More on Asher Yatzar

Tali, I enjoyed reading Ms. Bieler's response and want to add some thoughts.

I was particularly moved by this question because Asher Yatzar has always been one of my favorite brachot - the fact that we are obligated to thank Hashem for the most basic (but crucial) of bodily functions rather than take them for granted, moves me. And without going into unnecessary detail, I'll point out that if you've ever recognized that any aspect of your "plumbing" is not working normally, even for a day (i.e., if you're human), it's pretty clear that it's a real gift when it does -- al achat kama v'chama for people who suffer lifelong problems in this area. While I'm no medical expert, I have three further comments on your first question: 1) even many of the remedies of modern medicine in this broad area often do not completely fix the relevant problem, 2) even if a remedy were to be a full cure, we can be grateful to Hashem for providing us (through medical research, technology, drs., etc.etc.) with that cure, and 3) when these bodily parts are truly "open" or "closed" in a permanent manner, it certainly has the potential to be fatal.

As for your second question, I appreciate your attention to the wording of this bracha, and it's led me to contemplate why, even after noting the ostensible contradiction that bothers you, I myself don't feel troubled by it. I think it's because I don't view "creating people with wisdom" as precluding the possibility of something going wrong. The intricate ways in which our various anatomical systems were created seem to me exquisite, just as the yearly cycles of flora, the solar system, and countless other things in the natural and biological world are awe-inspiring -- but all of them can suffer interruptions and, in some cases destructive ones. I agree with Ms. Bieler's point that people have the power to impact positively or negatively on their environments, but when a sick person has become so without apparent human causes (as it most often the case), or when a plant dies "before its time" in spite of proper human care of it, I am left simply with the mystery inherent in "ha-kol bi-yedei Shamayim".