Halachot and Customs
Must the Bathroom Door Be Kept Closed at Home?
Bathroom Door, Modesty, and Blessings
Question
Must one be careful to keep the door of the bathroom at home closed, or may it be left open? Thank you.
Answer
Greetings,
There is no concern about leaving the bathroom door open. However, when using the facilities, one must close the door because of modesty. And if there is concern that another person may enter, one must also lock it (Rema, Orach Chaim, siman 3, seif 2, and Sefer Chesed laAlafim there, ot 5). As for reciting a blessing in the presence of such places: it is permitted to recite a blessing when the bathroom door is open, if no foul odor reaches. In any case, it is proper to be stringent not to recite a blessing if the doorway is open and the toilet is opposite it. However, in a bathroom that does not contain a toilet, one may recite a blessing facing it, and there is no reason to be stringent (see Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman 83, seif 1, and Responsa Igrot Moshe, Even HaEzer, part 1, siman 114, beginning with the words Ve'Inyan, and Sefer VeZot HaBerachah, page 151, section 6).
With blessings, Hillel Meirs
