Praying for the sick

Hi,

"One who visits [literally: examines] a sick person causes him to live. One who does not visit a sick person causes him to die...

"This is because one who does not visit a sick person will not be moved to pray for him to live or die."

(Talmud, Nedarim 40a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Staying with a dying person

Hi,

A depressing, but important, note:

"One is not permitted to leave a dying person, lest he die in depression. The spirit is desolate when it departs the body in solitude."

(Taamei haMinhagim 1009, citing Kol Bo)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Visiting the sick, and being sensitive to their needs

Hi,

A nuance in the mitzvah of visiting the sick:

"One should not visit ill people who have bowel ailments, or eye pain or headaches: Bowel ailments because the ill person will be embarrassed before the visitor, and eye pain or headaches because conversation is painful for someone in that condition."

(Talmud, Nedarim 41a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The importance of visiting [examining] the sick

Hi,

"Rabbi Akiva proclaimed: One who does not examine the ill is spilling their blood."

(Talmud, Nedarim 40a)

To explain - Rabbi Akiva's comment came after an incident in which he visited an ill student and found that the student was not receiving proper care. When Rabbi Akiva came, the care was upgraded and the student recovered.

Note: The term in Hebrew for visiting the sick is 'bikur cholim,' but the actual translation of those words is 'examining the sick,' because this is the essence of the visit, along with praying for the sick person's welfare.

Have a great day,
Mordechai