Today we have more thoughts from Rav Yehezkiel Abramsky on the concept of being healed by a doctor.
There is a Halacha in Shulchan Aruch that says that when a person takes medicine, he’s supposed to say, “May it be your will that this medicine should be a refuah for me.”
We must realize that while we are taking an aspirin, ultimately it is Hashem that will get rid of the headache.
Rav Abramsky added the following mashal:
Sometimes we go to a doctor and sometimes we go to a PA, a physicians assistant. The PA hasn’t gone through medical school and therefore, is not as qualified as the doctor, but it’s good enough for a lot of issues. And it’s becoming very popular today to go to a PA rather than to a doctor.
Sometimes people will go to a Hatzala member, with the understanding that they have some knowledge on the matter. But if the Hatzala member or the PA get stuck because it’s a little too complicated, they’ll say that we should really ask the doctor.
Rav Abramsky says that in every medical matter, all the doctors are only PAs. The real doctor is Hashem. That has to be our attitude as we walk into the doctor’s office. He is only the PA. He is not the doctor. We have to think, “God heals me, and I will be healed.“ The reason we say this Yehi Ratzon is because we are talking to the real Doctor. After we speak to the PA, we want to get the opinion of the real Doctor. And when the real Doctor says it will be OK, it will be OK. That’s why in the Amida we say, “You are our praise.” We don’t say that in any other Beracha, because medicine is an area where it is very easy to be confused and think, “Wow. The doctor did it. What a great surgeon! What a great diagnostician. He gave me the shot and boom, I got better. Unbelievable. Look how fast it worked. Look how smart he is!”
We give a direct connection to the doctor, and that is why in the Beracha of Refaenu, we say, “You are our prayers.“ Don’t make the mistake of thinking that it is anyone else but Hashem that is healing us.
Rav Abramsky was once walking in the street with a student when he met his doctor. He started to ask a doctor about some medication that he was taking. Then, as they said their goodbyes, the student asked Rav Abramsky , “Was that your doctor?“ And Rav Abramsky answered, “No. That is not my doctor. He is just the messenger. My doctor is Hashem.“
Rav Wolbe discusses this concept in his sefer Alei Shur, where he calls it, “ A living relationship with God.” It’s not enough to just live our lives and ask God when we need something.
Rav Abramsky spoke in a way that showed that he constantly had Hashem on his lips.
A student from America once came to him when his wife was in labor. Rav Abromsky said, “Don’t worry, she is in good hands.” The student assumed that his Rav knew who the doctor was. But what he meant was that the key to childbirth was in the hands of Hashem.
Another example of how he lived with Hashem occurred when he went to Kineret at a time when the Arabs were just above the Golan Heights, and it was Syrian domain. A student told him, “Do you see the air above the mountain? That is under Syrian control and at any moment they can just bomb us, has v’halila.
Rav Abramsky replied, “ Absolutely, but He doesn’t let them.”
Whenever he said the word He without any additional title, it referred to Hashem. That was his lexicon. Because he lived with Hashem. When someone asked whether he would be going to Bnei Brak his answer was, “If He lets me.“ When he was going to get a sefer off the shelf, or when he was looking for a page, he would say, “If He helps me find it, I will find it.“
That is living with Hashem, and realizing that in anything I do, there is a bigger He that is there.
And the real doctor is Hashem.
Have a wonderful day.