here’s a devar torah on something that i’m currently working on in the area of improvment, working on saying it with more kavana-thinking of the meaning while while saying it from a text not by heart!! it’s on asher yatzar!!!
“Asher Yatzar”
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Elokai neshama” is a berakha which does not start with “barukh.” Here are the possible reasons:
1) It is a berakha of thanksgiving on the return of our soul to us, and berakhot of thanksgiving never start with “barukh.”
2) It is adjacent to “asher yatzar” and as such does not need to start with “bracha.”
3) According to the gemara it is the first bracha of the morning and it is to be feared that one would begin reciting it while still sleepy and lack the proper focus. Its beginning was therefore extended to ensure that one is completely alert before the “brachos” at the end.
“Asher Yatzar”
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When is one obligated to say “asher yatzar”?
It is said at any time of day after relieving oneself – even the smallest amount, for that too requires thanksgiving (Bais Yosef ).
What if one delayed reciting the bracha? Much ink has been spilled about this issue. The Nimukei Yosef (Pesachim 46a) wrote:
“That which was said [in the gemara] that netilat yadayim must be done even if one must walk a parsa in order to find water, that refers to one who relieves himself and must therefore wash his hands in order to say ‘asher yatzar.’ And it does not matter that this means a delay in his recital of the berakha, since it is not a berakha on a mitzva or a berakha on food but rather a berakha of praise and thanksgiving.”
Others provided different time periods. The Ben Ish Chai (Vayeitzei 12) ruled that one may still say the bracha up to half an hour later.
In practice, one should say the bracha immediately, both because the obligation begins immediately and one must not delay it without a good reason, and because once one feels a need to relieve himself again he has lost the opportunity to say this bracha (since he may now say only one bracha after relieving himself twice). If he did delay, it appears that he can still say it for seventy-two minutes, which is a Rishonim-era opinion (the Nimukei Yosef), and in fact those Acharonim who disagree never saw this opinion!!!!!!!!!