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?

The Message of the Akeidah for YK and the New Year

Kol Nidre message - as delivered in Anshei Chesed of Boynton Beach

Since the second day of Rosh Hashana, our liturgy has put an important emphasis on the story of the Akeidah – the binding of Isaac. An additional paragraph was added to the selichot between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur week, and we will continue to talk about it tomorrow. Clearly there is import to this story that goes beyond a nice story... or a difficult story.

Some question as to why it is called The Binding of Isaac. Why not call it “the test of Abraham”? The focus is all on Abraham – on everything that he does.

Perhaps the account is remembered in Yitzchak’s name because he allowed it to take place – with no objections.

But it is also a reminder to Avraham about the good things he has in life - his son, and a need for him to focus on priorities.

After the incident, the Torah says אחר הדברים האלה (after these things - meaning, after the story of the Binding unfolded), then it lists Nachor’s (Abraham's brother's) children, including his granddaughter Rivkah.

Rashi there says

(כ) אחרי הדברים האלה ויגד וגו' - בשובו מהר המוריה היה אברהם מהרהר ואומר אילו היה בני שחוט כבר היה הולך בלא בנים, היה לי להשיאו אשה מבנות ענר אשכול וממרא, בשרו הקב"ה שנולדה רבקה בת זוגו, וזהו אחרי הדברים האלה הרהורי דברים שהיו על ידי עקידה:

"When he returned from Mt. Moriah, Abraham had a thought and he said, 'Had my son been slaughtered, he would have died childless. I should have married him to a wife from the daughters of Aner, Eshkol and Mamre.' At that moment, God informed him that Rivkah, Isaac's intended, had been born. This is what 'after these things' refers to... 'After these thoughts went through Avraham's head on account of the Akeidah' he heard about Rivkah's birth."

As he is thinking “Had my son died, he’d have been childless. I should have married him off" – sure enough Rivka has been born.

Imagine Avraham. As he is coming off the mountain, he may be thinking, “I had to deal with all the pain of no children for twenty some odd years, and then the difficulties of raising a child, and then the harshness of the last three days and the akeidah – thinking Yitzchak was going to die.”

And now he hears that Nachor had 12 sons and is already a grandfather! So many children! What is going on here? Why does he merit?

The difference between Nachor's family and Yitzchak is this: Yes, there is only one Yitzchak. But Avraham puts everything into this one child who holds the key to his destiny – a future, continuity. And sometimes the elements that will achieve that destiny are costly. Sometimes they come at the price of a little suffering.

On the other hand, Nachor’s family does not last. We hear about Rivkah and her brother Lavan (only because he is the father of Leah and Rachel), but nothing more about their family. It ends with the birth of his twelve sons. Yitzchak lasts, but with יסורים - difficulties.

We understand this very well in business, we have to understand it in life and in spousal relationships and in everything else. If we want something to last, to be real, we need to work hard for it.

Firstly, we need to work hard to be there for our children.

If we want to have a relationship with God, things don’t just fall into place. Need to work on it. We can not come to the synagogue one day out of the year and expect it to work. We can not make the synagogue experience a rote and meaningless one in order to have a relationship with God.

The aftereffects of the Akeidah, when we thought we'd have complete communion with God, when we thought we'd make the ultimate connection, but lost it at the last second... and then we find out someone who seems less deserving has all the things we want, and they make it look so easy! - It’s a let-down – and we don’t want to think about it.

We can have whatever "kids" we want. But if we want the Akeidah to be meaningful, we have to put in the time and effort to get a Yitzchak and to furnish results.

Yom Kippur Eve and the Yom Kippur experiment

On the eve of YK, the first thing we do is annul our vows. Some versions annul past vows, but for the most part, we annul future vows.

How could we annul future vows? What kind of statement is this - “Any statement I will make in the future should be considered null and void.”

Can you imagine – you’re going to make a business deal, and you don’t even have to cross your fingers. You’re lying through your teeth because you already nullified all your vows.

Maybe the vows we refer to are vows we’ll make as far as our commitment to God is concerned. We don't want to be held accountable for promises we won't keep. So does this mean our word is useless? Our vows are meaningless? We can’t be held to a commitment?

The truth is – it’s very hard.

Every year, I try something - besides going through the motions of Yom Kippur - to try to make the day meaningful beyond the prayerbook. I like to feel as if the theater of the day, the white clothing, the tallis, the machzor, the things we say, can help life imitate the art to help us get into the real essence of the day.

We have restrictions on eating, lotions, makeup, shoes - even brushing our teeth – all to help us feel the symbolic difficulty of the day.

If Avraham had difficulty making his test work, we too should have difficulty - to help us understand.

So let us try an experiment this Yom Kippur.

If the first thing we talk about on YK, the first thing we express to God, is concern over things we’ve said and things we will say, then let us start off the new year, the new us, with being extremely careful about the things we say.

The day time is pretty easy: it is pretty easy for me not to talk to people when I haven’t brushed my teeth. I imagine some people feel the same way.

Let us try, over the next 24 hours, to speak as little as possible. Obviously if you haveto put kids to bed tonight and deal with them in the morning it will be a little harder, and all bets are off. But certainly in the walk to shul and once in shul, let us make these hours count as best as they can.

Let us limit ourselves to a minimal amount of idle chatter. When you’re bored, read the English in your machzor, or the commentary.

With a focused effort, we can take ourselves beyond the motions to bring YK a step above what it will be without the effort.

And if it is difficult, remember that like we learned about Avraham – only things which are difficult last. If it comes easy, it’s usually not worth all that much.