Miracles and Medicine

Translated by Rabbi Lazer Brody

The laws of nature frequently don’t apply to medicine! Consider that the moment a person makes spiritual corrections to his life, immediately, and inexplicably, his health dramatically changes for the better, without any medical intervention.  If, on the other hand, rules of natural science apply to medicine as well, then even after one made these corrections to his life, would he not need to wait for the natural process to take effect? Would he not need to also take medicines as well? And what about conditions in which the damage done is irreparable according to medicine?

But the facts speak for themselves: We see time and time again, that the moment someone makes the necessary changes to his or her life, their health immediately takes a dramatic change for the better, in a flash, and without having to wait for any healing process. But, unfortunately, though, the reverse applies as well: when one hasn’t taken steps to nullify a Heavenly decree, then even when a medication is supposed to definitely work, it won’t.  Physicians validate this as well, that frequently, without explanation, one patient who is not supposed to survive will make a complete recovery once he has accepted upon himself to completely change his life. I, too, with my own eyes have seen hundreds of cases, where I have guided patients to make specific changes, and once they followed my explicit instructions and did teshuva, immediately and dramatically they got well.

I speak from personal experience as well:  I’ve seen on myself how nature can change suddenly and dramatically once I understand what I need to fix.  One Shabbat, the gum under one of my teeth swelled up like it was seriously infected. The pain was unbearable. I told my family that I’m certain that I need to have a root canal.  “What?  You are going to go to the dentist on Shabbat?” They exclaimed in wonder. “It’s permitted to do a root canal on Shabbat?”

“Yes.” I answered them.  “I must treat my root. The pain is unbearable.  Should one allow himself to endure excruciating pain on the Holy Shabbat?  I am going to the very best, most prominent dentist to treat my ‘root’:  I’m going to Hashem!”  I went to the closest field in the vicinity,  and I began to talk to Hashem, to ask him to show me for what sin I needed to have my tooth swell.  I examined myself and analyzed my deeds, and I didn’t stop searching until I figured out for what I was being punished.  Immediately upon doing teshuva, the swelling suddenly disappeared and the pain vanished, without any antibiotic, and without any “healing process.” Once I fixed what needed to be done, that which was sent to wake me up, the pain and swelling disappeared as if they had never been there.

Three times daily, we Jews commune with Hashem in a silent devotion called the Amida. (“Amida” means standing, which is how this prayer is said).  The Amida is made up of three parts: The first part consists of 3 blessings of praise, in which we establish our relationship with Hashem. The second section consists of a number of personal and communal requests to Hashem, and  then before departing, in part three, we thank Hashem for all that He has given us. To better understand this, think of a servant who depends upon his master for everything. But though this servant has very specific needs, before asking anything, first, he needs to praise his Master, and by doing so, establishes his relationship with Him. Then after opening up his heart to the Master. and asking Him for whatever he needs, before taking his leave, he says “Thank you” for all that he has received, or is certain that he will receive.

Now in the middle section of the Amida prayer, is a prayer for healing, which concludes with the words: “Blessed are You Hashem, The Doctor for the sick people of Israel”. But is this really sufficient praise to Hashem, mentioning that He heals just the sick of the people of Israel?  Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to mention that He is the healer of all sick people like a master physician who is the medical director of a whole hospital, and not just a department head?  But we can explain this as follows:

The Holy Zohar tells us that The Holy One Blessed Be He, looked into the Torah and created the universe based upon it. Therefore, all of nature operates according to the Torah, and every sin committed against the Torah, creates a conflict between Man and nature. Therefore, any person who goes against the Torah, causes a void and a blemish to the world. For the positive commandments stimulate bountiful blessings to be felt in the world and the negative prohibitions prevent harm from occurring. Therefore, someone  who neglects a commandment, leaves that bounty unfulfilled, and someone who violates a prohibition actually damages the universe in a very quantum way.

This is not just a matter of reward and punishment, this IS nature, and according to his actions, Man either brings  abundant blessing to the world, or the opposite, G-d forbid!  As the Torah tells us (Deuteronomy 11): “Behold I place before you today, blessing and curse.  The blessing when you listen to the commandments of Hashem your G-d, that I have commanded you today, and the curse if you will not listen to the commandments of Hashem your G-d….”

This is like someone who sticks his hand into a fire, and it gets burned.  Would anyone else be to blame but him? Could he possibly contend that it’s not fair? Of course not! It’s obvious that that’s the way the world operates: you stick your hand in fire, you get burned, and as such, the collapse suffered by the evil doers is not a punishment, but rather a necessary consequence of foolish behavior.

The same principle applies to the Torah as well: You violate the Torah, you get burned! But again, don’t make the mistake of thinking that you are being punished: rather, what happens is a direct cause and effect of your behavior based upon the Law which preceded natural law and upon which the world was created and continues to operate by: The Torah. With Hashem’s blessing, may you enjoy a healthy winter, amen!