והסיר ה' ממך כל חולי
Hashem will remove all illness from you
The Zohar HaKadosh reveals a secret to us: that if a decree is issued against a person, and before the decree takes effect the person does Teshuva, then HaKadosh Baruch Hu no longer wants to punish him, and that decree remains suspended, for on the one hand it cannot be fulfilled by the person since he already did Teshuva and he is now a different person, categorized as 'אני היום ילידתיך' ‘I gave birth to you today’ (Tehillim 2:7), and the decree is not relevant to the new person. But on the other hand, since the decree was already issued, it cannot be nullified. What does HaKadosh Baruch hu do? He takes the decree and gives it to a goy as it is written (Yeshayah 43:4) 'ואתן אדם תחתיך' – ‘I put people in your place’. The Zohar expounds this posuk, ‘Do not read it as adam [people], rather as edom’, that Hashem Yisbarach should put the decree on Edom.
We can apply the same exposition to the posuk in our parsha: 'ממך כל חולי וכל מדוי מצרים הרעים אשר ידעת לא ישימם בך ה' ונתנם בכל שונאיך' – ‘Hashem will remove all illness from you, and all the bad maladies of Egypt that you knew, He will not put them upon you, but will put them upon all your foes.’ (7:15). When you do Teshuva, then ‘Hashem will remove all illness from you, and all the bad maladies of Egypt’, and since you did Teshuva, then ‘He will not put them upon you’, but what will He do with the decrees already issued? ‘He will put them upon all your enemies’, He will pass them on to all your enemies among the nations. In the sefer ‘Tzeror Hamor’ it is explained that this is a great kindness from Hashem, for aside from HaKadosh Baruch Hu no longer fulfills the decree because one did Teshuva, it is not nullified since the Satan – the accuser, does not like decrees to be nullified, and if he sees the decree is nullified, he will find something else to accuse the person of, and so, HaKadosh Baruch Hu does not nullify the decree, rather it passes to the sinners of the enemies of Israel, so the Satan will not accuse this person.
The month of Teshuva is almost upon us, and automatically we approach the days of Teshuva, Selichos, and Rachamim. How much do we want all the decrees issued against Am Yisrael to pass on to our enemies?! Perhaps if we remember that through Teshuva not only do we receive forgiveness, but also the ‘passing’ of all the decrees, distresses, and illnesses to our enemies, perhaps this time our Teshuva will be different!
-Tiv HaTorah - Eikev
