Blessed Are the Valves: What a Bathroom Blessing Taught Me About Business

A 12-second ritual that keeps my body — and my company — flowing

Early every morning, when I wake to the hum of Los Angeles traffic, I shuffle to the bathroom, bleary-eyed, and take care of business.

Then I wash my hands and whisper a Hebrew blessing most people have never heard of: Asher Yatzar.

Twelve seconds, tops. On paper, it’s a thank-you for working plumbing — valves, ducts, blinks, and beats. In practice, it’s a systems audit. A daily reminder that a billion invisible mechanisms must sync so I can pour a coffee, close a deal, or hug my grandkids.

The blink that changed my lens

A few years ago, I visited a former business partner who’d just been hit with Bell’s Palsy. Half of his pudgy face now sagged like soft-serve on a hot summer day.

“How bad do I look?” he groaned from his couch. “You think I can show up to the office looking like this?”

Before I had to manufacture a tactful answer, he grabbed a bottle of eyedrops.

“I never appreciated why we blink,” he said, squeezing the drops in. “Turns out it’s the eye’s windshield-washer. With my face frozen, I can’t blink — and the pain is excruciating. It burns like fire.”

That one comment rewired the blessing for me.

One tiny twitch goes offline — and suddenly, you can’t read, drive, or walk without getting disoriented. A micro-process malfunctions, and life halts.

I excused myself to the bathroom.

Standing at his sink, drying my hands, I looked in the mirror and said Asher Yatzar with genuine awe.

Shmutz, valves, and emotional hygiene

Asher Yatzar thanks the Creator for openings that stay open and closings that stay closed.

Sure, it includes the obvious exit routes. But zoom out.

We all carry Shmutz — Yiddish for the mess: resentment, regret, shame, and stress.

If we don’t vent that junk, dignity corrodes. Morale leaks.

The stench spreads — whether you’re a human being or a medical supply company.

So each morning, I treat Asher Yatzar as a spiritual system check.

Did I flush the mental, emotional, and spiritual waste I picked up slogging through yesterday?

Time to Check Your Flow

Tomorrow morning, while your coffee brews, name one invisible process that keeps your body or business humming — an eyelid-blink of automation, a backend script, a habit that nobody sees. Now picture it frozen for a day.

Feel the burn? Good. That’s the pulse you need to keep checking.

Two Questions to Stir the Pot

1. Which micro-process in your world is so ordinary you haven’t appreciated it lately — but its failure could stall revenue tomorrow?

2. What “waste valve” could you open today — an overdue apology, a redundant process you could sunset, or a conversation that restores flow?

Can’t think of one?

Strain a little harder.

Found it?

No Shmutz, Sherlock.

This post is part of the Business of Soul series: 100 Blessings — a daily journey exploring the intersection of ancient Jewish wisdom and modern business life. Each piece reflects on one of the traditional blessings recited every day, reframed through the lens of leadership, systems thinking, emotional clarity, and meaningful action.

Follow along as we uncover how the small, sacred routines we often overlook might just be the missing blueprint for building lives — and businesses — of deep integrity and flow.