0212 - Curtain Separating the Sink in a Bathroom

00:00 There was a dormitory for the Bochrim of 770 on Troy Avenue. And I myself, for quite a few years, slept in that building on Troy Avenue. And there they had on the second floor, there were many rooms, and there was one big bathroom there. And in the bathroom, there was a curtain between the toilet seat and the sink. And I asked around, what is the reason for that curtain? And I was told, I don't remember exactly by who, I think by one of the Hanholam members, that what happened was that when they bought the building, and the Bochrim already started using it, were sleeping there already, the Rebbe wanted to see it. So they took the Rebbe to the building. The Rebbe walked up the steps, and as he walked up the steps, he saw a Bocher coming out of the bathroom saying Asher Yotzar, which means he washed his hands in the bathroom. But to say Asher Yotzar, he walked out. The Rebbe asked him, "V'moner shech, if you wash your hands there, that means you feel that you're able to wash there. So Lechorah, you should be able to say Asher Yotzar there too. And if you feel you can't say Asher Yotzar in the bathroom, how did you use the water?" And therefore, the Rebbe said what they should do is that they should put a curtain in between the toilet seat and the sink. And V'meilah, that makes the place where you have the sink as a separate room. So there,

01:16 you could wash your hands there. And I would imagine probably you could say Asher Yotzar there too because it's a separate room. And actually, they say that in the Rebbe's room himself, the bathroom that was there also was the same way. There was a toilet, and there was a curtain between that and the sink. So V'meilah, you could take the water from there. And probably you could say Asher Yotzar there too.