14 Feb MISHPATIM: BIKUR CHOLIM

It states (21:19) ,ורפא
ירפא” He should
provide for healing.”
which is the source
that doctors may cure
the sick. Most of us
aren’t doctors, but we
can still help the ill
by visiting the sick
and doing bikur
cholim.
According to some
rishonim, visiting the
sick is a mitzvah
from the Torah.
As the Gemara
(Nedarim 39:) says,
“A hint from the Torah to the mitzvah of
bikur cholim: It states (Bamidbar
16:29),“If they will die like the death of
all men, and the destiny of all men is
visited upon them, then it is not Hashem
Who has sent me.” Rava explains, “If they
die like all ill people who lie on their beds
and people come to visit them…” The
this that says’ ) ריא“ז )פסקיו לנדרים ה“ג אות ב
pasuk implies that there’s a mitzvah from
the Torah to visit the sick.
He writes, “It is a great mitzvah. The ill

person’s life depends on it because the
visit lightens the illness. Furthermore,
visitors can offer counsel regarding
medical treatment, they can encourage
and calm him, and these functions grant
life. But if no one comes to visit, the sick
person becomes bored, the illness
becomes unbearable, and he may die.
That would be considered murder.”
Another source for bikur cholim is in last
week’s parashah (18:20), “Teach them the
path on which they should go…” Where
do they go? The Gemara (Bava Metzia
30:) explains that “they should go” visit
the sick. It alludes to the mitzvah of bikur
cholim.
The Gemara (Nedarim 40.) relates, “One
of Reb Akiva’s students was ill, and none
of the scholars visited him. However, Reb
Akiva himself did come to visit him. He
swept and washed the floor, which revived
the sick person’s spirits.
The ill student exclaimed, ‘Rebbe, you
granted me life.’ “Reb Akiva went out and
taught his students, ‘Whoever doesn’t
visit the sick, it is like murder, and
whoever visits the sick causes him to
live.”

The Seder HaYom writes, “Bikur cholim
is the highest form of kindness, as Chazal
(Nedarim 39:) say, ‘There is no limit [to
the greatness of] bikur cholim.’
Sometimes with clever, encouraging, and
kind words, you can revive the ill person,
and that will enable him to live. We saw
this many times because sometimes a
person visits the sick for an hour or two,
and the ill person says, ‘I feel like a new
person. My neshamah came back to me.’
And we notice that the illness became
lighter.”
A primary part of bikur cholim is to bring
joy to the sick person. Positive spirits and
hope play a significant role in a person’s
ability to fight disease. Therefore,
Rambam (in his sefer on health) writes,
“tell a sick person happy stories that will
gladden his heart. Tell him interesting
news that will take his mind off his illness
and make him laugh. (It will make the
people taking care of him laugh, too). So,
when you choose someone to be with an
ill person, choose someone who can make
him happy because that is needed for the
ill.”
Sodi Razyah (attributed to the Rokeach)

writes, “When one visits the sick, he
should speak to his heart, words of
solace.” The Gemara (Nedarim 40.) lists
the rewards for bikur cholim. They are:
You will be saved from the yetzer hara,
from Gehinom, and affliction. Everyone
will honor you, and you will have good
friends who give you good counsel, and
you will be protected from bad friends
who offer bad counsel.
The meforshim explain that these rewards
are midah kneged midah. For example, he
helped the ill person feel better, so he will
also be protected from affliction.
We can add that he will certainly be spared
from the condition the ill person is going
through.