Parashat Vayera
Printable Version
The Power of Prayer in the Healing
Process
As a spiritual healer, I experience daily how
prayer is the most vital aspect of healing. Who else but the One who created
us, has the power to truly heal us? Sure, a balanced diet, supplements,
alternative healers and sometimes even doctors and medicine have great effect
on our health, but who empowers these healing agents with the ability to heal?
The more we believe in the power of prayer, the more effective our prayer
becomes. I have recently experienced this during my special nature hike for hitbodedut
(speaking with Hashem one-on-one), earnestly evoking the help of heaven. When I
returned home, I knew exactly who to call. She answered my first ring and
responded positively to my proposal, so that my issue was resolved! I must
remind myself, when I sometimes feel that I don’t have time for extensive
prayer, that prayer actually saves time! How is that? Perhaps, instead of taking
30 minutes for a pleasurable nature hike, bonding with Hashem, I might have had
to spend much longer trying to resolve my problem, by placing several
unanswered calls, and leaving messages etc. to the wrong people. Another
example of the power of prayer are the recovery of several friends and alumna
students who were diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, for whom so many prayers have
been poured from our hearts. One of them even published a new book since her
diagnosis. Of course, I also know people who didn’t survive, despite our
community storming the gate of heaven with our prayers. This could easily be
discouraging and cause some people to doubt in the power of prayer. Yet, we
need to remember that life is not simple, and we will never know Hashem’s ways.
We need to strengthen our faith and believe that Hashem always does answer our
prayers, but, for reasons hidden from us, sometimes the answer is “no!” This
does not mean that our prayers were ineffective. Every prayer that graces our
lips has an impact, whether on behalf of the person for whom we prayed, or for
someone else who needs our prayer. We learn from Avraham
“that whoever prays for mercy on behalf of another, when he himself also is in
need of that very thing, he is answered first. For it states “Avraham prayed
etc.” (verse 17), and immediately following it, “Then Hashem remembered
Sarah,” i.e., He had already remembered her before healing Avimelech.
An Anti-Missionary Concept from a
Simple Grammar Rule
You may be familiar with the abovementioned concept, without having
asked yourself, how does the sequence of the text teach us that Sarah was
remembered before Avimelech was healed? Didn’t it mention first that Avimelech
was healed (Bereishit 20:17) and only afterwards that Sarah was
remembered (ibid. 21:1)?
ספר בראשית פרק כ פסוק יז וַיִּתְפַּלֵּל אַבְרָהָם אֶל הָאֱלֹהִים וַיִּרְפָּא אֱלֹהִים אֶת
אֲבִימֶלֶךְ וְאֶת אִשְׁתּוֹ וְאַמְהֹתָיו וַיֵּלֵדוּ:
ספר בראשית פרק כא פסוק א וַהָשֵׁם פָּקַד אֶת שָׂרָה כַּאֲשֶׁר אָמָר...
“Avraham prayed to G-d and G-d healed Avimelech and his wife and his maidservants, and they gave birth (Bereishit 20:17). “Hashem visited Sarah as he had said…” (Bereishit 21:1).
Without reading Rashi carefully, it doesn’t actually make sense, how he learns that the most effective prayer for healing is the patient’s prayer for another patient: when you pray for someone else, and you need the same thing, you will be answered first. Yet, if you delve into the text in Hebrew, you will notice that all the verbs in verse 20:17 וַיִּתְפַּלֵּל וַיִּרְפָּא וַיֵּלֵדוּ are written with the ו/vav conversive, turning future into past. Yet, “Hashem פָּקַד/pakad – remembered Sarah” is written in regular past tense. I know grammar can be tedious, but Hebrew grammar greatly affects the inner meaning of the Torah text. Rashi employs the grammatical rule that the regular past tense following a series of verbs with ו/vav conversive takes the meaning of plu-perfect, meaning it happened before the preceding section. Consistent with this rule, Rashi learns that the intimacy, birth and conception of Chava took place before eating from the Tree (see Bereishit 4:1). This grammar rule is important to dispel a certain well-known Christian doctrine.
The First Healing in the Torah
Teaches us the Nature of Disease and Healing
Avraham teaches us that the most effective cure is through prayer. The
very first instance when the root for healing ר-פ-א/resh/fey/alef appears in the Torah, is regarding
Avimelech’s healing through the prayer of Avraham. Since, the disease of
Avimelech’s household is the very first description of sickness and healing in
the Torah, it teaches us about the nature of disease and healing. The words
describing the condition from which his household suffered are כִּי עָצֹר עָצַר/ki atzor atzar – “For I had surely shut.” If you
unscramble the word עָצַר/atzar it spells the
word צַעַר/tza’ar – ‘pain,’ which
is primary in disease. Experiencing pain is the body’s wakeup call to pray and
adjust our lifestyle. Unfortunately, we have learned to repress our various
pains rather than dealing with them. The first principle in healing is to learn
to listen to the body. The other permutation, which we can make from the word עָצַר/atzar, is צָרַע/tzara – the root of
the word צָרַעַת /tzara’at – the
archetypal biblical disease, often mistranslated as leprosy, but being in truth
closer to psoriasis. As we know, tzara’at is a spiritual disease, that
comes upon a person as retribution for evil speech. This teaches us about the
link between morality and health (without judging the sick as being immoral).
Since every ailment has a spiritual root, the primary process of healing is
teshuva – repentance. Avimelech’s healing depended on his repenting from lack
of fear of G-d:
ספר בראשית פרק כ פסוק יא וַיֹּאמֶר
אַבְרָהָם כִּי אָמַרְתִּי רַק אֵין יִרְאַת אֱלֹהִים בַּמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה
וַהֲרָגוּנִי עַל דְּבַר אִשְׁתִּי:
“And Avraham said, for I have said, there simply is no fear of G-d in this place, and they will kill me on behalf of my wife” (Bereishit 20:11).
Therefore, in his prayer on behalf of Avimelech, Avraham invokes the name Elokim, which is even repeated in verse 20:17. The name Elokim – representing Divine judgment or ‘awe,’ is the inner experience of gevurah. The healing takes place through this name to rectify Avimelech’s lack of fear of G-d. Incidentally, I find the degree of Avraham’s kindness incredible. hHe goes out of himself to pray sincerely and precisely for the sake of the healing of the household of a man, who has just harassed his wife!
What is the Most Vital Function of
True Health?
It is interesting to note that the first healing
described in the Torah concerns the opening of orifices that had been closed by
Hashem, due to Avimelech’s harassment of Sarah:
ספר בראשית פרק כ פסוק יח כִּי עָצֹר עָצַר הָשֵׁם בְּעַד כָּל
רֶחֶם לְבֵית אֲבִימֶלֶךְ עַל דְּבַר שָׂרָה אֵשֶׁת אַבְרָהָם:
“For Hashem had surely shut every womb of Avimelech’s household, because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife” (Bereishit 20:18).
This teaches us the primacy of fertility – being able to give birth – in the definition of health. Both the Hebrew words בְּרִיאָה/briyah – ‘creation’ and בְּרִיאוּת/briyut – ‘health’ share the same Hebrew root בָּרָא/beit/reish/alef. This teaches us that true health is to be fully created with the power to (pro)create. We can also extend the concept of opening orifices to the function of the digestive system and elimination. According to Rambam, the first objective in maintaining proper health is regularity and the first sign of disease is constipation. Rambam teaches that regular bowel movements and exercise are so important, that their proper maintenance can override the effects of an unhealthy diet:
“A person should always attempt to keep his bowels soft and closer to a very soft stool. This is an important principle in healing. Whenever a person is constipated or it is difficult for him to move his bowels, bad sicknesses come upon him” (Rambam, Hilchot Deot 4:13).
The Healing Power of the Blessing
after Using the Bathroom
After eliminating, we thank Hashem with the
following prayer of praise:
…אֲשֶׁר יָצַר אֶת
הָאָדָם בְּחָכְמָה. וּבָרָא בוֹ נְקָבִים נְקָבִים. חֲלוּלִים חֲלוּלִים. גָּלוּי
וְיָדוּעַ לִפְנֵי כִסֵּא כְבוֹדֶךָ שֶׁאִם יִסָּתֵם אֶחָד מֵהֶם אוֹ אִם
יִפָּתֵחַ אֶחָד מֵהֶם אֵי אֶפְשַׁר לְהִתְקַיֵּם אֲפִלּוּ שָׁעָה אֶחָת. בָּרוּךְ
אַתָּה הָשֵׁם, רוֹפֵא כָל בָּשָֹר וּמַפְלִיא לַעֲשֹוֹת:
…Who formed the human being with wisdom and created
within him many openings and many hollows. It is revealed and known in the
presence of your glorious throne that if one of them were ruptured, or if one
of them were blocked, it would be impossible to exist and stand in your
presence even for one hour. Blessed are You, G-d, Who heals all flesh and
performs wonders.
The numerical value of the words חֲלוּלִים
חֲלוּלִים is 248, corresponding to the
248 limbs of the body. This teaches us that reciting this blessing carefully,
with kavana (intention) and thinking about the meaning of the words is a
spiritual remedy for good health for our entire body throughout our lifetime.
Many people have been saved from a great variety of diseases by making a
commitment to make this bracha with kavana while reading it from a printed
text.
This can be illustrated from the following anecdote: A sad and worried Jew once came to visit the Chazon Ish (Rav Yeshaya Karelitz) in B’nei Berak. When the man entered, the Chazon Ish was reciting the Asher Yatzar Bracha. He pronounced each word slowly and clearly. The man couldn’t contain himself any longer and blurted out, “My child has polio, and the doctors say there’s no hope.” The Chazon Ish emphasized the last words of the bracha: “Who heals all flesh and acts wondrously.” The Chazon Ish then turned to the man and said, “So, you hear that Hashem does wonders.” This is all the Chazon Ish said to the man. The child had a complete recovery. The Mashgiach of the Mirer Yeshiva, R. Yerucham Levovitz, z”l, used to say, that if a person were aware of everything that happens to food from the time it enters until it leaves the body, he would send a telegram home to inform his family that everything turned out well.
Summary of the Healing Principles
Learned in Parashat Vayera
At this time, when we are all concerned about our
health and about strengthening our immune system, let us not forget the lessons
from the first instance of healing in the Torah:
1. The Power of Prayer in the Healing Process
2. Every Ailment has a Spiritual Root
3. Repentance is Essential to Healing
4. Learn to Listen to the Body
5. Keep the Bowels Moving
6. Be Careful Reciting Asher Yatzar with Proper Intention
Wonderful!!
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