...כִּי אֲנִּי ד ‘ר ֹֽ פְאֶךָ [שמות טו:כו]
...because I am Hashem, who heals you [Shemos 15:26]
We might think that in this verse, the Torah tells us that when we get sick ר“ל, Hashem heals us. But in reality, that’s not actually the meaning of this verse. Rashi tells us that “because I am Hashem, who heals you” means that Hashem helps us stay healthy!
We remind ourselves that Hashem is our healer multiple times a day when we say the blessing of Asher Yatzar. The Aruch HaShulchan (O.C. 6:3) teaches that in that blessing also, the meaning of the words רוֹפֵא כָל בָשָר is that by keeping the body working properly, Hashem protects our health!
Interestingly, Chazal teach us that a person should daven to stay healthy on a frequent basis (because it requires less merit to keep a person healthy than to heal him from an illness). By knowing that when you say multiple times a day רוֹפֵא כָל בָשָר you are praising Hashem for keeping you healthy, you are earning the merit to stay healthy!
Ah Gezunte Vinter!
Menucha
