When I was a kid, I remember always wondering why all the older people around us were forever using the Yiddish catchphrase Abi Gezunt—“as long as we have our health.” In my youth, I never understood why they kept saying that.
Why was gezunt—good health—such a problem for them? When youngsters, our biggest health issues were the occasional winter cold or a bruised knee on the baseball field. What were all these people going on about, I wondered.
Well, my friends, what should I tell you? All I can say is I wonder no more.
Becoming a mature adult means discovering things like blood pressure, cholesterol, asthma, hernias, neck pain, back pain, osteoporosis, enlarged prostates and more, discovering medical specialists for ailments you never even heard of. Yes, I’m afraid the ignorant bliss of my youth is now a thing of the distant past. Clearly, young people take good health for granted. How oblivious to the stark realities of life we were.
Recently, after some years of deliberate avoidance, I was compelled to surrender to having surgery on my lower back. I consulted my family doctor, my physiotherapist, a neurologist and a total of four different neurosurgeons before agreeing to take the plunge. Surgery, especially back surgery, was not the first option but the very last resort.
It sounded like a small operation, and I was only meant to be in the hospital for a few days. Unfortunately, things don’t always go according to plan. I wound up getting an infection and then a leak of the spinal fluid CSF, which apparently occurs in only 5% of cases. Both can be very dangerous if untreated. All in all, a planned three-day stay in hospital became a painfully prolonged three-week overstay with a second operation required. In fact, I wrote two of these very columns on my laptop from my hospital bed!
Have you heard of the blessing Asher Yatzar? This is a short, one-paragraph blessing we recite after emptying our bladder, whether for urination or bowel movements. This is the full text:
“Blessed are You, Hashem, our God, King of the universe, who has formed man with wisdom and created within him numerous 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. Blessed are You, Hashem, who heals all flesh and works wondrously.”
Most people take their ability to relieve themselves as perfectly natural and obvious—until illness strikes. Suddenly, we realize how thankful we need to be when we can actually perform these most basic of human functions.
I once heard a story from an older rabbi who was attending a bar mitzvah party, and during the proceedings, he went out to use the facilities. In that particular function hall, the bathrooms were very near the bar area. When he came out of the bathroom, he washed his hands and recited the Asher Yatzar prayer, as he always did. A few fellows at the bar couldn’t help noticing this.
After a few drinks, they had the chutzpah to ask the rabbi what he was mumbling. Patiently, the rabbi began explaining that we should never take our good health for granted, and if we can empty our bladder naturally and easily, we should thank God for the wondrous workings of the human body He created.
Well, after a few more drinks, one of the guys found this rather amusing. “Hey, the rabbi makes a blessing for going to the toilet!” To them, it was a great source of mirth, and the guys at the bar had a good laugh at the poor rabbi’s expense.
A few weeks later, the rabbi received a call from a woman who said that her husband was in the hospital and could the rabbi please pay him a visit. The rabbi took the man’s name and hospital details, and wasted no time in doing the good deed.
When he entered the ward, he noticed it was the Urology Department. And when he came to the room, he recognized the patient as the joker from the bar mitzvah the other night. He had a catheter and all kinds of incoming and outgoing tubes.
He looks at the patient. The patient looks back solemnly and declares, “Rabbi, the hell with Kol Nidrei. Teach me that prayer!”
In time, we come to realize that Abi Gezunt is indeed a very appropriate wish. May we all be healthy—and stay healthy for long and good lives.
