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IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH
Continuing good health is one of the major blessings of life. I think that even more than length of life and increased longevity, a healthy life is what most human beings desire. Unfortunately, the lot of humans is such that sickness, minor and major in nature, is almost unavoidable at some stage in one's existence. Midrash teaches us that there was a time in the world when no one became ill and when one did become ill it was sudden and deadly. Jewish legend has it that in ancient times people died by sneezing - the soul was thereby expelled from the body - and that this therefore is the origin of the universal human custom of wishing someone "good health" after that person has sneezed. Midrash further teaches us that it was our father Yaakov who prayed to God that sickness descend upon a person and not necessarily be an immediate precursor of immediate death so that one would have the time and ability to order one's affairs in this world before departing for the next world. Thus we find in the Torah the extensive scene of Yaakov's deathbed detailed and individualized blessings and instructions to his sons, the ancestors of the Tribes of Israel. The Torah tells us that first Yaakov took ill, so that he realized that his time was near though not necessarily immediate. In this light, sickness was seen in Jewish life as being the almost necessary reminder of one's mortality and of the necessity therefore to use one's time and gifts wisely and efficiently while yet alive.
The rabbis in the Talmud added another element to judging and dealing with sickness. They connected it to the idea of expiation of sin, of attaining forgiveness for wrong behavior. Nevertheless, the rabbis never were in favor of sickness for spiritual advancement. On Yom Kippur, when we ask forgiveness from God for our past failings, we add the phrase that the forgiveness should not come through pain or severe sicknesses. The rabbis only saw the world around them, a world that is seemingly filled with sickness, and they commented that sickness is apparently God's method for expiating human sins. If a person's illness is accompanied by regret and repentance over past misdeeds then the stain of the sin is permanently eradicated. Thus, in almost all instances of human existence, the rabbis attributed sickness as a cleansing agent for one's soul and spiritual well-being. The Talmud however did teach us that there can be sickness without spiritual or moral cause, without sin or its expiation. There can be yisurim shel ahava - illness and pain that are simply expressions of "love" between man and the Creator. This concept is discussed extensively in works of Jewish ethics and philosophy but the topic remains enigmatic and difficult to understand and justify in human terms. The book of Iyov/Job deals with the topic but the basic answer given there to the problem of apparently random human pain and suffering is that God is inscrutable and His ways are beyond human comprehension. Human sickness is part of that inscrutability of God's ways that challenges us all.
Judaism always preached the importance of good health and its preservation. Saving and prolonging human life, healing the sick and caring for the bed-ridden are primary and overriding values in Jewish life and society. We are taught that God heals the sick and that we are to imitate Him in this regard. It is no accident of sociology that "Jewish doctors" are so much a part of the story of Jewish and general society. Medicine is an art, a skill, an attitude and not only knowledge and technology. Thus the attitude of the Torah to encourage good health served and still serves as the basis for the prominence of place of Jews in the medical field. Devotion to the cause of the sick is so strong that the halacha has severely limited the legal liability of doctors regarding claims against them of medical malpractice. The rationale behind this policy was that if doctors were held liable for any and every failure of theirs, there would eventually be few if any doctors left practicing healing and medicine. And no Jewish community can live without adequate medical attention available within its midst. The Talmud taught us that one should attempt to avoid living in a community that had no doctors.
Our times have witnessed enormous forward strides in hygiene, medicine, drugs, diagnostic tools and medical technology. Because of these advances, society generally lives longer and healthier lives. May these advances continue and may we all be blessed with great and good health and long life.
Berel Wein
