A prayer for healing

Hi,

Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 230:4

One who enters to let blood says, "May it be Your will, Gd, my Master, that this be a cure for me, for You heal at no cost." After he lets blood, he should say, "Blessed is the Healer of the sick."

Mishneh Berurah 230:6

And so in every healing endeavour he should say this, and not think that any particular entity will heal him, only the Creator. Via this prayer he will place his trust in Gd, and ask that this should heal him.

Rabbi Dr. Avraham Sofer Abraham, Nishmat Avraham Orach Chaim 230:1

Therefore, when one takes medication as well - even many times in a day – and for every medical action (i.e. putting in eye drops, smearing on a paste, or giving an injection), or for every surgical action, however minor, we must turn to Gd with this prayer, for Gd, and only Gd, is the true healer. Also before any exercise of any kind that one performs at the instruction of a doctor because of his illness, one must turn to Gd with this prayer. Even for something which seems to be minor, such as when a mother places a bandage on a child's small cut, she should be careful to recite with him this y'hi ratzon, for a cut can develop infection despite the bandage and [yet] some heal without anything at all – it is all in the hands of Heaven. And my mentor Rabbi Neuvirth said to me, "This is obvious." Further, with this she will take the opportunity to teach her child that it is not the bandage that heals, but it is Gd, and there is no other.

Have a great day,

Mordechai

A poem on healing, by Rabbi Yehudah haLevi

Hi, 

"My Gd, heal me and I will be healed,

Let not Your anger rage, such that I would be destroyed,

My drug and concoction are Yours, whether good

or bad, whether strong or weak,

You are the One who will choose, not me,

In Your view is the bad and the good,

Not upon my healing do I depend,

Only Your healing do I anticipate."

(Rabbi Yehudah haLevi, "My Gd, Heal me" http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/sifrut/halevi/19.htm)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Mezuzah as Protection, Part 4

Hi,

"Rabbi Eliezer of Metz wrote: 'People are accustomed, for the sake of additional domestic protection, to write at the end of the mezuzah various seals and names of angels. This is not required, and it isn’t a mitzvah; it is only for added protection.'…It is clear that there is no disqualification [of the mezuzah] in this practice."

(Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Yabia Omer 8:Yoreh Deah 28)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Mezuzah as Protection, Part 3

Hi,

"When one places a mezuzah one does not intend to guard the house, but rather to fulfill the mitzvah of Gd. The automatic result is protection of the home."

(Rabbi Yosef Karo, Kesef Mishneh to Laws of Mezuzah 5:4)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Succot and Faith

Hi,

"‘You shall sit in Succot for seven days…so that your generations will know that I placed the Jews in Succot when I removed them from, etc.’ The verse linked the mitzvah of Succah with the departure from Egypt, as it does for many mitzvot, because this is something we saw with our eyes and we heard with our ears, and no one may contradict us, and it shows the truth of the Creator who created all according to His desire, and who has the strength and reign and power in the Heavens and the lower areas, to do as He will, and no one may tell Him what to do, as He did with us when He took us out of Egypt with signs and miracles.

"The Succot which the verse says Gd placed us in are the clouds of His glory, with which Gd surrounded the Jews lest they be struck by heat or sun. As a model of this Gd instructed us to create Succot, so that we will remember His miracles and awesome deeds."

בסוכות תשבו שבעת ימים וגו' למען ידעו דורותיכם כי בסוכות הושבתי את בני ישראל בהוציאי אותם וגו' תלה הכתוב מצות סוכה ביציאת מצרים וכן הרבה מצות לפי שהוא דבר שראינו בעינינו ובאזנינו שמענו ואין אדם יכול להכחישנו והיא המורה על אמיתת מציאות הבורא יתעלה שהוא ברא הכל לרצונו והוא אשר לו הכח והממשלה והיכולת בעליונים ובתחתונים לעשות בהן כרצונו ואין מי שיאמר לו מה תעשה כאשר עשה עמנו בהוציאו אותנו מארץ מצרים באותות ובמופתים

והסוכות שאומר הכתוב שהושיבנו בהם הם ענני כבודו שהקיפן בהם לבל יכה בהם שרב ושמש ודוגמא לזה צונו לעשות סוכות כדי שנזכור נפלאותיו ונוראותיו 

(Tur Orach Chaim 625)

מועדים לשמחה,
Mordechai

Megilat Esther: Malach #3

Hi,

Esther 7:8 says, "And the king returned from the palace garden to the place of the feast of wine, and Haman was falling on the bed on which Esther was seated. And the king said, 'Do you also think to take my wife, with me in the house?" In the following passage, the gemara is sensitive to the word "falling", as well as the narrative difficulty of why Haman would place himself in such a compromising position:

"'And Haman was falling on the bed' - 'Falling'? It should say 'fell'!

Rabbi Elazar explained: This teaches that an angel came and knocked him down on to the bed. Achashverosh declared, "Woe is me from my house, woe is me from outside [see the preceding email for the events outside]!"

(Talmud, Megilah 16a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Megilat Esther: Malach #2

Hi,

The following Talmudic passage appears to be sensitive to Megilat Esther's repetition of "the palace garden".

"Esther 7:7 says, 'And the king rose in his anger from the feast of wine, to the palace garden... And the king returned from the palace garden.' It links his return to his rising from the feast; just as he rose in anger, so he returned in anger, for he went and found angels, looking like men, uprooting the trees of his orchard. He said to them, 'What are you doing?' And they replied, 'Haman told us to do this.'"

(Talmud, Megilah 16a)

Have a great day, Mordechai

Megilat Esther: Malach #1

Hi,

"Esther 7:6 says, 'And Esther declared: A man, a foe and an enemy, Haman, this wicked man.'

"R' Elazar said: This teaches that she pointed to Achashverosh, and an angel came and struck her hand to turn it toward Haman."

[I believe R' Elazar is sensitive to the placement of Haman's name later in the sentence, indicating that she was pointing elsewhere first.]

(Talmud, Megilah 16a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Loss of Divine protection

Hi,

The following is "intense", in the words of one reader...

"When a person [who has sinned] eats poisonous foods and they harm him, Gd will not provide the rescue to save him from that food. His sins caused this to happen to him, dividing between him and his Gd, and so those evils found him."

(Rabbeinu Yosef Yaavetz, Or Chaim, pg. 3)

Have a good day,
Mordechai

Gd will watch out for us

Hi,

[Regarding Gd's declaration to Moshe at the Red Sea, "Why do you cry out to me?" (Shemot 14:15) before Gd split the sea.]

"R' Elazar haModai said: “Why are you crying out to Me? Do I need instructons regarding My children? Will you instruct me about My children and My creations? They were prepared before Me from the six days of Creation! It is written, 'Should all of the universe’s natural laws fall from before Me, this is the word of Gd, so the Jews would cease to be a nation before me, for all time!'”"

(Midrash, Mechilta d'Rabbi Yishmael Beshalach 3)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

A Divine promise

Hi,

"If only My nation would listen to me, if Israel would walk in My ways. In a moment I would humble their enemies, and put My hand upon their foes."

(Tehillim 81:14-15)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Divine protection

Hi,

"Rabbi Chanina said: Come and see that Gd's traits are not those of flesh and blood.

"With flesh and blood, the king sits inside and his servants protect him from outside. Gd is not like that; His servants sit inside, and He guards them outside, as it is written (Tehillim 121), 'Gd guards you, Gd is your protection at your right hand.'"

(Talmud, Menachot 33b)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Divine protection

Hi,

"Gd is good, a fortress on a day of trouble; He knows those who trust in Him."

(Nachum 1:7)

Please note that the Daily Torah Thought will on hiatus until after our move; it may resume on August 19-20.

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Pesach night: A night of protection from harm

Hi,

I believe the feed for the daily emails is now fixed, so that you should be receiving them normally. Please note that if you ever do not receive the daily email, you can check the blog where I post them each day - http://torahbyemail.blogspot.com.


Introduction: As part of normal Friday night services, we recite a post-Amidah prayer called מעין שבע or מגן אבות. However, if the Seder night is Friday night then we do not recite this prayer.

"One reason we do not recite מעין שבע if Pesach is Shabbat, is because that prayer was enacted for protection from harmful forces (מזיקין), and Pesach night is ליל שמורים, a night of special Divine protection."

(Taamei haMinhagim 501, from Tur Orach Chaim 487)

Have a great day,
Mordechai