Q&A: Thinking about God in Undignified Places
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Thinking about God in Undignified Places
Question
When I shower, sometimes sinful thoughts come over me and I’m tempted to sin. What helps me overcome the urge is thinking about God. Is that permitted?
Answer
Simply speaking, there is no prohibition against thinking there about words of Torah. And thinking about God does not seem to me to be thinking about words of Torah at all.
Discussion on Answer
I know that it’s permitted to think in the shower if there isn’t a toilet in the same room.
Many halakhic decisors permit it, also because bathrooms nowadays are clean, and perhaps thinking is permitted altogether. Still, it is proper to try to avoid it.
Are you sure?
Everyone always says that it’s forbidden to think words of Torah in the bathroom, and someone once also told me that it isn’t appropriate to think about God in the bathroom either. On the other hand, that’s what helps me overcome it and not sin.
In addition, is it also permitted for me to think actual words of Torah in the bathroom?