Words of Chizuk from Rav Yeruchem Olshin Shlita
Publicized with permission
ברשות the חשובע עולם:
First, I understand that you all take care of Jewish patients. Your work is about helping our brothers as the רמב"ם writes (Matnas Aniyim 10:2) כל ישראל כאחים הם. This concept is not just an isolated רמב"ם. It is also a גמרא in Daf Bais of מגילה: The Chachamim made it easy for the villagers to provide food לאחיהם שבכרכים. Jews are brothers!
When we deal with medical issues, our tendency is to look to statistics to predict prognosis. Many years ago, I heard something from the alter סקולענער רבי which I thought important to share regarding this point. The רבי was thrown in prison by the communists on several occasions and, while imprisoned, said the following vort. In שמונה עשרה, we end the ברכה of רפאינו stating that Hashem is רופא חולי עמו ישראל. Why do we refer to הקב"ה as the healer of עמו ישראל? Isn’t Hashem referred to as בורא רפואות, meaning that he is the source for healing for all people? If everything comes from הקב"ה, wouldn’t it be more appropriate to end in a more general way רופא חולים? To answer this, the רבי explained that there are two types of healing. One is a healing done בדרך הטבע, through medicine, regimens, protocols, which we all need to follow. This is רפואה בדרך הטבע. However, the פסוק says אני ה' רופאיך and we know that the שם הויה alludes to operating above nature, למעלה מן הטבע. The proper way to understand this is אני ה' רופאיך is referring to a different type of cure; a רפואה that transcends טבע. Thus, all healing derives from Hashem including the standard medicine approach alluded to in the בורא רפואות. However, the ברכה of אני ה' רופאיך, as well as the ברכה of רופא חולי עמו ישראל is referring to this special healing which is למעלה מן הטבע.
This concept is something that we need to keep in mind while working with Jewish patients. A איד does not necessarily have to follow standard statistics of the דרכי רפואה. He transcends that! I recently attended a שמחה where a yungerman made a bris on his 5th son. He stood up and said that 2 months after his חתונה, he was diagnosed with a terrible disease and he was told that there was no hope. He came to the U.S., and found the correct שליח, a neurosurgeon, who healed him. Today, he is healthy, learning full time, and father of a growing family. He related that this doctor participated in his סעודת הודאה and shared the following: “I’ve been operating for 36 years and always feel like Eliyohu Hanavi is with me, but here I felt like I didn’t do anything and Hashem just healed him.” This is אני ה' רופאיך and this is למעלה מן הטבע!
At the end of the ספר מורה נבוכים, the רמב"ם asks the following: What is the greatest שלימות that is worthy of הלול? The רמב"ם quotes the פסוק in (ירמיהו (ט:כב, where Hashem says אל יתהלל חכם בחכמתו etc. כי אם בזאת יתהלל המתהלל השכל וידוע אותי . On the surface, it might seem that הלול belongs to someone who accomplishes ידיעת השם. However, that is not the end. The פסוק continues כי אני ה' עושה חסד משפט וצדקה בארץ כי באלה חפצתי נאם ה'. The שלימות האדם is thus one who is similar to his Creator: one who accomplishes חסד, צדקה and משפט. When we do these things, we are following in the ways of the בורא עולם and are ראוי for הלול. You all have a tremendous opportunity. The רבש"ע says אני ה' עושה חסד. How so? Isn’t He in שמים? The answer is that He does it through His שלוחים. When we do chesed, we are messengers of Hashem. Every day, you are exposed to people in anguish and in pain. You have a tremendous זכות to be able to do the שליחות of Hashem on a regular basis.
I saw something fascinating in the צוואה of רב מיכל יהודה זצ"ל. He writes that his house was a מקום תורה and a מקום תפילה (at the end of his life). And then he writes that it was a home of עשיית חסד קצת because it was a home of להחיות רוח שפלים ולהחיות לב נדכאים, which he says is עיקר חובת האדם בעולמו. I used to think that this was the עבודה of a ראש ישיבה or משגיח. It is known that someone once asked the Alter what the role of a משגיח is and he responded not to say shmuzin or vaadim, but of להחיות רוח שפלים ולהחיות לב נדכאים—to infuse life to those in pain and to those who feel that there is no purpose in life. Rav Michel Yehuda is teaching us that this obligation of להחיות is incumbent on all of us. The people gathered here have the ability and the opportunity to be מקיים the greatest חסד. More than anyone else, you are aware of the troubles of your patients and you are able to help them. When you give them חיות, you are following the דרכי השם who gives חיות. This is the עיקר חובת האדם בעולמו to infuse life into the רוח שפלים and the לב נדכאים.
I see that it is a חשובע עולם here. I know some of you and it is a wonderful צבור. A צבור that the רמב"ם says is ראוי להלול. A צבור that follows the path of the בורא עולם and is engaged in the pursuit of להחיות רוח שפלים ולהחיות לב נדכאים. You are the שלוחים of Hashem who says אני ה' עושה חסד. The rest of us are unable to do this, but this צבור has the כח and the opportunity to engage in this חסד. Hashem should grant you all ברכה והצלחה במעשה ידיכם!