אות - כט

On those who waste time for the sake of cleanliness and prolong their time in the bathroom, he was very, very particular and mocked[57] these people greatly and elaborated at length on this matter. And the general principle is: "The Torah was not given to angels" [Berachos 25b]. And one need not be stricter than required by law — and according to the law, the prohibition is only when one truly needs to relieve himself, as it is written in the Gemara (ibid. 23a): "One who needs to relieve himself — let him not pray"; "one who needs" specifically. And even when one truly needs to relieve himself, there are also laws for the case of after the fact and in urgent circumstances, as stated in the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim) section 92 — see there in the Magen Avraham (sub-section 1) that the Rif [Berachos 14a] permits even at the outset when one can hold himself for a parasang, etc.[58] It follows that in any case, when one does not truly need to relieve himself, one need not be strict and nullify oneself from Torah and prayer for nothing, because of excessive apprehensions and stringencies and mere madness. Rather, it is good to pray in the morning immediately after rising from bed. If it is possible to relieve oneself easily — one may do so; if not — no; and let him pray thus. And even if he has a feeling in his intestines, he should not pay attention to this and not look at it at all. Also one need not prolong time in the bathroom, because it is very harmful to the health of the body and many illnesses come from this. Particularly in our bathrooms where one must hang — and hanging in the bathroom is very, very harmful. Particularly the well-known illness (what they call "moiridin" — hemorrhoids) comes greatly from this, may the Merciful One save us. Therefore one must be very careful not to prolong in the bathroom. And one should not look for stringencies[59] and depression about this, as it is not at all applicable in these generations. And he himself was also previously in this error, and would do very strange things for the sake of cleanliness, and he nearly came to danger because of this, and did not escape illnesses either, may the Merciful One save us. And now he knows and says that it is all madness, and G-d forbid to waste precious time on this. And in truth it is impossible in any manner for the body to be completely clean and have nothing remain inside. Because even someone who fasts from Shabbos to Shabbos still needs to relieve himself at the end of the week — even though he did not eat for several days — because inevitably something remains in the body. And he said that it is a great thing for him that he spoke of this matter, because a very great thing emerges from it — namely, not to waste time for this and not to prolong there. And even if sometimes one is forced to prolong, it is better to go out and come back rather than to sit there long.[60]