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Parshat Beshalach
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Discovering the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

כי אני ה' רופאיך

“Cure us HaShem and we will be cured, save us and we will be saved, for You are our praise... Blessed are You HaShem Who cures the sick."

This blessing of the Amida prayer emphasizes the dual aspect of health, describing the cure coming from HaShem, 'cure us HaShem', and then describing the human reaction 'and we will be cured'. Indeed, Torah sees health and the cure from maladies to be a sign of the connection/'communication' between the Divine spirit and the earthly body. Also, just as peace and proper communication is needed between people, so to, an individual needs peace and proper 'communication' between the different facets of their body in order to retain wholesome health. This ‘communication’ means that there needs to be a proper balance between one’s different facets.

This concept can be found in the Rambam’s introduction to Pirkei Avot known as ‘The Eight Chapters’. Furthermore, this concept of balance and internal peace for health can also be found in the Zohar on the portion of leprosy. According to the Zohar, leprosy is a sign of an unbalanced level of judgment in one’s character, causing one, for example, to be overly-judgmental of others and slander them. (Nevertheless, it should be noted that leprosy of the Torah is a more spiritually initiated disease different than leprosy today).

One of the famous medical health organizations in Israel today is Hadassa, located in Jerusalem. Jerusalem’s name contains the word Salem or Shalem, meaning peace or wholesomeness. This matter sheds light on the great potential of Jerusalem in leading revolutionary internal peace and (medical) health we discussed above. However, fewer people know, that Hadassa operated one of its branches in Hebron, before the Tarpat (1929) Massacre. Therefore, the location of this branch is known as ‘Beit Hadassa’ to this day, even though a medical clinic no longer exists there.

We should note that Hebron carries a similar message to Jerusalem. Hebron means ‘connection’- ‘hibur’, and therefore the concepts of inter-connectedness, balance, internal peace and health are so natural here. This is Hebron, City of Unity, Internal Harmony, and Health.

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #207

‘I once had an ear operation and paid a private doctor to conduct this operation. Instead of improving my situation, the doctor made a ‘mistake’ in surgery, causing me to be fully deaf. Instead of being angry at this doctor, suing him, etc. I decided to thank God for this situation, with full faith that it is God’s Will, and the doctor is only His messenger... After doing so for some time, I suddenly started to hear! The doctor who had operated on my ear before was totally stunned, saying that the ear had totally cured miraculously as if baby-skin, and then he asked ‘who operated on you?! Who?!’

Sources: Shemonah Prakin LaRambam, Zohar Tazria-Metzora, Likutei Moharan I 14

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