar
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3 votes
Accepted

Bringing Tefillin into Airport Bathroom

The Shulchan Aruch 46:3 says that one may enter if they are covered either with something that has a tefach or a covering that is not designated specifically for the tefillin (i.e. a suitcase) היה ...
Chatzkel's user avatar
  • 10.3k
2 votes

What is the halachic status of today's modern bathrooms?

It's a Machlokes (matter of dispute): "...One can be lenient in regard to the halachos that apply.[2] However, most poskim argue.[3]... [2] Refer to Eretz Tzvi 1:110:-111:pages 375-378, ...
user262055's user avatar
2 votes

Advice for keeping tzitzit away from the toilet

Yeah. So, pull on your shirt bottom front until you get a nice shirt-bun and then wrap your tzitzis around your shirt-bun then roll up to your stomach. It works like a charm
TheTribeOfJudah's user avatar
2 votes

How do soldiers in the IDF obey Deuteronomy 23:13?

One thing that seems to have been overlooked by both the OP and the other, highly upvoted answer, is that the article that the OP cites for the explanation of this Mitzvah already answered the ...
Seth J's user avatar
  • 41.4k

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