To Remove All Illnesses

Parshat Eikev

by Rabbi Avi Billet

The promises the Torah gives to the Jewish people for following the ways of God are quite idyllic. It does seem that simple, that if the Nation of Israel were to merely follow the Torah and observe its commandments without sin, that nothing bad would ever happen to them.

                

The reality is, however, that we are human, therefore imperfect, and we all make mistakes. While I shun saying that lack of observance is the cause for calamity (an absurd thought!), the Torah does suggest that imperfection in Jewish people leads to imperfections in the existence of the Jewish People.

                

The inverse, of course, is true as well. When you fulfill God’s will and follow His ways, “You’ll be blessed above all nations. There will not be an infertile male or female among you or your animals. God will remove from you all illness, and all the maladies you had in Egypt He will not place upon you, but He will place them on your enemies.” (7:14-15)

                

With so much pain and suffering in the world, one wonders what this means. With so much time, effort, money dedicated to “research” on every illness known to mankind, it’s hard to imagine that the cure to it all is not some not-yet discovered antibiotic but is merely a firm dedication to observance of the Law.

                

How could it be? Haven’t there been so many tzadikkim (righteous people) who have suffered? Can’t we all think of individuals who didn’t deserve the illness that they suffered through for so many years, or the illness that ultimately stole their lives away?

                

One answer is that even the greatest tzaddik or tzadeket will call himself or herself a sinner, and will probably cry more on Yom Kippur than the rest of us. Humans can work on themselves and can become amazing people. But perfect, with no flaws whatsoever, meriting this blessing from God? It seems to be impossible.

                

Which leaves me with 2 questions. How can this promise be made, if our end of the deal is impossible to uphold? And, is there another way to understand God’s promise of “removing all illness?”

                

The commentators raise a few suggestions as to what “all illness” means. Baal Haturim notes how “kol choli” (all illnesses) has a numerical value of 98 – suggesting “God will remove 98 curses from upon you.” This turns the promise into a code which does not actually assure the eradication of all illnesses.

                

Seforno suggests that illnesses which are inflicted upon enemies will not be contagious – while enemies fall from illness, the Israelites won’t be affected. (This notion has been fodder fuel for many a pogrom in Europe during the Middle Ages) The Ktav V’Hakabbalah jumps on Seforno’s tail and says that when you face your enemy in battle, God will take the illness which plagues you and place it on your enemy who will have to contend with this illness as battles wage, while you maintain your health.

            

The Talmud Yerushalmi (Shabbat 14:3) interprets the removal of illness by listing a number of calamities that will be defeated through this proper connection to God. One of them, said in the name of Rav Avon, is the destruction of the yetzer hara, the evil inclination, whose front is sweet, but whose rear (or “end”) is bitter.  The Torah Temimah explains this interpretation through a translation of the word “choli” as meaning “sweet” (see Shimshon’s riddle Shoftim 14:18 and the Aramaic translation, and Shmot Rabba 43:3 explaining Moshe’s prayer as trying to turn the bitter into sweetness).

                

This latter approach suggests that if you follow God’s ways, the “sweetness” of that which the Yetzer Hara tries to get you to do will be removed. You won’t appreciate the “joy of sin” or the pleasure of sin anymore, and all you’ll want to do is God’s will, for its sake. 

                

Using these interpretations it is much easier to see how our task is not impossible. We’re not looking for independence from illness (though that would be nice). We’re seeing how we can benefit from doing God’s will as best we can, or from being part of and identifying with Jewish peoplehood.

                

In these days when anti-Semitism is rearing its dark head over Europe and the morally blind liberal media, and even parts of mainstream United States (especially university campuses), we must tap into what makes the Jewish people unique, and why people who don’t know Jews and have nothing to do with Jews hate us with a passion that doesn’t exert itself anywhere else in their lives. And, is completely irrational when you replace the word “Jew” with “person.”

                

We pray that this illness “choli” ends. We pray that this sweet-hatred “choli” (it must be sweet to those who harbor it, because they get such a rush out if it) becomes bitter and disgusting to them, so hatred will cease in the world.

                

And who knows? When I watch Israel make a field hospital near Gaza to treat those who are sick or wounded (in some cases from Israel (after warnings to go away which Hamas makes its people ignore), and in some cases from Hamas brutality or misfired rockets), all I can say is “God, you have removed all ‘Choli’ from us. You helped us understand that people who need help, need help regardless of ethnicity, skin color, and their being part of a group. We must truly ask, “Mi k’amkha yisrael  - who is like Your nation of Israel?”

                

Finally, being “blessed above all nations” may be a reference to Jewish innovation. It is well-known that Jews hold an out of proportion ratio of Nobel Prizes. Israeli medical innovation is of the most-cutting edge in the world. Maybe the promise means that it will be Jews who will discover the cures for the worst diseases known to mankind. (I personally don’t care who discovers a cure for these illnesses - I pray for the end of the suffering of those in pain, and that it should be soon, with a positive recovery)

                

And if we could find the solution to the hatred that plagues the Middle East, wouldn’t that be a true miracle?