Don't get sick

Hi,

"One should always pray to avoid contracting illness, for once a person is ill, he is told, 'Bring merit and then you be freed.'"

(Talmud, Shabbat 32a)

[In other words, less merit is required in order to avoid illness than in order to be freed from it.]

Have a good day,
Mordechai

A benefit of illness

Hi,

"Until Yaakov came along, people did not weaken before they died. Yaakov prayed for this, and it happened to him, as it is written, 'And he said to Yosef, your father is ill.'"

(Talmud, Bava Metzia 87a)

Rashi explains, "So that a person would become weak before dying, and he could leave instructions for his household."

Have a great day,
Mordechai

If you catch cold, it's your fault

Hi,

"Rabbi Chanina said: All is in the hands of Heaven except chills and fevers, as it is written (Proverbs 22:5), 'Chills and fevers are in the path of the fool; one who guards his life will distance himself from them.'"

(Talmud, Bava Metzia 107b)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Intricacies of a Divine Plan

Hi,

“Rav Hemnuna said: What is the meaning of ‘Who is like the sage, and who knows the solution of a matter (Kohelet 8)?’

“It means: Who is like Gd, who knows how to produce a compromise between two righteous people: Chizkiyahu and Yeshayahu.

“Chizkiyahu said, ‘Yeshayahu should come to me, as Eliyahu went to Achav.’ Yeshayahu said, ‘Chizkiyahu should come to me, as Yehoram ben Achav went to Elisha.’ What did Gd do? He made Chizkiyahu suffer illness, and He told Yeshayahu (Melachim II 20, Yeshayah 38), ‘Go examine the sick.’”

(Talmud, Berachot 10a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai